An ex-cop, judge and brain injury expert will review violent criminals accessing NDIS after prison

Serial sex offenders and violent criminals seeking National Disability Insurance Scheme supports after leaving jail will be assessed by justice experts to ensure they do not pose a community safety risk.

Serial sex offenders and violent criminals seeking National Disability Insurance Scheme supports after leaving jail will be assessed by justice experts to ensure they do not pose a community safety risk.

NDIS Minister Bill Shorten will on Friday announce the new panel to provide advice on the management of scheme participants with serious violent or sexual criminal histories, including considerations to protect workers against “unacceptable risks”.

“This is a very serious matter to ensure the community and disability workers are

sufficiently safe and protected,” he said.

Former Victorian chief of police Ken Lay will lead the taskforce, which will also include former Supreme Court judge David Harper and Adjunct Associate Professor Jennifer Cullen, who is the chief executive of Synapse, a brain injury support organisation.

The experts will assess the NDIS cohort of around 100 to 150 ex-convicts with serious criminal histories to ensure they are being appropriately managed, and also examine new applicants as they exit prison.

NDIS Minister Bill Shorten will announce an expert panel to assess safety risks posed by serious offenders accessing the scheme. Picture: Martin Ollman

Mr Shorten said there “urgently” needed to be greater accountability to ensure the NDIS was not replacing mainstream systems, such as housing, police and correctional support services.

“Critically, we must also ensure the safety of the NDIS workforce, and the panel will closely consider whether future participants exiting jail can be supported appropriately by the scheme,” he said. “The NDIS is designed to fund disability-related supports and will continue to work closely with state and territory systems on the intersection with the justice and housing systems, in relation to people leaving prisons.”

Former top cop Ken Lay will be on the expert panel.

Mr Shorten said the panel’s expertise included extensive criminal and justice experience, including in law enforcement, forensic psychology, criminology and risk mitigation.

In April Mr Shorten wrote to all state and territory leaders warning them the disability scheme could not be a dumping ground for former prisoners.

“The NDIS cannot be responsible for criminals who are on parole. The NDIS cannot be the dumping ground for state justice systems to keep Australians safe from violent criminals,” he said.

Mr Shorten asked states to collaborate more on sharing data about criminals with dangerous histories accessing the NDIS directly out of prisons and forensic facilities.

It came after court records showed sexual abusers, rapists and pedophiles diagnosed with “mild to medium” intellectual disabilities had been receiving substantial support from the NDIS to live under supervision in the community after release from jail.

In one case the court was told the NDIS would cover the cost of around-the-clock supervision for a 40-year-old convicted rapist who had been granted a $1.4 million support package, which included secure accommodation in a regional Victorian town.

The NDIS was designed to provide support in conjunction with other mainstream services, rather than replace the work of state and territory justice systems.

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