Disability Advocates Say Labor NDIS Visions Are A Good Start
The opposition said the "biggest threat to the scheme is a lack of trust.”
Advocacy groups have welcomed Labor’s commitment to review the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) as part of their election campaign.
Shadow NDIS Minister and former Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said his party would hire nearly 400 additional staff at its parent agency, introduce prevention measures to avoid funding cuts, and work towards a “more efficient, fair, and investment-focused” appeals process for people with disability.
“The biggest threat to the scheme is a lack of trust — you are either a participant who’s had your funding cut in the last two years, or you are up at midnight worrying that your funding will be cut in the next couple of years,” said Shorten on Tuesday.
The $30.8 billion scheme assists just over 500,000 recipients, despite there being an estimated 4.4 million people living with disability in Australia. Shorten said the Coalition had been “very poor managers” of the NDIS, which was first introduced under the Gillard Government in 2013.
“At first glance, this is a very good plan, and responds well to what people with disability and our families have been calling for,” said People With Disability Australia President Samantha Connor on Wednesday, calling for clarity on their priorities, and a workable timeline on how Labor will deliver their promises.
“But what we really want to see is an approach that involves problems with NDIS plans being dealt with as much as possible before having to go to an appeals process,” said Connor via a statement. PWDA also requested additional safeguards to prevent fraud and dodgy practices by NDIS providers, as well as the end of algorithm use in determining funding which would prevent Robodebt-style outcomes.
Campaign group Children and Young People with Disability Australia told the ABC that young Australians should also be focused on. “The majority of NDIS participants are aged under 25 years old, and we hope all parties make similar commitments and continue to invest in improving the NDIS,” said CEO Mary Sawyer.
“The NDIS is currently extremely difficult to navigate for children and young people with disability and their families, with many struggling to access and juggle the complexity of the scheme,” she said. “These announcements to streamline the NDIS, based on co-design, are welcome.”
Meanwhile, NDIS Minister Linda Reynolds said the Morrison Government was providing “record funding for disability services” and claimed that opposition leader Anthony Albanese was offering “economic insecurity” to the NDIS. “As part of Budget 2022-23 we are investing in growing and sustaining the care and support workforce to ensure we have enough future workers in this critical sector,” she said in March.