Coalition urges NDIS reform as Joyce warns disability scheme faces ‘shutdown’

Garth Hamilton and Barnaby Joyce say the Coalition should back tighter eligibility rules to limit how many people join the $52bn-a-year NDIS program.

Federal member for Groom Garth Hamilton argues the Coalition should limit the annual growth of the NDIS to no more than 4 per cent. Picture: David Martinelli

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Sussan Ley is facing internal pressure to outline an ambitious plan to lower spending on the NDIS, with Liberal National MP Garth Hamilton arguing the Coalition should back a complete overhaul of the “beyond redemption” scheme and limit its annual growth to no more than 4 per cent.

Mr Hamilton and Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce told The Australian the Coalition should back tighter eligibility rules to limit how many people join the $52bn-a-year program.

While Peter Dutton went to the last election vowing no changes to eligibility requirements to gain access to the scheme, Mr Hamilton said the NDIS was “sinking and taking the economy with it”.

“I can both support the noble intention of the scheme and criticise the scheme’s many failures. In my view, the scheme is beyond redemption and we need to start again,” he said.

“There has clearly been significant scope creep in eligibility. In 2011 we were told the NDIS would only serve 490,000 people. Now it’s supporting over 700,000 and predicted to hit a million by 2034.”

The Albanese government is targeting an annual NDIS growth rate of 8 per cent a year by mid-2026, after inheriting a growth rate of 20 per cent when elected in 2022.

But Mr Hamilton said the scheme should not be growing at triple the rate of inflation, arguing a target of 4 per cent would be better.

Mr Hamilton said the initial intention of the NDIS was that “most children would be on short-term early intervention supports”.

“What’s happened is that most children are staying on NDIS long term,” he said.

“Ten per cent of children aged five to seven are now in the NDIS, including 15 per cent of six-year-old boys. Clearly, 15 per cent of boys are not disabled.”

An analysis by the Grattan Institute, released last month, found “children with developmental delay or autism” make up 44 per cent of all people on the NDIS, prompting Anthony Albanese to admit there were too many children being placed on the scheme.

Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce said the scheme will eventually be “shut down” if there is no tightening of eligibility. Picture: Ryan Osland/The Australian

Mr Joyce said the scheme will eventually be “shut down” if there is no tightening of eligibility.

“It was designed for quadriplegics, paraplegics, schizophrenics,” he said.

“It was not designed for people with every spectrum of autism, with psychosocial issues.

“It’s way beyond its initial mandate.”

Mr Joyce said the Coalition needed to use its time in the “wilderness” to have an “honest discussion” about issues such as the NDIS.

“The NDIS is completely out of its envelope and running rampantly around the Treasury,” he said.

Opposition Treasury spokesman Ted O’Brien said the Coalition was “absolutely” up for talking with the government on further reforms to the NDIS to bring costs down.

But Mr O’Brien would not say whether the Coalition would consider backing changes to eligibility.

“Let’s see what the government brings forward,” Mr O’Brien told Sky News.

“But it is absolutely key that they have to stop their spending spree.”

Former NDIS minister Bill Shorten flagged eligibility reforms to the program to make it more sustainable, but that has been walked back by new NDIS Minister Mark Butler.

Instead, the government will work with states and territories to create second-tier “foundational support” programs to encourage people with lower-level disabilities to access help outside the NDIS.

During the election ­campaign, Mr Dutton backed Labor’s 8 per cent growth target and refused to consider tightening eligibility.

“We are committed to the ­current program, we are committed to the numbers that are in the budget paper and we have been a strong supporter of the NDIS from day one,” Mr Dutton said in April.

The Australian revealed last week the National Disability Insurance Agency warned the re-elected government against slowing NDIS reforms if it wants to reach its 8 per cent target.

While the NDIA noted the growth of the scheme was already down to about 10 per cent from highs of 20 per cent a year, it also warned the number of participants entering the scheme each year had “not stabilised”.