Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

The government rejects the assertions in the motion. The government has outlined that we've claimed public interest immunity over the document, as disclosure would prejudice relations between the Commonwealth and the states and territories. Disclosure would harm the Commonwealth's ongoing relations with the states and territories on this and other matters.

The government and National Cabinet agreed to an NDIS Financial Sustainability Framework, which will provide an annual growth target in the total cost of the NDIS of no more than eight per cent by 1 July 2026, with further moderation of growth as the scheme matures. The first step in achieving the annual growth target was the announcement of the initiatives in the improving the effectiveness and the sustainability of the NDIS measure in the 2023-24 budget. This included investments in the NDIA's capacity, capability and systems to improve the experience of participants.

The government will work with the disability community and states and territories on achieving the annual growth target under the sustainability framework. This work will be shaped by the independent review of the NDIS, which is due to report in October 2023 and has involved extensive consultation with people with disabilities and other stakeholders. The government has publicly released many documents on the framework, and, for the benefit of senators, I do have available to table the National Cabinet media statement, the ministerial media statement, budget papers and part of the recently released 2023 intergenerational report that sets out the impact of the framework.

We have been really clear that there is a lot of work to do to deliver on the framework, including with the states and territories and the disability community. We will continue to work constructively with all parliamentarians as work progresses to deliver on the framework. It took a Labor government to create the NDIS, and this Labor government will secure its future. We're determined to make sure that every dollar counts and every dollar goes to improving the lives of the participants the scheme was established for.

Since coming to office we have already taken a range of actions, including appointing more people with a disability to the NDIA board, to bring representation to 50 per cent, including the appointment of Kurt Fearnley as chair; reducing the AAT backlog; cracking down on fraud; and significantly reducing average hospital discharge times for NDIS participants. The achievements of the Albanese Labor government are paving the way for a better NDIS for people with a disability today and for those who may need the NDIS in the future.

It is worth noting that there has been an exponential increase in the number of orders for the production of documents, and they have increased by nearly one-third, to nearly two per sitting day. Today we are dealing with another five of them. Yesterday there were 10. Public interest immunity claims should not be used as a measure of failure. They are the tool that is available to the executive to explain why documents cannot be provided. If the executive is discouraged from making legitimate claims then transparency will actually reduce, because such an approach is unlikely to elicit greater production of documents.

In half the cases where public interest immunity was claimed in response to orders for the production of documents, the Senate ordered the production of documents that would reveal cabinet deliberations or cause harm to relations between the Commonwealth and the states and territories or to our international relationships. The government acts to balance the demands of the Senate with the public interest in maintaining the confidentiality of these deliberations and our relationships with other governments and nations. I'm happy to table those documents.