Jacinta Collins (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for School Education and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That these bills be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading speeches incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speeches read as follows—

NATIONAL DISABILITY INSURANCE SCHEME LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL 2013

This bill follows up the recent landmark legislation underpinning the first stage of DisabilityCare Australia, the National Disability Insurance Scheme, by making minor clarifying and consequential amendments to complement the main legislation.

The National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013, passed earlier this year, establishes DisabilityCare Australia, —the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

This will enable the scheme to be launched, and DisabilityCare Australia to operate the launch, in four sites across Australia from July 2013 – in South Australia, Tasmania, the Hunter region in New South Wales, and the Barwon area of Victoria – and, from July 2014, in the Australian Capital Territory and the Barkly region of the Northern Territory.

This bill makes minor amendments to the legislation to clarify the policy intention in relevant provisions, and to address minor anomalies and technical errors.

These technical changes will make sure that all of the details intended to be specified in the rules – which are necessary for implementation of the first stage of the scheme – will reflect the principal legislation for the scheme.

For example, provisions that allow rules to be made to prescribe relevant 'criteria' will be clarified to make sure rules can also be made to prescribe 'matters for consideration' or 'factors to be taken into account'.

Similarly, in the case of the early intervention supports, where there is no intention to make rules and where key eligibility criteria are already set out clearly in the legislation, the current rule-making power is being removed to avoid any risk that those provisions would not be available to people who may benefit from them.

The bill will strengthen the audit and risk management framework of DisabilityCare Australia. It is critical that the Board adopts a rigorous approach to oversight of DisabilityCare Australia, ensuring that this historic reform is financially sustainable and will support the wellbeing of Australians with disability for decades to come.

The framework for audit and risk management provides an important assurance that DisabilityCare Australia's operations and risks are being prudently and soundly managed.

Other minor amendments include clarifying the matters to which the CEO must have regard when considering whether to take action to claim or obtain compensation, or take over the conduct of an existing claim. These matters are similar to the matters that the act already requires the CEO to have regard to when deciding whether to require a scheme participant to take compensation action.

While it is not expected that the CEO will often need to take on or take over compensation claims, the amendments provide clarity to scheme participants and potential participants about what the CEO would need to consider before taking any such action.

The bill also makes consequential amendments to other Commonwealth Acts to complement the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013.

The bill will establish a new National Disability Insurance Scheme Division of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and require that members appointed to the division have expertise relating to disability or other relevant experience.

The Minister responsible for the scheme will also have to be consulted before a tribunal member can be assigned to the new division.

These requirements will ensure that applications for review of relevant decisions under the scheme are reviewed by tribunal members with appropriate training, knowledge or experience in this specialised area. A robust external merits review system is integral to supporting fair, efficient and effective decision making under the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Amendments to the social security law will include changes to ensure that amounts paid under the National Disability Insurance Scheme for supports funded under a participant's plan are not taken into account under the social security or veterans' entitlements income and assets tests.

Lastly, among some consequential amendments to the taxation legislation, there will be changes to ensure that payments and benefits provided under the National Disability Insurance Scheme to participants in the scheme are exempt from income tax.

DISABILITYCARE AUSTRALIA FUND BILL 2013

For too long, people with disability, and their carers and families, have lived with inequity and uncertainty.

That is why this Government is transforming disability services by creating and locking in funding for DisabilityCare Australia.

DisabilityCare Australia will provide people with significant and permanent disability across Australia with the support they need.

The support they have waited too long for.

It will provide them with choice and control.

And it will enhance their opportunities for social and economic participation.

Through the bill the Prime Minster has introduced, the Government will provide a strong and enduring funding stream for DisabilityCare Australia, and provide certainty to people with disability that they will receive support in the long term, the Government will increase the Medicare levy from 1.5 to 2 per cent from 1 July 2014.

Disability can affect any of us and therefore it affects all of us.

That is why we are asking Australians to make a small contribution that will make a big difference to the lives of over 460,000 people with disability when the scheme is fully rolled out.

It was a Labor Government that introduced the Medicare levy in 1984 to fund Medicare.

The introduction of Medicare and the Medicare levy ensured equal access to health care for all Australians and demonstrated a commitment by the Labor government to the benefits of universal health care.

The DisabilityCare Australia Fund Bill is an important part of making DisabilityCare Australia a reality.

Every dollar raised from increasing the Medicare levy will be paid into the DisabilityCare Australia Fund, that we will establish with this bill.

This bill makes it crystal clear that the additional funds raised by the Medicare levy can only be drawn upon to fund DisabilityCare Australia.

The DisabilityCare Australia Fund will be managed by the Future Fund Board of Guardians (the Future Fund Board) who have the experience in successfully managing other Government owned investment funds.

The bill requires that a fixed amount of the money flowing into the Fund each year will be set aside for the States and Territories.

