Long term financial gain from short term spending on NDIS

NDIS Minister Bill Shorten says too often the focus of the NDIS is on its cost but there’s a huge return on investment.

’Huge returns’, new NDIS Minister Bill Shorten touts the scheme.

The National Disability Insurance Scheme can deliver a huge return on investment if run effectively, NDIS Minister Bill Shorten says.

In his first major speech since Labor won office last month, Mr Shorten will on Wednesday tell a disability conference that too often the focus of the NDIS is on its cost, which is $30bn a year and projected to rise to $60bn by 2030.

“If the NDIS is effective, there’s a huge return on our investment in years to come,” he will say. “Not only does this return include stronger meaningful social and economic connections for people with disabilities, there is also a ­financial ­return to governments.

“This return includes reducing future costs of other line items in the budget – including reducing health, employment, social security, housing, and justice costs.

“Indeed, when we consider the 175,000 (NDIS) participants with autism, knowing that people with autism are eight times more likely to be unemployed than the general population, there is a significant opportunity to improve econ­omic outcomes from early inter­vention.”

Speaking at the Where To From Here conference, Mr Shorten will also flag the need for ­greater co-operation between the three layers of government ­beyond the NDIS to drive ­improvements for people with disability, saying: “We need to ensure all programs – including health, education, care and support, infrastructure – work together to achieve better outcomes through an integrated care approach.

“Commonwealth, state and ­territory, and municipal governments will need to ensure their programs work together to better support citizens rather than operating in silos.”

As minister, Mr Shorten is faced with the task of ensuring the 518,000 people now on the NDIS – a number projected to grow to 860,000 by decade’s end, receive the support they need to achieve their goals while at the same time demonstrating taxpayer value from a scheme that’s soon to outstrip Medicare in terms of cost.

There is also the matter of fraud, which authorities estimate to be consuming some 5 per cent of the scheme’s annual budget, or $1.5bn, including tens of millions of dollars being siphoned out of the scheme by organised crime gangs.

Mr Shorten has promised a crackdown on the fraudsters.

Treasury secretary Steven Kennedy recently flagged that the fast-growing cost of the scheme would be a significant concern for the federal budget.

The original Productivity Commission report from 2011 proposing an NDIS put the maximum annual spend at $22bn and projected that by 2050, when fully ­mature it would be paying for ­itself, the annual $4.4bn cost covered by $8bn in economic benefits including, greater workforce participation and improved health.

Former Productivity Commission chair Peter Harris said that for governments to claim a long-term financial benefit from the NDIS, separate from its social ­benefits, it may require a reconsideration of the balance of services currently funded, and this may not be politically palatable.

“Services to people with disabilities that help them access education and training offer a clear productivity gain, and one that can have a valuable economic impact,” Mr Harris said, adding: “I think this has a significant upside for school-age people on the scheme, for instance. But where supports are currently provided to deliver lifestyle benefits, it’s much harder to claim a productivity effect.

“The NDIS was, of course, not ever just about the economics. It has always been a brave attempt to solve a wicked problem. But it would be a pity to allow the perfect to jeopardise the good and avoid a discussion about its future scope.”