NDIS Minister Bill Shorten backtracks over 8pc funding target

After being hauled into line by the Treasurer, NDIS minister Bill Shorten has declared the government is committed to meeting the 8pc growth target for the scheme.

NDIS minister Bill Shorten during Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra.. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

NDIS Minister Bill Shorten has been forced to backtrack on the government's commitment to meeting the eight per cent growth funding target for the disability scheme, after being hauled into line by Jim Chalmers.

Mr Shorten on Wednesday stressed the goal to reduce the growth of the scheme to eight per cent a year – which Anthony Albanese unveiled in April — was a target not a cap and that the government may not meet it.

“We’ve set a target, it’s not a cap. In other words, if we don’t get the target of the growth we want, it’s not the end of the world,” he told Sky News.

But after being contradicted the Treasurer on Thursday, Mr Shorten did an about-face and declared the government was “absolutely committed to the scheme growth target of 8 per cent”.

“The truth of the matter is Labor is absolutely committed to achieving our target,” he said.

“The point I was making yesterday is it is a target not a cap, but I’m absolutely positive that by working with people and not against them we will achieve that.”

The 8 per cent target was baked into the May budget, improving the federal government’s bottom line by $74bn.

Facing pressure over his funding target comments, Mr Shorten said he believed the government could achieve even more than the $74bn of savings in the NDIS outlined in the budget.

“I’m optimistic we can improve upon that,” he said.

“I am completely optimistic that this scheme can be run in the best interest of participants without necessarily the massive growth in expenditure which was predicted under the Liberals.”

The government has provided some general principles on how it would meet the target but is yet to unveil full detail, amid calls to consider revamping the scheme’s funding model to include co-payments and means testing.

Dr Chalmers poured cold water over Mr Shorten’s claim on Wednesday it would not be the end of the world if the funding target was not met.

“We intend to meet it. The government's intention is to meet that target,” he said in Brisbane.

When asked if Mr Shorten was trying to lower expectations through his comments on Wednesday, Dr Chalmers said: “I don't think so”.

“He has said on a number of occasions that we intend to meet that target,” he said.

“That is the government's position.”

Mr Shorten’s blunder will add pressure on the federal government to provide detail on how it will cut costs within the NDIS and encourage people with lower levels of disability onto other services.

Opposition NDIS spokesman Michael Sukkar said Mr Shorten had “entirely blown Labor’s budget projections apart”.

“And because Labor has no plan of how to achieve the savings it has committed to; no NDIS participant is safe,” Mr Sukkar said.

A former strategist for the ­National Disability Insurance Agency and People Economics director, Hassan Noura, said the government needed to be clear on the “structural reforms” to the NDIS that would bring the savings, rather than focusing solely on inefficiencies and rorting.

“I don’t think the government has been engaging on that topic because it’s extremely politically risky and they're not sure what to do and are waiting for the outcomes of the Review in October,” he said.

“But I don’t think it's appropriate for the government to be swinging back and forth on (the growth target) every few months.”

The cost of the NDIS was brought into focus this week after The Australian revealed a company involved with the scheme was calling for the introduction of co-payments and means testing.

Kismet chief executive Mark Woodland said the NDIS should follow the model of childcare with the co-contribution that users must make to increase progressively for higher-income households.

Mr Shorten said Labor was proposing “simple things” to fix the scheme and make it sustainable, including better decision making, longer term plans and ensuring supports outside the NDIS were appropriately built up.

However, he confirmed there would be “further announcements” after the government received the final report from the NDIS Review.