This amount will be $825 million in 2014-15, one quarter of the amount we expect to raise in that year.

The annual amount allocated within the Fund to the States and Territories will be grown in future years by 3.5 per cent per year.

Over ten years, the States and Territories will be allocated a total of $9.7 billion.

Funds will be used to reimburse States and Territories for spending on the scheme once key conditions are met.

We will formalise those conditions in agreements with the States.

Consistent with the principle that these funds are only to be used for additional costs in delivering DisabilityCare, those conditions will ensure that States can only access funds once they are incurring significant new costs in delivering DisabilityCare.

To support early establishment costs, eligible States will also be able to access some of their annual allocation in 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18.

The bill will also provide the opportunity to cover interim matters to enable DisabilityCare Australia to commence operations from 1 July 2013, through creation of a transitional special account to manage State and Territory government funds until the Board overseeing the National Disability Insurance Scheme Launch Transition Agency is established.

The transitional special account will also be credited with the Commonwealth's contribution for 2013-14 which will be appropriated to the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. This will provide assurance to State and Territory governments that the Commonwealth's contribution will be spent only on DisabilityCare Australia.

This bill allows the DisabilityCare Australia Fund to receive, hold and invest the additional revenue from the increase in the Medicare levy for the purposes of reimbursing the Commonwealth and States and Territories for their contributions to DisabilityCare Australia. It supports the critical objectives and principles of DisabilityCare Australia.

The Government's plan for DisabilityCare Australia extends well beyond the Medicare levy increase and the DisabilityCare fund.

In the Budget, the Government detailed the long term structural savings that, along with the revenue from the Medicare levy increase, will fully fund DisabilityCare well beyond the forward estimates, even beyond a ten year horizon.

This unprecedented step of providing long-term funding well beyond the normal four year Budget cycle shows the depth of Labor's commitment to DisabilityCare.

It shows our commitment to righting the wrongs of too many years of complacency, too many years where we have not given proper regard to the needs of people with significant and permanent disability.

With the secure funding we lock in for DisabilityCare today and for the future, we ensure that come 1 July 2013, DisabilityCare will be here to stay.

MEDICARE LEVY AMENDMENT (DISABILITYCARE AUSTRALIA) BILL 2013

Australia's strong economy and Australia's social safety nets are the envy of the world.

In this Bill, we see Australia at its very best.

In this Bill, we see that we still can be the strong, smart, fair Australia that created the Age Pension and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, Medibank, Medicare and universal superannuation.

In this Bill, we see that there is still a place for collective action to solve those great pressures of life that are too big and complex for individuals and families to solve alone.

In this Bill, we see a nation united in a spirit of concern to strengthen and extend the fair go, to ensure no one is left behind ...

… we also see a Parliament ready to put the national interest ahead of ideology.

To those who say Australian politics no longer works, I say simply: read the Medicare Levy Amendment (DisabilityCare Australia) Bill.

This is a united embrace of national responsibility and a great act of mutual care and solidarity.

Every week or fortnight, a sliver of the paypacket will go to DisabilityCare Australia: around a dollar a day for the average earner.

But all that money added together from every corner of the nation will be a mighty force for good.

Today we give an assurance to all Australians who live with disability and to those who care for them: DisabilityCare Australia will be here when you need it … election after election, decade after decade, generation after generation.

A new assurance for 410 000 Australians living with significant, permanent disability now and for their families and carers.

Today we also give a new assurance to all those Australians who do not have a disability today but who, through the vagaries of fortune, will come to have a significant, permanent disability in times to come.

For everyone who thinks, "it couldn't happen to me – could it?" this Bill brings peace of mind, it brings the knowledge that a scheme as well-designed and stably-funded as Medicare will be here when you need it.

Let me turn to the detail of the Bill.

The Bill will increase the Medicare levy by half a percentage point, from 1.5 per cent to 2 per cent, from 1 July 2014.

The Bill also makes consequential changes to the upper phase-in amount for low-income taxpayers with income between certain thresholds – as well as to the formula for calculating the amount of a person's Medicare levy liability where a person has a spouse or dependants.

These changes reflect the increase in the Medicare levy.

Low-income earners will continue to receive relief from the Medicare levy through the low-income thresholds for singles, families, seniors and pensioners.

The current exemptions from the Medicare levy will also remain in place, including for blind pensioners and sickness allowance recipients.

A number of other tax rates that include a component for the Medicare levy will also increase in line with this change – these include increases in the rate of fringe benefits tax and excess contributions tax.

These bills will be introduced by my Ministers today and further details of these consequential increases are set out in the Explanatory Memorandum.

Every cent raised by the increase in the Medicare levy will be allocated to a special fund over the next decade – the DisabilityCare Australia Fund.

By law, the fund will only be spent on supporting people with disability through DisabilityCare Australia.

