NDIS is ‘being left on the shelf’

The WA government is pre-emptively favouring its own disability system in preference to the NDIS, it has been claimed.

Disability Services Minister Helen Morton says ‘we want to make sure that we have an NDIS in WA that is local’. Picture: Matthew Poon

A senior West Australian government employee has ­spoken out about internal manoeuvring in the administration that is pre-­emptively favouring the full rollout of the state’s disability system in preference to the $22 billion ­National Disability ­Insurance Scheme.

The employee raised concerns that the Barnett government was incorporating plans for the state-based My Way without making provision for the NDIS.

This comes as the federal member for Pearce, Christian Porter — the former WA treasurer and ­attorney-general — is sworn in as the new Social Services Minister with carriage of the NDIS and ­future negotiations.

The bureaucrat says she had ­argued that the trials of the two schemes had not been completed and nor had a proper assessment been completed.

She was told the future seemed preordained.

The My Way pilot is being trialled in the lower southwest and in the Cockburn and Kwinana ­region of WA while an NDIS trial is under way in the Perth Hills.

The intention was to competitively evaluate the two schemes after July next year, with the more effective — in terms of cost and results — to be rolled out statewide.

The final result may be a model that looks and feels like the NDIS, with all the attendant money, but run out of Western Australia.

“The WA government has never wavered in its commitment to an NDIS but has always maintained that a federated model of the scheme will give the best outcomes for West Australians,” state Disability Services Minister Helen Morton told The Australian.

“We want to make sure that we have an NDIS in WA that is local, builds on the best of our current system and includes the additional state and commonwealth funding required to meet the needs of all people with disability.

“We believe this can best be achieved through a joint  state­/­commonwealth governance mod­el administered in WA by the WA government.

“We understand how important the NDIS is for all Australians and we can’t afford to wait until the current trials are over before we start the conversation with the federal government,’’

The government claims its My Way scheme, which was the inspiration for some elements of the NDIS, can be delivered for an ­average $10,000 less per person.

West Australian disability ­advocate Samantha Connor said people with disabilities ought to have the right to choose the best scheme. “They are sticking their toe in the water by the looks of it and it seems there is going to be an under-the-table deal between (Malcolm) Turnbull and (Colin) Barnett to cut the trial short without any consultation or evaluation carried out,” she said.

“One of the selling points is that it is $10,000 cheaper per participant. I want to know what that means.

“Does it mean a reduction in service, reduction in choice and control or does that mean the scheme is more effective for other reasons?’’