Angie Bell (Moncrieff, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

The NDIS is very important to the good people of Moncrieff and to our nation, as we know. In fact, as of June 2020, 1,681 people in Moncrieff were being supported by the NDIS. People with a disability and their carers deserve to see the NDIS delivered in line with Productivity Commission recommendations, and that is exactly what this government is doing through the reforms announced in August 2020. To summarise those recommendations: assessors should be independent of the person being assessed to reduce the potential for sympathy bias, assessors are to be approved or appointed by the NDIA for the purpose of conducting NDIS assessments and their approaches to assessment have to be aligned with the objectives of the NDIS. A common set of eligibility criteria with entitlements to individually tailored supports based on the same assessment and genuine choice over how needs are met. Assessors should not have a longstanding connection to the individual. Needs should be periodically re-assessed with a focus on the transition points in people's lives and establishing a tool box for assessors to utilise to do their jobs well.

The Morrison government reforms also draw on the Tune Review of 2019. To summarise those key lessons being applied: they include standardised functional capacity assessments to improve the quality and consistency of NDIA decisions, reduction of the administrative and financial burden felt by both prospective participants and participants to provide evidence to the NDIA and clarity around the requirements for information required to support decision-making on both the use and the form of the information. The NDIA must have access to the best and most relevant evidence related to a person's functional capacity.

The government has consulted widely, I say to those opposite. The National Disability Insurance Agency has worked with more than 40 peak health and disability bodies. The government made the decision to announce the introduction of independent assessments early. This was done so that there would be time to work through the detail in close consultation with people with a disability and representative organisations.

The NDIA has been consulting extensively since the announcement and prior to independent assessments commencing in 2021. The NDIA will engage widely with participants, families, carers, peak bodies, disability organisations and peer and family networks to explain the new independent assessment process at the access and planning stage. The NDIA will shortly release an engagement and consultation schedule to support the implementation of independent assessments. Sessions will be conducted in urban, regional, rural and remote areas by email, by phone and by virtual and face-to-face engagement. Information sessions will be aligned to COVID-19 restrictions. Specific activities will be conducted to ensure independent assessments work for people from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds and culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds as well as people with complex needs and psychological disabilities.

The NDIA is resuming a second pilot that was paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This will continue to help the NDIA understand how independent assessments will work in practice. As part of the second pilot, the NDIA will offer independent assessments for up to 4,000 existing NDIS participants. with all disability types, on a voluntary basis. The NDIA paper has released a paper on the evaluation of the first independent assessment pilot and will release further information after the second pilot has resumed for the remainder of 2020. Over the coming months the NDIA will continue to share more information on the NDIS website about how the assessments will work.

Labor, those opposite and the member for Maribyrnong should stop spreading fear and misinformation, Mr Deputy Speaker. Claims that independent assessment are a cover to restrict NDIA access and limit participants' plans are unfounded and simply untrue. There are some important reasons why independent assessments are being introduced for all participants, and applicants for the NDIS—all people regardless of the situation or where they live—should have the same access to internationally recognised evidence based arrangements.

If it's time for a participant to transition out of the NDIS, an independent assessment will give them confidence in the significant gains they've made in their functional capacity as a result of capacity-building or early intervention supports. NDIS participants have reported they have spent thousands of dollars chasing assessments to show their functional capacity, and some Australians cannot afford the same access to professionals as others. Access to the NDIS should not be limited to those who can pay the most for a report.

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