The DisabilityCare Australia Fund will be established by the DisabilityCare Australia Fund Bill 2013, which will be put before the House as part of this package.

Full details of this fund will be outlined in the explanatory memorandum to that Bill which is to be tabled by the Deputy Prime Minister shortly.

Increasing the Medicare levy will raise approximately $20.4 billion between 2014-15 and 2018-19 – amounting to approximately 55 per cent of the total cost of funding DisabilityCare Australia over that period.

The Commonwealth's share of the fund will go toward our additional contribution to DisabilityCare Australia.

This will cover around 60 per cent of the Australian Government's net new spending on the scheme over the ten years from 2014-15.

In last night's Budget, the Deputy Prime Minister outlined that through this increased Levy and other wise savings, DisabilityCare Australia is fully funded.

DisabilityCare Australia is designed to ensure every Australian with significant and permanent disability, regardless of where he or she lives, gets the care and support they need.

DisabilityCare Australia will end the notorious "postcode lottery" for people with disabilities in this country.

I want no more of the unfairness and irrationality by which a person gets vastly different support merely because of where he or she lives or how a disability was acquired.

This requires the commitment and support of State and Territory governments.

The Government will assist the States and Territories with funding their share of DisabilityCare Australia, by setting aside some of the money going into the DisabilityCare Australia Fund.

Over the life of the fund, the States and Territories will be allocated a total of $9.7 billion.

The States and Territories will be able to draw down from the Fund when they meet key conditions for implementation.

DisabilityCare Australia will have full coverage across the Australian Capital Territory by July 2016, in New South Wales and South Australia by July 2018, and Tasmania, Victoria, Queensland and the Northern Territory by July 2019.

These agreements will see the scheme cover around

90 per cent of the total Australian population.

The Western Australian allocation from the Fund will be quarantined until we reach agreement with the State.

We encourage the Western Australian Government to join the cause.

All our people deserve the best.

To ensure that DisabilityCare Australia is fully funded, the Government has implemented a number of other savings measures.

Part of the savings from reforms to the Government's assistance for private health insurance announced in the 2012-13 MYEFO which have not been allocated to the Government's dental package will support DisabilityCare.

Funding will also come from reforms to retirement incomes policy, the phase out of the net medical expenses tax offset and other long-term savings decisions now announced as part of the 2013-14 Budget.

Making a new call upon the finances of Australians is not something that is done without care in this country – the fact is when a levy does happen, there is rightly a very good reason.

Bob Hawke with the Medicare levy.

John Howard with the levy for gun buy-backs.

This Government's flood levy which rebuilt Queensland.

Now, this increase in the Medicare levy to support DisabiltyCare.

Ours has been a fiscally-responsible government.

Offsetting all new spending since 2009, holding expenditure at a level lower than the average seen over the past 25 years.

A levy was not our first choice of funding vehicle for DisabilityCare.

But with the high dollar and the historic anomaly of nominal GDP growth falling below real GDP growth for a sustained period, the revenue write-downs have been unprecedented ... $17 billion for this financial year since the last budget update alone.

In short, the facts have changed.

I am also deeply conscious that the States and Territories face their own fiscal pressures arising from these same complex economic circumstances.

So we want to be able to offer them more support to pay for the scheme – which is why a substantial share of funds raised by this levy will go to the States and Territories.

Most importantly, we've listened to the sound case made by disability support groups for secure, ongoing funding for the national disability insurance scheme.

In a time of burden sharing and wise savings, they are right to want to ensure that DisabilityCare has a sustainable and stable funding stream ... in order to guarantee the security DisabilityCare is designed to bring.

The President of People with Disability Australia, Craig Wallace, has summarised the argument well – the levy will be

An insurance premium for good times and bad ... people ' s disabilities will not go away the next time we have a surplus.

That's the backdrop against which I introduce this Bill.

That's why the Government not only has bipartisan support for this Bill, we have near-nationwide agreement on this scheme.

Following the ground breaking agreement with New South Wales last December, the other jurisdictions have joined the cause, one by one:

South Australia, the ACT, Tasmania, Victoria, Queensland and most recently the Northern Territory.

That means 90 per cent of Australians are now part of the plan ... leaving only the people of Western Australia still waiting for a decision by their Premier.

People with disabilities and their families have campaigned so long to design and fund a national disability insurance scheme.

Many of those advocates are here with us today – I want to take the time to welcome and acknowledge you all now – and to acknowledge the passion and dedication of so many people with disability, so many families and carers, who have brought the campaign to this point.

In recent weeks, as the momentum you have built has broken through, as we have struck agreements with States and Territories and announced details of the funding, I have seen the hope and anticipation which Australians with disability, particularly young Australians, now share.

The Saturday before last, I travelled to Melbourne to meet Premier Napthine and sign up Victoria to DisabilityCare.

In Melbourne, I saw Sophie, a twelve-year-old girl who lives with Down Syndrome.

