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Backlog blitz clears 60pc of NDIS legacy cases in six months

Almost 60 per cent of NDIS ­legacy cases before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal have been resolved in the past six months following a blitz to tackle a backlog that had left some disabled Australians waiting up to four years for resolutions.

National Disability Insurance Scheme Minister Bill Shorten. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Martin Ollman
National Disability Insurance Scheme Minister Bill Shorten. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Martin Ollman

Almost 60 per cent of NDIS ­legacy cases before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal have been resolved in the past six months following a blitz to tackle a backlog that had left some disabled Australians waiting up to four years for resolutions.

National Disability Insurance Scheme Minister Bill Shorten said more than 2300 of the cases inherited by Labor had been closed since the election.

“Labor promised to get the NDIS back on track at the election and we are delivering on that promise,” he said.

The AAT revealed earlier this month that cases lodged by NDIS participants surged by more than 170 per cent in the 12 months from June 2021, and said that without more staffing and funding it would not be able to keep up with its caseload across its nine divisions, of which the NDIS is one.

‘We’ve had some early wins’: Shorten provides update on NDIS reform

In June Labor revealed the legacy cases before the AAT had climbed to 4500, with Mr Shorten branding the caseload “unproductive and costly”.

As part of a promise to overhaul the dispute process, Mr Shorten last month launched an “expert review panel” to examine the thousands of outstanding legal appeals. Headed up by former disability discrimination commissioner Graeme Innes, the panel will now be expanded by a further 10 members, bringing the group to a total of 16.

“The progress of the expert ­review pilot means NDIS participants’ voices can be heard through a faster process when ­appealing an NDIA ­decision about their supports,” Mr Shorten said.

He said there was still a need to “sharpen up” the internal review process to deliver long-term fixes to the way disputes were handled.

“We’ve still got to stop the pipeline of matters getting to this level,” he said. “Not every matter will be resolved, because some matters are legitimate disagreements. Ones which shouldn’t be dragged out in court I really want to get off the list.”

Mr Shorten said the majority of cases brought to the AAT were resolved in favour of the participants, after a lengthy battle and legal costs forked out by the participant and the taxpayer.

It follows Mr Shorten revealing ahead of the October budget the NDIS would almost $9bn more over the next four years than originally estimated, and stressed there needed to be better care options for disabled Australians outside of the scheme.

He said the country risked seeing the NDIS become “the only lifeboat” for disabled Australians, with other tiers of support needing to be bolstered to prevent the scheme ballooning further.

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/backlog-blitz-clears-60pc-of-ndis-legacy-cases-in-six-months/news-story/9f6a1180649e730ea43a024f7e543f26