Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) | Hansard source

Senator Steele-John, I thank you for your contribution just now. I want to address a number of matters which you raised earlier before coming to your direct question. I think the important point that hasn't yet been canvassed is that, in making a support determination, the minister must have regard to advice about safety. Of course, that's an appropriate safeguard to exist in legislation. It is a legal obligation on the minister to consider the impacts on safety that any such determination would have.

You mentioned also the approach to unscheduled reassessments, and it is true that the bill sets out clear criteria that give participants guidance about when an unscheduled reassessment will be considered by the agency. They are the kinds of things that you would think would ordinarily trigger a reassessment: a change in a person's functional capacity, a change in their health or their mobility, perhaps, or a change in their external circumstances—perhaps a change of address or a move from school to employment. It is these kinds of things. But you're right that, as drafted, it doesn't create a specific pathway for a person to make a request based on a support determination.

You'll know, I think, that the government's been very clear from the outset that we do seek to safeguard against risks to participant health and safety, particularly for NDIS participants who require 24-hour support and care. The explanatory memorandum indicates that the intent is to exclude supports that are essential to a participant's health, safety or continuous 24/7 care and support. We've been very grateful for the many advocates who've engaged with us on this commitment because operationalising those arrangements requires engaging with the people who know the scheme best. As you indicated in your contribution, Senator Steele-John, we recognise that participants and their advocates can provide us with very good advice about how best to do this, and we have been listening carefully to what they've had to tell us in the months since the bill was introduced.

The government will be moving an amendment to establish a new plan variation pathway for participants who have high support needs. Those amendments should be circulated in the chamber shortly. Indeed, I had thought that they would have been by now. I've authorised them for distribution.

Senator Steele-John, you were generous enough to share your thinking about this matter with Minister Butler's office. You and I have had the opportunity to discuss your thinking about this also, and I acknowledge the work that you and your team have done to also think through how to operationalise such a pathway for escalation. I don't want to get ahead of debate on that particular amendment, but, in response to your question, I wanted to acknowledge the work that you have done and the advocacy from many people in the community around this question and to confirm that the government will be moving an amendment of that kind later in the course of debate.