Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications and the Arts) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator McGrath, for the question. The Liberal-National government is delivering the NDIS to give people with disability choice and control. We're able to deliver these essential services without raising taxes on Australian families because of our strong economic management. I can advise colleagues that there are now more than 200,000 participants receiving supports under the NDIS, and over 60,000—or almost one in three—are receiving supports for the very first time. In Queensland, there are more than 25,000 people who are currently receiving support.

Delivering this reform to improve outcomes for Australians with a significant and permanent disability will involve challenges. With a venture of this scale, that is inevitably the case. But the important thing is to address those issues quickly and efficiently as they arise to ensure the management of the scheme into the future. The National Disability Insurance Agency, with the support of the Commonwealth and all states and territories, has a number of projects underway to improve the NDIS. From 1 October, a new general participant pathway will be rolled out. NDIS participants will have face-to-face planning meetings that deliver easier-to-understand plans supported by a single point of contact. The new pathway was designed with a lot of input from participants and was successfully piloted in Victoria, with more than 1,000 participants. Other improvements include: updating the myplace portal; the implementation of the Independent Pricing Review; an enhanced provider finder; and specialist pathways for participants with particular disabilities. These are significant improvements and they are delivering the supports that Australians with disability are entitled to.