Feds close to control of NDIS funding

Queensland will likely sign an agreement that would give the commonwealth control over spending decisions for the NDIS.

Maurice Blackburn Queensland managing principal Rod Hodgson said: “They (the federal government) have produced these bilateral agreements and if they go ahead with these there will be terrible, terrible consequences.”

Queensland will likely sign an agreement for the full rollout of the National Disability Insurance Scheme that would deliver the commonwealth control over spending decisions, although Western Australia has concerns about the measure.

The Coalition has signed agreements for the full rollout of the NDIS with NSW and South Australia that include a clause stating that the jurisdictions will support changes to the scheme legislation, giving the commonwealth the power to determine unilaterally how plans are funded.

The proposed change would allow Canberra to determine a set of criteria or a methodology for deciding what is “reasonable and necessary” support and what should or should not be funded.

Rules governing this section of the NDIS Act require unanimous or majority agreement between all states and the commonwealth but if the changes are passed, these can be amended at the whim of the federal government “in consultation” with the states.

Despite references to “reasonable and necessary” support throughout the governing NDIS legislation, a definition for this phrase was never included.

The ability to add or change rules would, in theory, allow the federal government to narrow the scope of the NDIS, which is set to cost $32 billion by the end of the next decade.

Maurice Blackburn Queensland managing principal Rod Hodgson told The Australian: “They (the federal government) have produced these bilateral agreements and if they go ahead with these there will be terrible, terrible consequences.

“These changes would have a disproportionately bad effect on the most seriously disabled cohort … who have really complex needs and really complex, multifaceted disabilities, commonly with 24-hour care needs.”

The Australian yesterday revealed three cases handled by the Labor-aligned law firm where NDIS participants’ support packages increased by as much as $400,000 each year after agency decisions were challenged.

The National Disability Insurance Agency has settled many cases in secret before they reach public hearings at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, which legal experts say is a strategy to avoid costly precedents.

The Coalition is using the same wording as a template in all agreements for full rollout.

A source familiar with the Queensland Labor government’s negotiations for this agreement saidit had “no concerns” about the proposed changes because they were operational issues, ­although the state would be likely to seek concessions on other funding matters as part of any deal.

A spokeswoman for the federal Department of Social Services said the clause “reflects streamlined governance arrangements that have been agreed with all states and territories” but that does not appear to be the case.

WA Disability Services Minister Stephen Dawson, who has an issue with the clause, said he would seek to have it changed at ministerial council.

The Victorian government has similar concerns about a lack of clarity about what funding the commonwealth will contribute.

Crucially, states cannot access money raised by the Medicare Levy increase under Julia Gillard and pooled in the Disability Care Australia Fund until they sign an agreement for full rollout.

Mr Hodgson said the NDIS had “a lot of problems”.

“The expectation balloon was pumped full of helium — many Australians who had heard ­anything at all about the NDIS perceived that it was going to be the panacea for all things when that is not going to be possible,” he said.