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

I thank Senator Steele-John for the question. I do think it has been an important budget to ensure the ongoing sustainability of the NDIS. I've been around a while, and, when the NDIS was originally established, the information available to everyone was that at full rollout it would annually cost in the order of $13 billion and that it would assist and support in the order of 460,000 people. Where we are now, some years down the track, is that the scheme is exceeding $50 billion and, outside of the age pension, is the largest social program in the country. Without taking action, and at the current growth rates, it would exceed $70 billion. I think—and the government's taken the view—that if that is allowed to continue then the sustainability of the scheme will be in question.

Yes, we have taken some really hard decisions. A lot of work has been done by Senator McAllister, along with the Minister for Health and Ageing, to look at how we can protect the scheme, return it to its original focus but also, importantly, Senator Steele-John, rebuild the system outside the NDIS, and there are investments in this budget to do that.

At the moment, if you are not in the NDIS and you need extra support, it doesn't exist unless you have dollars to pay for it. That is a problem. Again, we can put our heads in the sand and say, 'We'll leave that as a problem for somebody else down the track,' or we can sit down and try and work out how we return the NDIS to its original intention, idea and program. It's quite different to that now. Anyone who has watched the NDIS understands that. Yes, we need to focus on compliance and all the other issues, but we need to deal with these big challenges as well. (Time expired)