Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) Share this | Hansard source

As all members of the House would know, when the NDIS works well it is life changing, but when it goes poorly it can be traumatic for participants. The fact of the matter is, at the last election, there were real problems with the NDIS, and all members deal with that. It was flawed, with red tape and ballooning costs. But there was no worse problem than bed blocking, when people with disability eligible for the NDIS medically fit for discharge couldn't leave hospital because there was no place for them to go. There were extremely long waiting times between when someone was medically fit for discharge and when they could actually get out.

The Victorian hospital authority calculated that before the last election there were about 160 days between when a NDIS participant was medically fit to be discharged and when they could be helped. That is too long. The reality is that this was costing the hospital system—it was blocking the beds—and was a very poor outcome for NDIS participants. We promised before the last election to cut the waiting times between being fit for discharge and discharge and we have—promises made, promises kept. We have cut the red tape, we have put more people in to help wrangle the issues and we have also given greater delegation to people closer to the hospitals.

I've had the ability to visit hospitals in Western Australia, in Canberra and the Alfred campus at Caulfield. They have marvellous staff and resilient patients. The good news is the waiting time, which was 160 days before the election, on average is now down to 33 days. The AMA calculates that this is saving the hospital system already somewhere between $205 million and $584 million—that is, in the order of half a billion dollars. It is good for the hospitals, good for people who need to access hospital beds and it is fantastic for people with disability who have been kept waiting longer than they otherwise should have.

What I say to Australians with disability and people who love them is: this is only the beginning. The NDIS represents what is best about Australia. It is about helping others who are in trouble. It is about not leaving anyone behind. If we can't look after people with profound disability and their families, what kind of country are we? We are lucky enough to be able to not exclude from opportunity in this country people with disability. We all should be proud of the NDIS. Shoulder to shoulder with Medicare, it is one of the best purposes we use our tax dollars for. Under this government, the NDIS will enable Australians, regardless of their impairment, to have lives of dignity and control, to have lives where they can make a contribution to community, a life of improved health, and that is our purpose.

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