Zaneta Mascarenhas (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I think everyone in this place wants to make sure that all Australians can achieve their full potential, and that is what this bill, the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Getting the NDIS Back on Track No. 1) Bill 2024, tries to do. I welcome the opportunity to speak on this bill. It's another step forward under the Labor government towards committing to make Australia a fairer and better place for all Australians and towards cementing the sustainability of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. It's a step forward to securing the longevity of the scheme. It's a step forward to ensuring a future where all Australians with disabilities are valued and included members of our community. This bill is a critical piece of legislation that will get the NDIS back on track. I acknowledge the minister for the work he has done to make this happen.

When the Albanese government was elected in 2022, the NDIS was not working as it should. Don't get me wrong: it worked for some. But it did not work for many, and that was typical of the direction taken under the watch of the Liberal government. It meant that some people who needed support were missing out, and they were getting left behind. This Albanese Labor government wants to make sure that no-one is left behind.

We committed to making and governing decisions to benefit all Australians, not just the privileged few. Those people who were overlooked by the NDIS under the Liberals were forgotten; they were not living to their full potential. They did not have access to the support and opportunities they needed to have the quality of life that they deserved. Our government made a commitment to that and to make a positive difference. Our goal is to make sure that the NDIS works more effectively and to fix the system. I'm proud to say that that's what we're doing. This legislation puts in place the measures that are needed to get the NDIS back on track to support the 660,000 Australians who access the NDIS to receive the services they need to live a fulfilling life—to be included and to make a positive contribution to our community. The bill provides a framework for the 400,000 people who work in the NDIS to fulfil their jobs effectively and consistently. These workers are the lifeblood of our community services. They do an amazing job and we need to make sure they have the systems in place to support and not hinder the important work that they do. We need to make sure that we reward them fairly and help them to feel supported. We must work together to make this happen so that the NDIS is achieving what it set out to do: to enable people with disability to gain independence, gain access to new skills and have greater work opportunities, or to volunteer in our community. It's about improving the quality of life for people with disability and also their health and wellbeing.

The NDIS supports around 80,000 children across the country. The support from the NDIS for these children means they're able to access the support they need to develop and thrive. I'll take a moment to talk about a stunning example of this practice in my home in Swan. Dr Dayna Pool is a pioneering figure in the neurological rehabilitation space. She founded an organisation called the Healthy Strides Foundation. As a result of her revolutionary work, children who have been told they would never walk again are back on their feet. A notable success story is one of her clients, a young person called Palmer, who would normally take 2½ minutes to walk 10 metres. After six weeks of the program at the Healthy Strides Foundation, he was able to do his 10-metre journey in only 17 seconds. I think that is just amazing! Palmer is walking tall, confidently and proudly, and he is taking healthy strides towards a fulfilling life. Healthy Strides now employs 22 clinicians. It's serving 300 programs annually and has a six-month waitlist. Dayna is one of the many worthy nominees for Western Australian of the Year in the community category. As her nomination says, she has put WA firmly on the world stage for helping wheelchair-bound children walk.

Dayna has a simple wish: for all kids to be accepted in their communities. This last statement from Dayna says everything about her. It's a wish that I share and embrace as a mother, and as a member of parliament, and that's why I stand behind this bill. Before the NDIS was set up, people with disabilities were not included; they were not accepted in our community. The minister recognised this in his second reading speech. He said that people with disabilities were treated like second-class citizens before the NDIS. The NDIS has made a difference, but unfortunately, under the previous government's ineptitude, the NDIS went off track, and we're at risk of that happening again. That's why we're getting it back on track. To create the NDIS was to make sure that anyone with a disability would be treated like a full citizen of this country. What we want to do is inspire hope and a brighter future, just like what Dayna Pool said, and has done with Healthy Strides in Swan.

How will we do this? This bill will ease frustration by engaging NDIS providers and participants. It will do this by clarifying the process for reassessing participant status, allowing participants to transition to a new framework plan by providing new framework plans with a flexible budget. There will be a budget for specified supports. Old framework plans have a total funding amount. We're also working to stamp out fraud. The bill updates the conditions under which the NDIS will manage funds. It will also require participants to spend money solely on NDIS supports in line with their plans. It also exempts NDIS rules from sunsetting. The bill will also impose conditions on approved quality auditors to not employ or engage individuals with a banning order. It will also expand the delegation powers of the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission.

The changes that the legislation will put in place are based on meeting the goals of the government for the NDIS: firstly, to ensure the NDIS will provide a better experience for participants, with less frustration, less anxiety, less bureaucracy; secondly, to restore the scheme to meet its original purpose, to support people with disabilities; thirdly, to make sure that no-one gets overlooked or left behind; and, lastly, to make sure that there is a future for the NDIS, one that inspires hope and creates fulfilment. The government is committed to working together with the disability sector to implement these changes—collaboration and consultation, not a top-down approach but co-design. That's the difference between this government and the previous one—involving people in the development of policies that affect them rather than shutting them out.

It won't be quick and it will take time to make sure that we implement changes that are fit for purpose and to ensure that people who are directly impacted by these decisions we are making in the government are involved in the rollout of the reforms. We will also involve the states and territories, because we understand that implementation at the front line is critical to ensuring a smooth transition under these reforms. I understand the critical importance of the reforms proposed by the bill, and I genuinely hope that those opposite understand it too. So I hope that, instead of saying no to building a better future for the NDIS, they say yes, and, instead of saying no to securing a future where people with disabilities can reach their full potential, they say yes, and, instead of saying no, they say yes to a future for people with disabilities, a future that is filled with opportunity and acceptance. How can you say no to that? I commend the bill to the House.

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