WA and feds in clash over NDIS bill

The dispute comes amid protracted negotiations over the future of NDIS funding, with the scheme forecast to grow beyond $120bn a year in the next decade without reforms.

NDIS Minister Bill Shorten. Picture: AAP

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The Albanese government and Western Australia are at loggerheads over tens of millions of dollars of National Disability Insurance Scheme funding, ahead of reforms of the program coming into effect.

The latest annual report from WA’s Department of Communities detailed a $62.8m contingent liability in the body’s accounts, in what is the latest conflict between state and federal counterparts over who stumps up what for the scheme.

“This contingent liability represents the unpaid portion of an invoice issued by the ­National Disability Insurance Agency which is subject to ­resolution of the actual amount payable under the ­agreement ­between Western Australia and the commonwealth government,” the annual report says.

The states and territories and the federal government have been in protracted negotiations over the future funding for the scheme, culminating in September in an agreed road map for reforming the NDIS and the broader disability system.

While both the federal and WA governments were tight-lipped about the nature of the $62.8m funding dispute, the disagreement points to the ­ongoing tension over how to pay for the program.

The NDIS already costs $42bn a year and is continuing to grow at more than 10 per cent a year, but the federal government is working to get that growth rate down to 8 per cent a year by 2026.

Without reforms, the cost of the scheme has been projected to exceed $120bn a year by 2034.

A spokeswoman for NDIS Minister Bill Shorten noted that the dispute related to a previous agreement that had since lapsed.

“The transitional bilateral agreement for the transition of the NDIS in WA between the commonwealth and the WA state government which commenced in December 2017 expired on 30 June, 2023,” the spokeswoman said.

“Discussions are ongoing between the governments for a new agreement.”

A spokeswoman for the WA government confirmed that the dispute was being addressed as part of ­the ongoing negotiations.

“As has been normal practice, the state government has received invoices based on the estimated number of participants entering the NDIS,” she said.

“The accounting treatment relates to a difference in the interpretation of the 2017 Bilateral Agreement, which outlines Western Australia’s contribution of funding based on the actual ­number of existing and new ­participants.

“Final future contributions are being negotiated between the state and commonwealth gov­ernments as part of a new ­agreement.”