As her parents describe her, Sophie "reads and writes, mucks around on the monkey bars, can be well behaved and badly behaved, runs like a billy goat, and is a budding photographer".

She took my photo while we were there.

Last week I travelled to Brisbane to meet Premier Newman and sign up Queensland to DisabilityCare.

While I was there, I met Sandy, who is 17 and lives with a physical disability similar to cerebral palsy.

Sandy has big dreams for his future, like any teenager, but his future also has some big needs: mobility aids that cost tens of thousands of dollars, personal care to maintain his hygiene, physical therapy to maintain his muscles and his health.

When I met this young man he handed me a card signed by him and his mates to say thanks for what we are doing for people with disability – a card illustrated by the photo Sophie had taken a week before.

In years to come, DisabilityCare Australia will ensure Sophie and Sandy and so many other young people with disability will have the security and dignity every Australian deserves.

This, above all, is why Australians so overwhelmingly support DisabilityCare.

Over the past six years, the idea of a national disability insurance scheme has found a place in our nation's heart.

In March, we gave it a place in our nation's laws.

Today we inscribe it in our nation's finances.

The people who've gathered here today from around the country to witness this debate, know what this means.

There'll be no more "in principle" and no more "when circumstances permit".

There'll be launches, not trials ... permanent care, not temporary help.

DisabilityCare Australia starts in seven weeks – and there will be no turning back.

FRINGE BENEFITS TAX AMENDMENT (DISABILITYCARE AUSTRALIA) BILL 2013

The Fringe Benefits Tax Amendment (DisabilityCare Australia) Bill 2013 is part of a package of measures increasing the Medicare levy by half a percentage point.

The Gillard Government is proud to be delivering DisabilityCare Australia, the most important social reform since Medicare.

We know this is a reform that's time has come.

A reform that will deliver significant benefits to people with disability, their carers and families and to the wider Australian community.

DisabilityCare Australia will transform the lives of people with disability, their families and carers. In 2019-20, the first year of full scheme, it will provide around 460,000 Australians with a significant and permanent disability the care support they deserve, regardless of how they acquired their disability.

People with a disability, their families and carers deserve certainty. They deserve the certainty of knowing that they will be supported over their lifetimes, and the certainty that DisabilityCare Australia will be funded over the long term.

That's why the Government is increasing the Medicare levy from 1.5 to 2 per cent. And that is why every dollar raised from increasing the levy will go directly to fund DisabilityCare Australia. The DisabilityCare Australia Fund will be used solely to for spending on DisabilityCare Australia.

This will ensure DisabilityCare Australia has a strong and stable funding stream, replacing the current funding model based on arbitrary budget allocations.

People with a disability, their families and carers also deserve certainty that they will receive support no matter where they live in Australia. DisabilityCare Australia is a national reform that requires the commitment and support of all State and Territory governments.

To assist the States and Territories, the Government will make a share of the DisabilityCare Australia fund available to the States and Territories. We will make available to the States and Territories $9.7 billion over the next decade to assist in the delivery of DisabilityCare Australia.

People with a disability, their families and carers also deserve certainty that the Commonwealth will fully fund its share of DisabilityCare Australia. That is why we have taken a number of tough savings decisions and will direct those savings to fully fund DisabilityCare Australia.

The Fringe Benefits Tax Amendment (Disabilitycare Australia) Bill contains consequential amendments as a result of the increase in the Medicare levy, contained in the Medicare Levy Amendment (DisabilityCare Australia) Bill 2013.

Fringe Benefits Tax plays an important role in maintaining the fairness and integrity of Australia's taxation system.

It places employees who receive fringe benefits on a more even footing with employees whose remuneration consists entirely of salary or wages. It ensures that all forms of remuneration paid to employees bear a fair measure of tax.

The fringe benefits tax system also ensures that such benefits are counted as income when a person accesses means tested Government financial assistance, such as family tax benefits, ensuring that families are treated equally.

Fringe benefits are taxed at a rate of 46.5 per cent. This is the sum of the top marginal tax rate of 45 per cent plus the current Medicare levy rate of 1.5 per cent.

The Fringe Benefits Tax Amendment (DisabilityCare Australia) Bill 2013 will increase the fringe benefits tax rate to 47 per cent to reflect the increase in the Medicare levy. This will apply from 1 April 2014 – the start of the FBT year.

These consequential amendments will help to ensure the integrity of the tax system.

Further details of the bill are set out in the explanatory memorandum for the package of bills.

In supporting these changes in the Parliament, we show our support for certainty for people with disability, their families and their carers.

We all commit ourselves to this long overdue and much needed reform.

INCOME TAX RATES AMENDMENT (DISABILITYCARE AUSTRALIA) BILL 2013

The Income Tax Rates Amendment (DisabilityCare Australia) Bill 2013 is part of a package of measures increasing the Medicare levy by half a percentage point.

