Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It was not Gettysburg—definitely not, Minister!

In a little over 10 years the National Disability Insurance Scheme has become a crucial Australian institution. It's a scheme we should all be very proud of—a world-leading scheme. I'm personally very proud of my involvement as a backbencher. I particularly thank the godmother of the NDIS, Jenny Macklin; I'm not sure if that makes the member for Maribyrnong the godfather, but I know he has made a significant contribution for a long time to the NDIS.

Minister Shorten said of the NDIS:

It fulfills a sense of collective responsibility … and is integral to our national identity …

I wholeheartedly agree with the Hon. Bill Shorten on that topic. It reflects the core Australian values of looking out for each other and giving a helping hand to those who face more barriers in their daily lives than most Australians. Thanks to the NDIS, support for Australians with disability is now entrenched in both law and by our society, and I think it is becoming a part of our culture. We all love it. What do I mean when I use the word support? When we unpack it and use an NDIS lens, it means people with disability having choice and control over which services they access—a concept that the previous speaker finds abhorrent. It means that the participants can participate in their communities in the ways they choose. It means that children can access early intervention at a time that is crucial for their development. It means that disability supports are given a human value, not just a dollar value. Ultimately it makes Australian a more inclusive place, a kinder place. I would venture to say that it makes us even more Australian.

Contrast this with life pre-NDIS for many people with disability. The services available were patchy across the country and access to them was effectively a game of postcode lottery that almost nobody won, particularly those in the regions. Depending on where you lived, you might have received some funding or access to services or you may have received very little and been very, very disadvantaged. Some received diddly squat. The reality of life for many people with disability at the time was one of isolation, loneliness and a constant struggle to access required supports. The 2009 Shut Out review, commissioned by former prime minister Rudd, shone a light on the daily experiences of those in the disability community. It described the barriers to education, employment, health care, housing, recreation, sport and to full participation in Australian society. And it led to the visionary decision to fundamentally change disability supports in this country for the better.

The National Disability Insurance Scheme was first legislated in July 2013—which I seem to recall was a difficult time—and trial sites were established in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. From these early beginnings, the scheme has grown to supporting nearly 650,000 of our fellow Australians. The 10-year mark was an appropriate time to evaluate and assess the NDIS and the experiences of its participants. It was a Labor election commitment to commission an independent NDIS review and we got this underway in October 2022. The report was released in December last year and it had 26 key recommendations. The Albanese Labor government is now acting on the priority recommendations of this report.

With this bill, we're committed to improving the experience of all Australians with disability and their families and carers regarding their interactions with the NDIS. It's important to note that with this bill, NDIS eligibility remains the same, NDIS plans are still set the same way and NDIS funding is still based on need. The legislation is not about reducing the number of people on the scheme. The overarching goal of these reforms is to return the NDIS to its original intent and to ensure we improve the experience of participants. That's why we're calling this bill 'Getting the NDIS Back on Track'. We're supporting this with $45 million to establish an NDIS evidence advisory committee which will provide better advice about what works for participants.

We need to ensure that the NDIS is supporting the people it was designed to support—in other words, people with disability need to be put back right at the centre of the NDIS. That's why the NDIS review included deep engagement with the disability community over a 12-month period and consultation with around 10,000 Australians who testified to their lived experience. Their feedback taught us that people with disability have lost trust in the NDIS and that interactions with the agencies are often fraught. People with disability have expressed how frustrating it is to continue to have to prove that they are deaf or that they're a quadriplegic or that they have Down syndrome or that they're missing a leg. With these reforms, Labor is taking action to ensure the participant experience of the NDIS is better and that the culture is one of respect and trust and support and dignity. I stress that last word, dignity.

One of the key investments we are making is $20 million to consult and design a new navigation service model for the disability community. The review indicated there are challenges for people with disability, their families and their carers in both navigating the system and accessing critical supports and services. We will collaborate with the disability sector to design a navigational model that is fit for purpose. I got some insights into that last week when I went to an NDIS forum in the electorate of Griffith with Minister Shorten. Listening to the participants, parents, carers and groups in this area is how we will ensure that we have a much better, fit-for-purpose system.

It's also vital that we ensure the long-term sustainability of the NDIS so that future generations can access it and achieve life-changing outcomes. Cost projections show that the annual cost of the NDIS would grow from about $35 billion in 2022-23 to more than $50 billion in 2025-26 and exceed $90 billion a year within a decade. The Albanese Labor government is driving considered sustainable growth for the scheme, and that's why the National Cabinet has agreed to cap its growth rate at eight per cent from 2026.

