NDIS ‘rush’: More children added in just six months

Thousands more children are on the National Disability Insurance Scheme than was forecast just six months ago as families rush to secure funding ahead of major changes to how children with autism and developmental delays receive government support.

Data for the December quarter shows the cost of the NDIS – one of Labor’s biggest budget pressures – is continuing to blow out as demand from families surges. The scheme cost $20.4 billion over the past six months, 2 per cent above projections from June, as more Australians joined than expected and their support payments also grew above forecasts.

More than 9 per cent of five to seven-year-old Australian children were NDIS participants as of December 31.Credit: Peter Braig

Children with developmental delay were the main drivers of growth as 9519 more children – or 11 per cent – were on the scheme than had been assumed. The average payment for those children over the six months, $14,000 per participant, was also 19 per cent more than expected in June.

The latest data underscores the urgency of last year’s national cabinet commitment between state and federal governments to establish a new system of so-called “foundational supports” so parents can find help for their children without joining the NDIS, which will cost $100 billion in a decade without change.

But it also demonstrates the enormity of the challenge facing NDIS Minister Bill Shorten – whose agency avoided scrutiny over the figures when it did not bring them to a Senate estimates hearing earlier this week – as he tries to temper growth rates so the scheme remains sustainable for Australians with the most significant disabilities.

More than 9 per cent of five to seven-year-old Australian children were NDIS participants as of December 31, with 12.4 per cent of boys and 5.5 per cent of girls that age accessing support. For NDIS participants under 18, the most prevalent disabilities are autism and developmental delay.

The scheme now serves 646,449 Australians, a 2 per cent increase from the previous quarter.

The report said the main challenges for the NDIS’s financial sustainability were high numbers of children with developmental delay entering the scheme, as well as growing numbers of adults with autism. Increasing average plan budgets – which grew at an annualised rate of 14.4 per cent between June and December – are the other pressure point.

Shorten said the jump in numbers late last year could have come from families rushing to join the scheme before changes took place.

“It’s always the case that when you say that we’re going to reform the scheme, that there’ll be a bit of nervousness and people might rush to try and get on the scheme before they think it shuts,” he said on ABC’s Radio National on Friday.

“I don’t begrudge a parent who wants to just get the best they can for their child. I don’t begrudge that at all.”

But he said the NDIS was not built to help all children with autism or developmental delays, and the new foundational support system would be crucial in offering “less intensive supports for kids whose needs aren’t as great, but do need support as they deal with a non-standard developmental journey”.

“I think once people realise that it’s not all or nothing, then I think everyone will be less anxious,” he said.

“All of our changes are about years, not months or weeks. And if we’re going to improve the rate of growth of the scheme, then we have to build supports outside the scheme. So, nothing happens overnight. The scheme under Labor’s plans will continue to grow. There’ll be more people on it and there’ll be more invested in it.”

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.