This bill contains consequential amendments to the Income Tax Rates Act 1986. These are necessary as a result of the increase in the Medicare levy, contained in the Medicare Levy Amendment (DisabilityCare Australia) Bill 2013.

When a superannuation fund or retirement savings account member does not provide their tax file number, the contributions made on behalf of the member are counted as income of the superannuation fund or the retirement savings account provider. The superannuation fund or retirement savings account provider is then required to pay tax on the contributions where no tax file number has been provided. This helps to ensure the integrity of the tax system.

The rate of the tax imposed on contributions where no tax file number has been provided includes a component which is the current Medicare levy rate of 1.5 per cent.

The Income Tax Rates Amendment (DisabilityCare Australia) Bill 2013 will increase this component from 1 July 2014 to reflect the increase in the Medicare levy from 1.5 per cent to 2 per cent.

These consequential amendments will help maintain the integrity of the tax system.

The revenue from this package of bills will be used to provide a strong and stable funding stream for DisabilityCare Australia.

Further details of the bill are set out in the explanatory memorandum for the package of bills.

SUPERANNUATION (EXCESS CONCESSIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS TAX) AMENDMENT (DISABILITYCARE AUSTRALIA) BILL 2013

The Superannuation (Excess Concessional Contributions Tax) Amendment (DisabilityCare Australia) Bill 2013 is part of a package of measures increasing the Medicare levy by half a percentage point.

The increase in the Medicare levy will help fund DisabilityCare Australia, the most profound piece of social justice policy since Medicare.

This is a watershed moment in our federation of states, our national story. An opportunity to alter the course of the future for millions of Australians that find difficulty in maintaining a basic level of existence which we all take for granted.

The importance, the urgency of this, is not to be underestimated.

Once DisabilityCare becomes a reality, we will never look back.

We will never look back to a time, a truly primitive time, when the disabled and their carers had to shoulder the burden and fill the gap while legislators sat back and looked at their knuckles, and hoped the problem would fix itself.

I believe this is the greatest cause to come before this chamber for a very long time, and the most important that I have had the privilege to work for.

This is our chance to turn to the almost more than four hundred thousand Australians, their families and their carers that face these daily struggles and say to them `your country will not leave you to fight each day alone`.

We see you. You have worth. And with a bit of help from your people, your society, your tribe, there is a chance things can change.

A better prosthetic may give new chances of work. The help of a specialist, one that was previously unaffordable under the private system, could make a breakthrough that can turn a life around.

This will change lives.

Change families.

Change the dimension of hope in every community.

No longer do we fill this place with empty rhetoric on this issue. We now put our money on the table. And we ask:

What is the price of an ordinary life?

Under DisabilityCare, it doesn't matter if you were born with it, or the circumstance in which you came to be the way you are.

What seems like such a basic concept, as old as the Good Sam

Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this package of 13 bills, the first of which is a bill to give effect to an increase in the Medicare levy from 1.5 per cent to two per cent from 1 July next year. There are 10 consequential tax bills. There is also the bill to establish the DisabilityCare Australia Fund, into which the levy proceeds will go. The 13th bill is essentially a housekeeping bill to make a number of amendments to the primary NDIS Act, which was passed in March.

I am pleased to indicate that the opposition was very happy to facilitate yesterday, in quick time, the passage of this legislation through the House of Representatives—courtesy of conversations between Mr Abbott's office and Ms Gillard's office. For the opposition's part, we will ensure that this legislation is passed in quick time through this place. We have already agreed to exempt this legislation from the cut-off and to see it placed in the noncontroversial section of the chamber's agenda for today. We do so because this parliament does have a shared commitment to a better deal for Australians with disability. In the words of Mr Abbott, the 'NDIS is an idea whose time has come'.

Every senator in this chamber knows very well that the system of support for Australians with disability is broken. When we had the debate on the primary NDIS legislation and when we had the Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs look at that legislation, I think all of us had reinforced the arbitrary nature of disability support around Australia.

There is consensus that we do need and will be getting a new system of support that is based on need rather than on rationing, where the entitlement will go to the individual, where the individual will be at the centre and in charge and where they will be able to pick their service provider for aids, equipment and other supports that they may receive. This was the vision of the Productivity Commission and it is the vision of the NDIS. I did see Mr David Bowen last night at the Carers Australia 20th anniversary function. I was hoping that he would leave and make it an early night because he needs all the energy he can possibly muster for the great adventure of which he is at this time the chief steward. I know all senators wish him well in the task that he and his staff have.

It is important to note that the NDIS is also a shared vision not just of the parliament but of every government in Australia and of every opposition in Australia. For its part, the federal coalition has enthusiastically supported each milestone on the road to the NDIS that has reflected the work of the Productivity Commission. We strongly support the six launch sites. We welcome the agreements between the Commonwealth and the states and territories for full jurisdiction-wide rollouts. We supported, as did all colleagues in this place, the NDIS act passed in March.

