The Federal Government claims that legislative reforms passed this week have secured the future of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), and will make the scheme safer, clearer and more sustainable for participants. However, many organisations are alarmed about the expected impact of the changes, warning they will cause significant harm to people already doing it tough.
Minister Mark Butler said current NDIS access and planning arrangements will remain in place until changes are introduced gradually over the next few years. There will be no changes to access until 1 January 2028.
Butler said the reforms were “returning the scheme to its original purpose, which was to support people with significant and permanent disability”. He also said “these are hard reforms and they are causing some anxiety in parts of the community, but I’m absolutely convinced, and most disability advocates back me on this, that these are essential reforms if we’re going to secure this amazing scheme for the long term”.
The First Peoples Disability Network (FPDN) said First Nations people with disability are already the most underserved participants in the Scheme, and they have the most to lose from what happens next. People with Disability Australia said they are devastated, frightened, and angry, and that the community is grieving the lives they have had, the opportunities they will lose, and the impossible choices they will now need to make.
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The National Mental Health Consumer Alliance said the legislation ignores the original rights-based framework the Scheme was built on and reduces it to a cost-containment mechanism, where human rights are subordinated to economic efficiency. ACOSS said it condemned the passage of NDIS legislation. “Our thoughts are with the hundreds of thousands of people with disability, their families and carers, who are scared that they will lose the support upon which they rely,” said ACOSS CEO Dr Cassandra Goldie.
Organisations are speaking out against the reforms. The National Network of Incarcerated & Formerly Incarcerated Women & Girls said they are deeply concerned by reforms designed around moving large numbers of people away from the NDIS while governments themselves acknowledge that substantial work remains to build the foundational supports supposedly waiting for them.
Carers Australia said the Government has refused to guarantee NDIS supports won’t be removed until other services are available, leaving carers to face some really tough decisions. Dietitians Australia warned that people with disability who rely on dietitians to eat and drink safely are at risk of losing that support under the NDIS Amendment Bill.
Occupational Therapy Australia said it is deeply disappointing that the Bill passed without addressing risks to participant access and the sustainability of the occupational therapy workforce delivering support.
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Children and Young People with Disability Australia CEO Skye Kakoschke-Moore said the Government’s push to pass its NDIS overhaul is reckless, and that families deserve to know the support their child needs will be there when they need it. As the reforms move forward, many organisations and individuals are concerned about the potential impact on people with disability.
The Government says these changes are necessary to make the NDIS sustainable, but others argue that sustainability cannot come at the cost of people’s rights, safety, or access to essential support. They are calling for a clear and accessible implementation roadmap, which outlines how the reforms will be rolled out.
More than 240,000 people may leave the National Disability Insurance Scheme over four years, according to government modelling. The figures estimate a further 110,000 people who are not yet participants would be diverted from accessing the scheme by 2031. The Government’s own modelling anticipates around 240,000 current participants leaving the NDIS by 2031, with a further 110,000 people diverted to services that do not yet exist in many communities.
The next phase of home and living reforms, including Supported Independent Living commissioning, must begin with the person, their chosen home, and the life they want to lead. Housing and support must work together while remaining sufficiently separate to protect tenancy rights, provider choice, and freedom from conflicts of interest.