Wendy Askew (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today in support of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Integrity and Safeguarding) Bill 2025. At the outset, I reaffirm the coalition's enduring and unequivocal support for the NDIS. It is one of Australia's most significant social reforms, reflecting our commitment to ensuring Australians with permanent and significant disability can live with dignity, independent, safety and choice. The coalition helped build the scheme and we remain committed to protecting it for participants today and for future generations.

The NDIS now supports more than 760,000 participants, far exceeding the original forecast of around 410,000. Growth itself is not the issue. It reflects unmet need and the vital role the scheme plays. However, the pace and scale of growth, combined with weak integrity settings, pose serious risks to participants, taxpayers and the long-term sustainability of the NDIS.

As the scheme has expanded, so, too, have noncompliance, unsafe practices, predatory behaviour and outright fraud, often targeting the most vulnerable Australians. In April 2023, the government committed to limiting annual growth to eight per cent, later reducing this to five to six per cent in August 2025. Yet these targets were announced without a credible plan and growth continues at close to 10 per cent per annum. That trajectory is clearly unsustainable.

Integrity must sit at the centre of decision-making. Participants must be protected from harm and taxpayers must be able to trust that public funds are being used appropriately. This bill seeks to strengthen safeguards and, in many respects, it moves in the right direction. It increases civil and criminal penalties to 10,000 penalty units and expands the powers of the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commissioner, including banning and antipromotion orders.

The coalition supports strong penalties for wrongdoing. Providers who defraud participants or deliver unsafe services must face serious consequences. But penalties alone are not enough. Without effective detection, enforcement and timely action, even the strongest penalties risk being meaningless.

The ACCC's February 2026 report found widespread misleading advertising and unethical conduct, and providers falsely promoting holidays or dining as NDIS supports, selling faulty equipment, refusing refunds and imposing unfair contract terms. The harm to participants and families is significant, and trust in the scheme is eroding. The new antipromotion powers are therefore justified. However, serious gaps remain—94 per cent of NDIS providers are unregistered, yet this bill introduces no regulatory framework for the vast majority of the market. These gaps are being exploited.

Coalition officers hear frequent reports of inflated prices for basic services once providers learn costs will be charged to the NDIS. That is exploitation, and weak verification allows it to continue. Banning powers will only be effective if the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission is properly resourced and able to act quickly. Delay too often means harm has already occurred. We also support expanded electronic claims provided non-digital options remain available, particularly for regional areas such as Tasmania, where connectivity is unreliable.

The coalition supports the 90-day cooling off period for participants seeking to withdraw from the scheme, however concerns remain about proposed section 29A, which could allow a correspondence nominee to request or cancel a withdrawal, undermining participant autonomy. This must be corrected, and the coalition has moved an amendment to ensure only the participant or an appropriate plan nominee can make such a request.

Finally, public confidence is essential. The government cannot clearly quantify fraud, yet the ANAO estimates six-to-10 per cent of NDIS outlays may be noncompliant. That's billions of dollars each year. Every dollar lost to fraud is a dollar denied to Australians with disability. The NDIS is one of Australia's greatest reforms. This this bill is a start, but much more must be done.