Mr Abbott demonstrated his personal commitment to Australians with disability and their carers by raising over $1.2 million through the 2012 and 2013 Pollie Pedal charity bike rides. Each year, along the 1,000 kilometre routes, Mr Abbott has met with people with disabilities and with carers, and with the organisations that support them. The next Pollie Pedal will also be in partnership with and raise funds for Carers Australia. For Mr Abbott, his commitment is not just professional; it is certainly personal.

All comments, questions and suggestions by the opposition in relation to the NDIS have been offered in a constructive spirit and in an endeavour to help make the NDIS be the best that it possibly can be. The coalition has stood ready at all times to work with the government and other parties to see the NDIS delivered as soon as possible. The coalition is strongly of the view that with full implementation of an NDIS, it would be nothing short of a new deal for people with disabilities and their carers. We do have to get this right. Because the NDIS is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver a better deal for Australians with disability, because it will unfold over the lives of several parliaments, we think it is important that the NDIS is seen as the property of the parliament as a whole rather than of any individual political party. When I say 'property of the parliament as a whole', that is on behalf of the Australian people.

To get this right will require a high level of consultation and attention to detail, not just now but over the full implementation period—not just in the launch sites but over the period of full jurisdiction and live rollout. That is why the coalition has called for the establishment of a joint parliamentary committee to be chaired by both sides of politics to oversee the establishment and implementation of the NDIS. I am very much of the view that a parliamentary oversight committee would serve as a symbol to the Australian community that all parties were locked in to support the NDIS and that it would provide a non-partisan environment in which issues of design and eligibility could be worked through constructively. I have not hidden my disappointment in the past on the three occasions when the parliament has declined the opportunity to support the establishment of this committee. In fact, I think the parliamentary oversight committee is even more important given the advent of a new tax base in the form of the Medicare levy increase that is before us and given the establishment of the DisabilityCare Australia fund into which the levy proceeds will be put. But I am very pleased that the government has now agreed to the establishment of a parliamentary committee that will operate on a bipartisan basis, and that has come about as a result of the interactions between the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition over the last day or so. So, that is indeed good news. The terms of reference are not as extensive as envisaged in our initial proposition. But, should we form government, that is something that we would certainly address.

Let me reiterate that the coalition has supported the establishment of the NDIS every step of the way. We want it to be a success. We do not want it to be a political football. We want it to be a reality as soon as possible. We want to see it on a secure footing. And the best guarantee for the NDIS in the long term is good economic management, good budget management and a government that prioritises within its means. Economic policy and social policy are sometimes presented as alternatives or as being in competition, but they are not. You need a good economic policy in order to afford a good social policy. The Productivity Commission, for its part, recommended that the NDIS be funded from consolidated revenue. I think their view was that core government business should be funded from core government revenue.

Our view has long been that the problem under the current administration was not that Australians did not pay enough tax but rather that the current administration has not been a good steward of the ample taxes paid. We have long predicted that the government's wrong priorities and waste and excessive spending would in fact compromise their ability to fund the NDIS from consolidated revenue. Until a few weeks ago the Prime Minister was also of the view that the NDIS should be funded from consolidated revenue. In fact, she categorically ruled out a levy, or the need for one, as recently as December. Instead, the government found a range of things to spend money on, and there was not adequate provision for the NDIS; hence the government's levy proposition. Our view in relation to the levy is straightforward. We did not propose a levy. There should not be the need for a levy, and the government is only proposing a levy because they have blown the bank and have failed to prioritise. We on this side do not like tax increases, but we do not think Australians with disability should miss out on the better deal they deserve due to poor decisions by this government. I do not think that would pass the fair go test. This legislation that is before us, all 13 pieces of it, will pass with our support, but we do see the Medicare levy increase as being only a temporary measure until the budget has been repaired and is in strong surplus.

I will put our decision into a broader context. We know that the Productivity Commission did not recommend funding the NDIS through a new tax. We understand that many families are doing it tough and that tax increases are an impost on household budgets. That is why, rather than responding immediately, we took our time and soberly considered the government's proposition to increase the Medicare levy. We do know that the current government's management of the economy and its fiscal approach, and the state of the budget as a result of the decisions they have taken, do not currently allow the NDIS to be funded from consolidated revenue without further borrowings. Australians with a disability and their carers want the confidence that the NDIS means a permanent change in the way our country supports people with a disability. People with a disability should not have to wait any longer than is necessary for the support they need. For these reasons the coalition is prepared to support the government's proposed increase to the Medicare levy.

