NDIS plans ‘approaching $2m and beyond’: disability agency

Australians with disabilities are on plans near $2m a year, amid calls for transparency on how many multimillion-dollar plans are on the $42bn a year scheme.

NDIS Minister Bill Shorten. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Australians with disabilities are on NDIS plans approaching $2m a year, with advocates and the Coalition urging the National Disability Insurance Agency to be transparent about how many multimillion-dollar plans are currently being funded as the government seeks to curb spending on the $42bn-a-year scheme.

Ahead of the NDIS review being released, the NDIA confirmed the biggest plans it was managing were $1.1m or larger and that such cases were ticked off by the highest levels of the agency.

NDIA officials said there were plans “approaching $2m and beyond”, but stressed this was only in “very limited cases”.

However, when asked by The Australian how many plans the NDIS funded that were worth $1m a year or more, the agency said it would not share such data “until it may be made publicly available”. It did not say when this might be.

With the federal government attempting to strike a deal to cap the costs of the scheme at Wednesday’s national cabinet meeting, opposition NDIS spokesman Michael Sukkar called on the NDIA and the government to be transparent about the number of multimillion-dollar plans being funded.

“The government needs to come clean about how many individuals are on NDIS plans that exceed $1m, and how it intends to continue its support for these participants,” Mr Sukkar said.

Martin Laverty, the inaugural NDIS board director, said there were a small number of Australians who had “complex and profound disabilities” that necessitated such funding.

“Some Australians will be surprised to learn there is a small number of people with highly complex disabilities that their supports are much higher than the average plan,” he said.

Examples of profound disabilities include conditions that impair vision, hearing, speech or movement, such as multiple sclerosis.

The average plan for a participant on the NDIS as of September was $63,600. While not confirming how many people were on plans of $1m or more, the agency said there were 5190 participants with complex needs, of which 286 were children.

Dr Laverty, who now heads disability provider Aruma, said in cases of the most complex disabilities 24-hour support staff were often required along with a variety of equipment and specialised living arrangements.

For those in Supported Independent Living – when a participant can live independently by receiving supports and equipment within the home – the average payment is almost $400,000.

Currently, 32,937 people are in such Supported Independent Living, with total payments to SIL participants having increased by 20 per cent annually over the past three years.

The government has been seeking to rein in the cost of the scheme through cracking down on fraud and “improving efficiencies”, with NDIS Minister Bill Shorten declaring it should be for those with the most profound disabilities and others should be supported through mainstream settings.

However, states have sounded the alarm over moves to divert people who may have qualified for the NDIS into mainstream services, warning that they are responsible for funding, such as education and healthcare.

Following a meeting of treasurers on Friday, states declared they would not consider any reform unless the commonwealth agreed to top up GST allocation by $5bn a year.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Monday said the issue was still a “live conversation”.

“Our instinct, our inclination is to work with the states and territories where we can,” he said.

“We think that there’s a deal to be done here but not a deal at any cost. It would be good if we could come to some kind of understanding but if we can’t, we can’t.”

Dr Laverty said while some of the costs in the mega plans would be absolutely necessary, there was also rorting taking place, with providers charging many times the market price for services and equipment when they engaged with someone on the NDIS.