Andrew Laming (Bowman, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

My apologies: the weather is particularly nice down in the main chamber, where I was until a minute ago! I move:

That this House:

(1) welcomes the recent outcomes of the 2019-20 National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) annual price review;

(2) notes the increases in NDIS pricing from 1 July 2019 includes:

(a) significant increases in the base prices for attendant care and community participation;

(b) a new temporary transformation payment for providers of attendant care and community participation supports, which will be 7.5 per cent in 2019-20, and will reduce by 1.5 percentage points each year thereafter;

(c) allowing therapy providers to claim for travel, cancellations and non-face-to-face time for therapy assistant activities;

(d) clarification of charges for cancellations and providers claiming for non-face-to-face direct care-related activities as hours of support against relevant support items;

(e) increasing the amount of time providers claim for travel, for up to 30 minutes between appointments within city areas and up to 60 minutes in regional areas; and

(f) increasing remote and very remote loadings on price limits from 20 per cent to 40 per cent, and from 25 per cent to 50 per cent respectively;

(3) notes that from 1 July 2019, funding in existing participant plans will be adjusted to reflect the price increases; and

(4) welcomes the National Disability Insurance Agency's continued commitment to improvement and transparency in price setting beyond the 2019-20 annual price review.

I congratulate and recognise this very important price review that has transpired giving significant benefits to those who provide services under the NDIS. The history of the NDIS is quite remarkable. We've seen a very rapid development of one of the greatest social reforms in Australia's history. We started with as few as 30,000 participants. That has increased to around 300,000 now. To see that occur has been an incredible challenge for both sides of politics and the Public Service. We have seen an increase in the number of providers—at the moment as many as 20,000—and have projected that this is a remarkable area of skills need for the nation. But it's all about those who are receiving support, many for the first time—around 100,000 of the 277,000 clients we have under the NDIS. Many of those are in electorates of those here today. They are looking at this period of transition, often with delays that have been of great concern, particularly in states where they have staged the rollout.

In the case of Queensland, over that three-year period, some of the largest population areas were switched on only in July last year. That put an enormous burden on those who were ensuring that the NDIS was fit and ready for service. As a result of this transition from state based services, and from block funding, to the NDIS there are in fact fewer than was projected. The expected numbers were to be increased in excess of 300,000. But for many, certainly in South East Queensland, the delays were not insignificant. For the providers there were concerns around price. That brings me to why we are here today. The price review was essential to make sure that those who are providing are able to do so in a range of geographic conditions within Australia. While money has been announced in programs and support, what has been lacking in many cases has been an ability to deliver remote and very remote services—

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