It is also important to recognise that the Medicare levy increase does not cover the full cost of an NDIS. The levy does not cover the difference between what governments currently spend on disability and the full cost of an NDIS. When you take into account the 25 per cent of levy proceeds that the government will give to the states and territories for 10 years you will note that the levy covers perhaps 40 per cent of the Commonwealth's required contribution to an NDIS in the period after the launch. We continue to call on the government to outline how the remaining 60 per cent of funding will be provisioned. Despite promising before the budget to do so, on the night of the budget the government has as yet failed to outline where the balance of the funds will come from. We will certainly be taking the opportunity of Senate estimates to further explore, unpack and disaggregate some of the funding information which the government provided on budget night.

I do not need to tell anyone that the NDIS is a huge venture of great proportions. According to the Australian Government Actuary, it will have a gross cost of $22 billion in complete form and will require additional contributions from all governments of more than $10½ billion dollars beyond 2018-19. When such a big call is being made on taxpayers they are entitled to know exactly what the NDIS will achieve and who it will support. The government needs to provide greater clarity on that.

The 460,000 Australians who will be supported by the NDIS are entitled to have a full appreciation of the gateway to the scheme. The gateway to the NDIS has a number of elements. There are the eligibility criteria in the act, there are the regulations, known as the NDIS rules, some of which have been released in draft form, and the NDIS national assessment tools, which have not as yet been publicly released.

When looking at the issue of gateways it is important to recognise that the Productivity Commission report has been in the government's hands for two years, that this is a $22 billion scheme and that there is a new tax base being created in the form of the Medicare levy increase that will part fund the scheme. It is important also to consider it against the backdrop that NDIS launch sites go live in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania in six weeks time.

When the opposition indicated we would consider the increase to the Medicare levy we said that the government needed to introduce legislation to establish a fund in which the levy proceeds would be held; the government has done that. We said that the government also needed to legislate to the Future Fund as guardians of the fund, and the government has done that. We also said that the government needed to release the final NDIS rules and the national assessment tool, which has not happened as yet.

When the opposition has raised the issue of the tools and the rules there have been some who have said that the opposition is getting down into the weeds, but I think it is important to recognise that, for Australians with significant disability, the assessment tools and the NDIS rules are not a theoretical mechanism. They are elements which will combine to underpin the opportunities and quality of life for these individuals.

It has also been suggested that people who want to know the eligibility arrangements for the scheme should grab a copy of the act. I do not believe that the Prime Minister, in saying that, seriously contended that Australians with disability should grab a copy of the act, grab a set of the draft rules, hunt down the national assessment tool and try to work it out themselves. I have said before and I will reiterate that I think it would be extremely helpful to potential scheme participants if a series of cameos or worked examples were released so that people with physical, sensory, intellectual, cognitive or neurological impairments could have a handle on their likely eligibility under the scheme. The same goes for people with psychiatric conditions. I do not think it is unreasonable to expect this sort of detail for a $22-billion scheme that is due to commence in about six weeks time.

I will draw a contrast with a another significant reform. When the Howard-Costello government was preparing for the new tax system, the GST, the government of the day produced over 1,000 fact sheets and dozens of cameos and worked examples as to the effects of the tax on every type of household and business. This was done more than a year before the legislation came into the parliament and more than two years before the legislation took effect. I cannot imagine that, when Peter Costello was fielding questions about the new tax system, he ever responded that people should grab themselves a copy of the legislation and work it out for themselves. I think there is a need for some accessible cameos and worked examples in addition to the release of the rules and the national assessment tools. In the absence of some of that sort of information it is difficult to develop a complete picture as to how the scheme will work. I want to be clear: this is in no way a criticism of the staff of FaHCSIA or the transition agency. I think they are working as hard as they can. But that information would be helpful.

The opposition will be supporting this legislation. We look forward to working with all parties to see the NDIS become a reality.

Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to support the legislation before the Senate to establish a National Disability Insurance Scheme. The Greens are strongly supportive of the scheme and delighted that it is being brought forward and then voted on before we go to an election this year. It is a major reform in this country. We are delighted that it is happening and we are very pleased to stand and support it. We certainly welcome the fact that the Gillard government has moved in this way to provide care for people living with disability, no matter how that disability was acquired, to ensure that people will have daily care and to support delivering basic needs to allow full participation in society.

The legislation represents a combination of a strong community campaign. I congratulate all those campaigners and advocates for the determination and dedication that they have demonstrated over the years. Today is a great day for you, for all of those people out there who have made it their life's work. I congratulate them.

The scheme will support more than 400,000 Australians with a disability, their families and their careers. We know that disability currently affects one in every five Australians and that 95 per cent of Australians will enter the disability community, either temporarily or permanently, at some point in their lives. The scheme will pay for carers to give parents of children with disability a break. I know that everybody will have met or been part of a family trying to support a family member with a disability. It is absolutely essential that people are supported so that they can have a break in order to maintain the ongoing work that they do and to enable them to continue the loving support that they give to their family member with a disability. The increase in the Medicare levy equates to an extra dollar a day for the average income earner and I would suggest that it is a dollar a day well spent.

