Finance Minister Katy Gallagher concedes the government has no plan to reduce NDIS cost growth

The federal government has admitted it has no idea yet how it is going to get the increase in NDIS spending down to 8 per cent a year.

The federal government has admitted it has no idea yet how it is going to get the increase in NDIS spending down to 8 per cent a year.

Earlier this month Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced national cabinet had agreed on a sustainability framework to try to contain the spiralling cost of the NDIS.

Currently around 200 people join the NDIS every day, with figures released earlier this month showing it continues to exceed budgetary expectations.

The scheme is expected to cost $35bn this year, which will increase to $56bn by 2026-27.

Last week it was revealed that 11 per cent of the nation’s boys aged between 5 and 7 are NDIS participants and 5 per cent of its girls, the majority for autism.

But the gender gap is closing fast. Three months ago 1-in-25 girls that age were on the scheme, today it’s 1-in-20.

The government’s framework, announced in the lead-up to the budget, aims to cut the growth in the cost of NDIS from around 14 per cent a year down to 8 per cent by 2026.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said the government did not have a plan for arresting the cost growth of the NDIS. Picture: Getty Images

Budget papers show that if this is successful, the plan will save the taxpayer $623 million in 2026-2027 and $59 billion over the following seven years.

The decision to list the savings in the budget came despite NDIS Minister Bill Shorten saying explicitly the savings listed are only a “target” and that spending on the scheme remains uncapped.

Opposition Finance spokeswoman Jane Hume. Picture: Sarah Marshall

On Thursday night Finance Minister Katy Gallagher was asked at a Senate Estimates hearing how the government planned to achieve the savings.

She said it had not yet worked out how it was going to do it.

“We’ve got work under way through national cabinet, obviously having states and territories on board for this discussion is important,” said.

“We’ve got the NDIS Review, which will report later this year, and we’ve got work under way with the minister working with participants in particular how to ensure the sustainability of the scheme going forward.

“So not all the answers are there yet.”

Opposition Finance spokeswoman Jane Hume said the answer showed the Finance Minister had signed off on the NDIS saving with “absolutely no policy” underpinning it.

“This save is based on nothing but a hope and a prayer,” she said.

“Labor must either announce the policies that will deliver this saving and the costings that back it up, or admit they have plucked this 8 per cent saving out of thin air.”

Opposition social services spokesman Michael Sukkar said the target was creating further stress for vulnerable participants on the scheme.

“Labor needs to be honest and not use the budget to make it look like arbitrary caps are savings,” he said.

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