No excuse for secrecy over NDIS

The Albanese government’s veil of secrecy about billions of dollars in budgeted savings to the National Disability Insurance Scheme has made a mockery of Labor’s election commitment to open, accountable government and strong Freedom of Information laws. The government has used every trick in the book to block four FOI applications by The Australian to access the economic modelling underpinning the savings.

The department’s excuse for the secrecy – that the information must be kept secret to avoid damaging federal-state relations – does not pass muster. Rejecting our FOI application in September, Treasury assistant secretary Nerida Hunter claimed release of the information would “result in states and territories being less willing to speak openly with the commonwealth in the future, undermining the relationship and open dialogue at meetings of the national cabinet”. There is no legitimate reason, in practice or in principle, however, not to deliver on Anthony Albanese’s pledge to practise transparency in government.

The government’s ambitious targets – estimated to save $59bn across seven years from 2027 under the NDIS Financial Sustainability Framework – are important to help ensure the scheme remains sustainable financially. But the details, which will worry NDIS participants and are of major interest to taxpayers, warrant public scrutiny, as Geoff Chambers and Michael McKenna reported on Tuesday. The sustainability framework, unveiled by the Prime Minister in April last year, is supposed to nearly halve the current annual growth in costs of the scheme to 8 per cent. The government, which envisages $15.3bn in reduced NDIS costs across four years from 2023-24, has used the projections to forecast lower deficits. Out to 2034, the budget promises $74bn in NDIS savings, the details of which remain unclear. But if the cap on the growth in costs is not met, budget forecasts will be up-ended, creating new difficult fiscal challenges.

On such a significant social policy and budget item, the government needs to take the public into its confidence.