As disability advocate Stella Young has said, it is hard to think about dollars when it may mean how many showers we get to have per week or whether we can get a mobility aid that will let us leave our houses. That is the practical reality of how to support people so that they can participate in society. I have to say that Stella Young has been a fantastic advocate for this national disability insurance scheme. I welcome the fact that the trials will be beginning in my home state of Tasmania in July. That will be very genuinely appreciated by the Tasmanian community.

The Greens have successfully amended the legislation to allow the national disability insurance scheme to ensure that the other essential services that people living with a disability need do not end or are not curtailed. Those services include transport, housing and education. This means that service providers will be required to continue to provide those services.

I welcome today's announcement that adopts our recommendation from the inquiry that establishes a trial specifically for Aboriginal people living with a disability. The Australian Greens recognise that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living with a disability often have significant difficulty accessing appropriate services. We welcome the flexibility in the scheme to meet those needs.

I recognise the time constraints on this debate and so I will conclude my remarks by reiterating how pleased the Australian Greens are to have the opportunity to stand here today to support the establishment of the national disability insurance scheme. I congratulate my colleagues for their work in ensuring the amendments to the scheme. I congratulate all the advocates. I congratulate the government for the work that has been done on this. I congratulate my colleague Senator Siewert for her dedication to this and for securing these amendments. I look forward to the passage of the legislation and the pilots starting and the money being made available to support the scheme.

Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to add to the Greens support. I will not take long, because I know that we want this legislation to go through this chamber so that we will have all the foundation pieces in place for a national disability scheme to start rolling out across Australia and so that the launch sites can get going. I have to comment yet again that I am really disappointed that we do not have a launch site in Western Australia because Western Australia has not yet signed up. That is very disappointing. I have had a number of emails from people living with a disability in Western Australia and their carers, people who have been supporting the campaign in Western Australia for a very long time. They have been very outspoken. Those people, like the rest of the people in Australia, want a national disability insurance scheme. They want DisabilityCare to come to Western Australia as well. I urge the Western Australian government and the Commonwealth government to work together to come to a resolution of this impasse. We do not want Western Australians to be missing out on opportunities to get the care and support that other Australians living with a disability will get. People living with a disability in the rest of Australia will get that care and support but unfortunately not those people living in my home state of Western Australia.

This morning I attended—along with the minister and Senator Fifield—the launch of the First People's Disability Network Australia's 10-point plan for the implementation of the NDIS in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. They articulated a 10-point plan very clearly to the Senate inquiry and that is why the issue was picked up in both the majority report and in the additional comments by the Greens—particularly the need to pay special attention to the rollout of the NDIS into remote Aboriginal communities. The first thing they point out in the plan is the need to recognise that the vast majority of Aboriginal people with disability do not self-identify as people with disability. For a start we need to overcome that particular issue. I credit the government for funding the implementation of this plan and the rollout of NDIS in Aboriginal communities. The Barkly Shire will be a launch site.

It would give me and other Western Australians so much pleasure to know that there was a launch site in Western Australia, especially in one of the areas that the Western Australian government is focusing on with their My Way sites. This sort of assistance for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples would be enormously beneficial, particularly in the south-west of Western Australia for the Noongar community. I say once again to the Western Australian government: 'Get on board and make this happen in Western Australia so that people in Western Australia can enjoy the same care and support that everybody else in Australia is going to have access to. Get over this whole state-rights difference and let's get on with it and build on the strengths that we have in Western Australia already.'

The Greens will be supporting this legislation; we have supported the principle of the NDIS from day one. We have tried to be as cooperative as possible to achieve the rollout of this scheme. It gives me great pleasure to support this legislation and to be able to see the beginning of the launch sites in a couple of weeks time.

Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is my real pleasure to sum up this debate today. There are 13 bills to deliver DisabilityCare to Australia, but there are also a number of other bills that need to be passed before 2 o'clock, and so my contribution will be short. But the fact that it is short does not indicate our pleasure and pride at getting the legislation through the parliament.

I commend and thank a number of people. May I thank first senators and especially the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee for the work that they have done to facilitate a number of pieces legislation through the parliament. I particularly want to thank people with disability and their families and carers. The co-design that we have been able to do with those people has been amazing. May I also thank all advocates who over many years have wanted to see this day come. I thank the department officials—all of them, and there are many—for the work that they have done. I particularly want to thank DisabilityCare Australia, the agency that will now take carriage of an idea that had its embryo some 25 or more years ago. I want to place on record my personal thanks to Minister Jenny Macklin, who has steered this work over many years, and to the Prime Minister, who engaged and has become totally committed to improving the lives of people with disability. We have legislation; we have the framework; we have the rules; and now we have the funding. It has been my privilege to be part of this historic social reform. Senators, DisabilityCare Australia's day has come.

Question agreed to.

Bills read a second time.