Reform NDIS to be sustainable

National Disability Insurance Scheme Minister Bill Shorten’s observation that people may be “rushing” on to the $42bn scheme ahead of ­impending reforms underlines how far it has expanded from its intended, vital purpose – to support Australians with severe disabilities. It needs significant reforms. The surging cost of the scheme is being driven mainly by increasing numbers of children with autism and developmental delays being admitted.

The National Disability Insurance Agency’s latest quarterly report shows that out of a total of 646,500 people on the scheme, more than 96,000 have developmental delays – 9000 more than was expected six months ago. About 12 per cent of boys aged five to seven are now on the NDIS. The average payment per participant with a developmental delay was $14,000 in December. On the current trajectory, total scheme numbers are projected to increase to more than a million people by 2033, with scheme costs anticipated to reach $92bn. That trend must be reversed, in the interests of Australians with the most severe disabilities who need the scheme desperately, and of taxpayers. Autism is “a spectrum” but not everyone on that spectrum should be on the NDIS, as Mr Shorten said on Friday. The introduction of a new registration system for all NDIS service providers and workers, including more than 150,000 who are currently unregistered, is a good step that will improve transparency.

The main problem, however, as Stephen Lunn and Sarah Ison wrote last week, is that thousands of children who should not be on the scheme are still getting taxpayer support because public servants are failing to reassess their cases. Many of the children need assistance. But apart from extreme cases, the NDIS is not necessarily the right agency to provide it. Since the NDIS began under the Gillard government, the states have cut support for autism sufferers. Reforming that sphere is one of the most important economic and administrative challenges facing the Albanese government.