Passing the buck to Mark Butler and health ‘risks undermining NDIS’

Disability advocates have slammed Anthony Albanese’s move to shift the National Disability Insurance Scheme to Mark Butler and the broader health portfolio.

Anthony Albanese at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

You can now listen to The Australian's articles. Give us your feedback.

You can now listen to The Australian's articles.

Disability advocates have slammed Anthony Albanese’s move to shift the NDIS to Mark Butler and the broader health portfolio, warning the decision “risks medicalising disability and undermines the scheme’s social model foundations”.

The Prime Minister on Monday confirmed the NDIS would be absorbed by Mr Butler, who will be assisted by Jenny McAllister in the outer ministry, and said the pair would continue to work of reining in the cost of the scheme and cracking down on fraud.

“We want to make sure that the NDIS fulfils what its intention was, that everyone has the best ­opportunity to contribute to Australian society and that people with a disability don’t get left behind, but we also want to make sure that there isn’t some of the ­activity that we’ve seen, that Bill Shorten began making sure that some of that waste and inefficiencies weren’t there, because that’s not serving the people with disability,” he said. “I am very confident that Mark (Butler) and Jenny (McAllister) are ideally suited to perform that task.”

Bur the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations raised concerns over the change and criticised Mr Albanese for not heeding calls to have a stand-alone disability minister to represent the 5.5 million Australians with disability, rather than only the 700,000 on the NDIS.

“We should have had a minister for disability and not shuffle things around, with disability split across multiple portfolios … AFDO holds a number of concerns with this shift in lining up with health, albeit with a designated minister and assistant minister for the NDIS as well,” AFDO chief executive Ross Joyce said.

“We believe the government has missed a clear leadership ­opportunity. Our first priority was the appointment of a dedicated minister for disability – someone accountable not only for the NDIS but for the 5.5 million Australians with disability, including the 690,000 NDIS participants. This would have sent a strong message that disability policy is a national priority, not a subsidiary of health or aged care.”

Mr Joyce said titles were not as important as action and warned the government that medicalising disability came with risks.

“Placing the NDIS with the health portfolio potentially risks medicalising disability and undermines the scheme’s social model foundations, which are based on choice, control, and inclusion. It also fragments policy leadership across departments at a time when co-ordination is critical,” he said.

“Titles are important but what matters most is action. The assistant minister must be meaningfully empowered to engage with people with disability and representative organisations, ensure genuine co-design, and advocate across government. AFDO will continue pushing for stronger, more visible representation.”

Mr Butler and Senator McAllister take over the NDIS from former social services minister Amanda Rishworth, who ­absorbed the portfolio following Mr Shorten’s retirement.

Tanya Plibersek has been moved to social services and will have a leading role in implementing the separate system of health and education services for Australians with milder disabilities, known as “foundational supports”.

The states are yet to agree to the final form the supports will take, which are expected to cost billions of dollars.

Children and Young People with Disability Australia chief executive Skye Kakoschke-Moore urged Mr Butler and Senator McAllister to work closely with the sector to ensure “no child or young person is removed from the scheme until alternative supports are in place, and that these are developed alongside the people most impacted”.

“Too many families are already experiencing deep uncertainty, with thousands having their NDIS eligibility reassessed each week,” she said. “Children aged five to nine are the most likely to be removed from the scheme, yet there are still few details about the foundational supports.”