Work begins on new disability services outside NDIS
The design of a new system of services that will provide an alternative to the $40bn-a-year NDIS for Australians with milder disabilities is underway.
The design of a new system of services that will provide an alternative to the $40bn-a-year NDIS for Australians with milder disabilities is under way, as Labor launches consultation on the “foundational supports” to be funded by the commonwealth and states on a 50-50 basis.
While the cost of this new set of services is yet to be released, with state governments expressing caution in recent months over the lack of clarity and unforeseen impact to their respective budgets, Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth will on Monday lay out the first blueprint for the system of foundational supports – set to begin rolling out from the middle of next year.
The new system will be split into two tranches, general supports and targeted supports, Ms Rishworth revealed.
General supports will include guidance, peer supports and capacity building that help individuals and their families make decisions about matters that affect them, with consultation on this first tranche beginning later this month.
Details on targeted supports for specific groups – for example, children with developmental delays including mild autism – will be released later in the year, with consultation on this category of supports to begin in October.
Ms Rishworth said the government was committed to improving the availability of supports outside the NDIS.
“There are 5.5 million Australians with disability and we want to ensure we have the systems and supports in place to ensure they can fully participate and be included in society.
“Foundational Supports is a key part of this journey,” she said.
“For these supports to be effective they must be shaped by the experiences, insights and voices of Australians with disability and their families.”
The new system of foundational supports is a key pillar of the government’s goal of reining in the annual growth of the national disability scheme from about 15 per cent to 8 per cent by mid-2026, along with reforms contained in legislation passed last month that gives the disability agency more power to intervene in participants’ plans and limit what can be claimed with NDIS funding.
The changes are expected to save the scheme $14bn over the next four years, though it is unclear how much of these savings will need to be funnelled into setting up the foundational supports system.
Despite states and territories backing in commonwealth legislation, WA Premier Roger Cook claimed his government had “reluctantly” agreed to do so, with funding negotiations over foundational supports and other NDIS reforms yet to commence.
The Australian revealed earlier this year that foundational supports were due to begin rolling out from the middle of 2025, just 12 months before the government hopes to reach its 8 per cent growth target for the NDIS.
Jim Chalmers and state treasurers have been tasked with “oversighting foundational supports costs” through the Council on Federal Financial Relations, while the First Secretaries Group – which includes secretaries from premiers’ departments and is chaired by the secretary for the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet – will be responsible for overseeing the development of foundational supports. The Australian understands the First Secretaries Group has met monthly since agreement between the commonwealth and states on foundational supports in December last year.
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