Ballooning NDIS ‘coming under control’, but key reforms in flux

One of those changes involves shifting out of the scheme supports for children with mild autism that have added huge costs to the NDIS. The prime minister and state and territory leaders agreed to provide these services through schools and childcare centres rather than the NDIS on a 50-50 cost basis between state and federal governments. However, a funding agreement has not yet been struck despite a commitment to secure a deal by July.

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Opposition NDIS spokesman Michael Sukkar said the government was not succeeding in limiting fraud, adding that waiting times had increased and disability plans were being cut for deserving participants. His remarks on people being unjustly excluded from the scheme highlights the political sensitivity of tightening eligibility requirements.

“The government claims it’s powerless to stop foreign criminal cartels stealing from the scheme. This perhaps explains why the growth rate of the scheme is exceeding the 8 per cent growth rate promised,” Sukkar said.

“It’s evident that the NDIS has never been worse for Australians with a genuine disability, and never been better for criminals and fraudsters rorting taxpayers’ funds.”

Whilst Shorten last year cut out inappropriate funding of items such as overseas trips and sexual services, Labor has shied away from making more substantial changes to limit the types of disabilities that qualify for payments.

Figures from late 2023 showed 11.5 per cent of boys aged 5-7 were on the NDIS as autism diagnoses exploded and sparked debate about whether the NDIS should be reserved for people with more severe problems.

Big spending on the NDIS, aged care and childcare has contributed to growth in government spending at a time when an inflation shock has demanded lower government outlays.

The NDIS was launched in 2013 and it was believed at the time the scheme would grow at a peak of 4 per cent per year. This spiralled to more than 20 per cent under the former Coalition government, and the scheme is forecast to cost $92.7 billion by 2033-34.

In one of his last interviews before retiring in January, Shorten told this masthead that 500,000 people were deriving income from the NDIS, which he claimed placed the transformation of the caring economy alongside Medicare and superannuation as top Labor reforms.