Health Minister Mark Butler has announced sweeping changes to the NDIS. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
About 160,000 people will be cut from the National Disability Insurance Scheme over the next four years as the Federal Government moves to save $15 billion by 2030 and reduce the scheme’s annual growth from 10 per cent to 5 per cent.
Addressing the National Press Club on Wednesday (22 April) ahead of next month’s federal budget, Health Minister Mark Butler, who is also NDIS Minister, said the scheme’s costs had blown out and it was no longer working as initially intended.
He will introduce legislation when parliament returns on 12 May to target what he described as “scheme inflation” and install sweeping reforms to the scheme.
The NDIS’s actuary has recently advised the government that spending has blown out by $13 billion over the next four years.
The changes will mean a crackdown on eligibility to massively reduce the current 760,000 participants on plans and also rout out shonky providers who continue to rort the system.
“I want to be very clear about this. When we talk about fraud in the NDIS, we are not talking about people with disability,” the minister said.
“We are not talking about families who have been put on a plan or offered support. They are not doing anything wrong.
“The fraud in the NDIS is being perpetrated by lowlifes who are scamming both the taxpayer and people with disability.
“The scale and chaotic nature of the NDIS market is distorting other parts of the care economy, and too often not providing high-quality care to participants themselves.
“All of this is hitting the scheme’s community support, or social licence.”
The government will introduce the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for future generations) Bill following the release of the 2026-27 Budget.
Changes Mr Butler announced on Wednesday include:
- Tighter criteria for unscheduled reassessment and measures to reduce plan cost growth
- Reset participant budgets for social and community participation and capacity-building daily activities
- Introduce standardised, evidence-based assessments to determine access to the Scheme, and
- Fraud prevention by improving the quality of plan managers and support coordinators, expanding categories of mandatory provider registration and enrolling providers in a digital payments system.
It means autistic adults could be booted off the scheme, but autistic children under nine years old would transition to the Thriving Kids program currently being developed.
“These are hard decisions, but they’re unavoidable and urgent,” the minister said.
“The deeper reform – rebuilding how the NDIS will operate into the future – will be done through genuine and respectful work with the states, and with the community.”
The Greens have severely criticised the proposed cuts, saying Labor’s decision to kick 160,000 people from the scheme and reduce support for disabled people is a “cynical and cruel” decision.
Greens leader Larissa Waters said the government’s plan will strip away basic rights from disabled people.
“Labor is today cynically booting 160,000 people off the NDIS while letting big gas corporations avoid $17 billion in tax,” Senator Waters said.
“How dare this government, which promised they wouldn’t cut the NDIS, balance their budget by selling disabled people’s dignity.
“This is an extraordinary betrayal of disabled people by a Labor government that promised to protect the NDIS, not cut it. Australians with a disability and everyone who loves them are angry, and they’re not going to let Labor take away their dignity without a fight.”
Mr Butler also used his Press Club address to announce that private health insurance rebates for people aged over 65, which former Liberal Prime Minister John Howard increased, will be reduced to the same amount as that received by all other Australians.
To soften that blow, the minister said the change would allow the government to provide 5000 new aged care beds per year, as part of a $3 billion investment in older Australians.
In some better news for older Australians, the government has buckled to public outrage over its earlier decision that saw some people on Support at Home packages co-paying for basic services such as showers and help with dressing.
Some were paying $50 an hour for such basic care under the scheme that began in November.
Mr Butler announced a reversal of that decision and said those services will be added to the clinical care list and will be free from October.
“We’ve been closely monitoring the rollout of the new Support at Home program. This program is undeniably delivering improvements to the system: more packages, better quality packages and shorter wait times,” he said.
“But we’ve heard community concerns on some aspects of the program, particularly around showering.
“In response, we’ll invest around $1 billion to change the treatment of showering, continence management and dressing through the Support at Home program, making them free of charge alongside clinical care.
“Dignity in older age, through a world-class aged care system, is the least our parents and grandparents deserve.”
Original Article published by Chris Johnson on Region Canberra.
