NDIS needs ‘systematic work’ to fix flaws, says Paul Fletcher

The new Social Services Minister has revealed there is “systematic work” being done to address the issues with the NDIS.

The new Social Ser­vices Minister, Paul Fletcher. Picture: AAP

The nation’s $176 billion welfare system is financially sustainable and on track but new Social Ser­vices Minister Paul Fletcher will not say the same about the $22bn ­National Disability Insurance Scheme, which has been beset by rollout problems.

In a wide-ranging interview, the first since he took the job, Mr Fletcher told The Australian there was “systematic work being done across a whole range of fronts to address the issues” with the NDIS, as the scheme prepares to double from 180,000 participants in the next year and hit 470,000 clients at full scheme in 2020.

Mr Fletcher was asked directly if he thought the scheme was ­sustainable on current settings but declined, saying there had been “a lot of issues arising and there will continue to be issues arising”.

“It is obviously a huge social transformation and the scale of it is rapidly increasing … and in any transition or any project of this scale, there are obviously complexities and challenges that will come along and that you will need to manage,” he said.

“There are a set of eligibility ­requirements, and budgets and plans have been developed based upon these eligibility requirements and that is what board and management are managing against.”

On the broader welfare system, however, Mr Fletcher said the ­Coalition had “turned around” a state of affairs under the former Labor government in which social security costs were growing at ­almost twice the rate of tax ­revenue.

“That is not sustainable, you cannot sustain it. Labor didn’t have a plan to manage that. Since the Coalition has come to government, we have turned that around,” he said.

“A good metric (to measure sustainability) is to look at the rate at which social security expenditure is rising and compare that to the rate at which tax revenues are rising.

“We now have the cost of social security and welfare ­growing at 2.4 per cent on average per year compared to 4.1 per cent growth tax revenue.”

Nevertheless, the “job is never done,” Mr Fletcher said.

“Sustainability is not simply a financial issue, it is about keeping faith with the Australian people.

“Australians rightly expect that the welfare system is there to ­support fellow Australians in need, but they also expect that the money is spent for the things it should be spent on,” he said.

“If the money is being spent on drugs and alcohol and effectively funding addictions, not helping people get their life under control, then I think Australians have a concern about that and that is something we think is important to respond to in the way we deliver the welfare system.”

Mr Fletcher said he would ­continue the work of his predecessors, particularly in securing the passage of legislation to introduce drug testing for young people on the dole and Youth Allowance.

He said it is “simplistic” to say people on Newstart Allowance live on only $40 a day because they receive a range of other add-ons and supplements, such as rent ­assistance.

“Nobody is saying that is a figure … easy to live on, nobody is saying that, but what is also important to recognise is that the intention of Newtstart is to ­support people going back into the workforce.”

Mr Fletcher said he considered the Age Pension to be in a “particular category” and not quite welfare but left the door open to further changes.