Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Treasury) Share this | Hansard source

Firstly, I congratulate the member for Lindsay for moving this very important motion this morning. The member for Lindsay has been a very passionate advocate for the rights of people living with a disability in our community and has been a great supporter, not only in her time in the parliament but previous to that, of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. I'm pleased that she's moved this motion today because, just like Medicare, the prices and incomes accord or Mabo, the NDIS is one of those great Labor nation-building initiatives that moves our nation forward, providing better quality of life for a marginalised group of Australians.

I must pay credit, also, to the Leader of the Opposition, Bill Shorten, who is actually the person who provided the impetus in this parliament for the NDIS to come to fruition. When Bill was the Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Children's Services in the previous Rudd government, he consulted widely. He travelled around the country consulting representative groups and people living with disabilities; he planned, crafted and helped deliver the National Disability Insurance Scheme. It should never be forgotten that Bill Shorten was the initial architect of that scheme. Finally, those living with a disability were getting support and most importantly the help that they needed for new opportunities in life and for living a rewarding and fulfilling life. That's the basis upon which we introduced the National Disability Insurance Scheme. It's progressively being rolled out throughout the country, with, as the motion points out, 132,743 participants and 9,523 children receiving support through early childhood intervention.

There have been some teething problems. You would expect as such with a large policy and a new rollout. Certainly in Kingsford Smith, many participants in the scheme, their families and friends have consulted me about the plans and the fact that some of them have had issues—not supporting current supports, not supporting goals and new aspirations—and I'm pleased to say that, in most cases, we've been able to work them out, working with the local office that's situated in Maroubra, and I thank the staff there for the work that they've been undertaking.

This motion moved by the member for Lindsay goes to a very important point—that is, ensuring that the pricing structure of the NDIS enables service providers to deliver high-quality support to participants in the scheme, including for group activities that are being threatened by the current model. This is becoming a big issue in the community that I'm in. Already, one of the service providers, HeadEast, which provided support for people who were victims of brain trauma associated with car accidents, has had to close. They simply couldn't continue to operate under the current pricing structure. Other providers have also contacted me, saying that, if the current pricing structure continues, they simply won't be able to provide services for people living in our community.

The government commissioned McKinsey to do an independent report in February 2018. Recommendation 9 of that report was:

The NDIA should update the pricing structure for the core support item ‘Group based activities in a centre’, to allow providers to charge a high intensity loading where a more skilled worker is required to serve a participant …

The NDIA have had a look at that and responded to that recommendation. In the NDIA's response they recognise that this is an issue. They recognise that the current pricing structure is inadequate. They say that the recommendation is supported and will be implemented by 1 July 2018. That's weeks away. Some of these service providers have been contacting the NDIA and saying: 'When is this change going to be implemented? What is the new pricing structure going to be?' The NDIA can't give them an answer, and that is putting at risk the support that many of these providers are providing, particularly to people who need high-end supports in a one-to-one situation.

It's not good enough to have this uncertainty about whether high-dependency support for families in vulnerable situations is going to be able to continue under the new service model. The NDIA have to get their act together. The minister has to step in here and get the NDIA to publish what they will do in the future to ensure that these service providers can continue to provide this support and, importantly, that the people with high-end needs who rely on these services can continue to get the supports to live fulfilling and rewarding lives.

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