The reforms in this bill are centred around clarifying access to the NDIS, improving the use of participant budgets, and better early intervention pathways, which are actually the old 'a stitch in time saves nine'. They are also around ensuring quality and safety for participants. Both of those things are crucial, particularly the safety. The reforms are part of the necessary evolution of the scheme. Ultimately, over a period of time, the NDIS will become part of a larger ecosystem of disability supports. In our federation, this will be a unified ecosystem of supports comprising inclusive and accessible foundation supports and mainstream services. It is important to note that these changes are fundamentally aligned with the NDIS Act's existing principles.

I know from speaking to participants in my electorate of Moreton that a real pressure point is plan usage. Participants want to be able to use their funding in the way that best suits them. That's what true agency is. It's not a term to be scared of. This legislation will remove itemised budgets, replacing them with flexible supports and stated supports. This reflects the preference to set the budget at a whole-of-person level rather than for individual support items. There will also be clear guidelines on what the funding can and cannot be used for.

We're directing $5 million to do preliminary work to reform NDIS pricing arrangements. It's vital that NDIS participants get a fair deal, and we think it's also key that price-setting processes and decisions are more transparent. We know that when people hear the word 'NDIS' they add the wedding tax when it comes to providing basic services. We know that. There's a different price for a handrail when there's an NDIS payment rather than a Joe Public or Mary Public payment.

Individual budgets will be developed based on a needs assessment arranged by the National Disability Insurance Agency. This assessment will take a person centred approach and will look at a person's needs holistically. It will result in the participant's reasonable and necessary budget. This approach means that planning decisions are consistent and equitable, not based on the number of reports a participant has or a participant's ability to advocate. We will work with the disability sector to ensure we get the assessment process right.

The reforms will also clarify entry to the scheme. New participants will access the NDIS under the disability requirements, early intervention requirements or both. This will have a flow-on effect to how a participant's support needs are assessed and then their individual budget.

Labor is determined to make the NDIS safer for participants by dealing proactively with fraud, waste and overcharging. Every NDIS dollar should go towards people with disability. I know that Minister Shorten is particularly focused on the fraud. The Fraud Fusion Taskforce that Labor established has already investigated more than 100 cases worth over $1 billion of NDIS funding. Surely we can all agree that it's a true criminal dog act to steal from the disability community.

The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission works alongside the NDIS to ensure providers protect participants from abuse, violence and neglect and operate legally and ethically. This bill will bolster the commission's powers when it comes to taking action on compliance. It will also enable the commission to work with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the NDIA to identify those who are charging more for equipment and services because of that NDIS funding package—as I call it, the wedding tax. As Chair of the Public Works Joint Committee, I sometimes think that there is a defence tax for military construction projects. We know that the vast majority of service and equipment providers work tirelessly, have the best interests of NDIS participants at heart and operate within the NDIS guidelines. It's not fair that their reputation is being undermined by the small minority who, up until now, have got away with unethical behaviour and price gouging. Such practices erode trust in the scheme amongst participants and hardworking Australian taxpayers. If left unchecked, they make the financial foundations of the scheme shaky.

Over the next four years, the $160 million Data and Regulatory Transformation Program will ensure that the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission has the necessary technology and systems to collect and analyse data to better protect participants. This will also reduce the regulatory burden on NDIS service providers and provide enhanced cybersecurity. The Labor government assures participants and the disability sector that these considered and responsible reforms will take time to implement. They cannot take effect until the states and territories agree to the NDIS rules which outline the detailed operation of the scheme. We'll continue to consult with the disability community at every stage, hosting a $130 million co-design and consultation process as we work towards changing the NDIS rules. We intend to put the NDIS above the day-to-day political debate between political parties and between the federal, state and territory governments. People with disability are not political pawns, and getting the NDIS back on track is our priority.

These reforms continue the Albanese Labor government's progress in working with the disability sector. There are more people with lived experience on the NDIS board than ever before, including my friend Kurt Fearnley, the chair of the National Disability Insurance Agency. I had the honour of working with Kurt on the Brisbane 2032 organising committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and he's quite the guiding force. Labor has focused on the 4½ thousand legacy appeal cases that were caught in long delays at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. There is now a partnership between the NDIA and the First Peoples Disability Network to work together on a first national NDIS strategy and action plan. Going forward, as Minister Shorten said, there'll be a significant piece of work to collaborate with people with disability about the reforms, and we're seeking the lived experience of the disability community as we continue to strengthen the scheme together. We also want to work with families, carers, peak bodies, service providers, unions and the broader community. After all, we invested in this great scheme. It's a Labor scheme with Jenny Macklin's, Bill Shorten's and Julia Gillard's fingerprints all over it.

I'm proud to support these reforms, as I know they will make NDIS participants' experiences of the scheme better. They will also make our world-leading NDIS sustainable, meaning that future generations of Australians with disability will be able to access reasonable, necessary and meaningful supports to lead lives of dignity, lives of choice, lives involving connection to community and lives of fulfilment. I commend the bill to the House.

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