Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The NDIS is another life-changing Australian social reform introduced by Labor, like most of the major social reforms we have seen in this country. It has always been a Labor government that has brought them in. It's a reform that responded to the needs of some of the nation's most disadvantaged families, the families that were doing it the toughest not just because of their income being restricted because of the inability of many family members to work because they had to care for a person with a disability but because the costs of caring for that person were enormous. So when Labor came to office in 2007 it was one of the areas that needed to be addressed, and it was. A new NDIS scheme was introduced in this country. At the time, I can recall the figures stating that there was a projected 450,000 people that were likely to be on the scheme within a few years. The reality is that, today, there are some 650,000 people who are being supported by the NDIS. For most of them, it has given them new life, but it has also given new life to the family members that have to care for them each and every day. Many of those family members have also been able to return to work or to participate in other social activities which they otherwise couldn't do, because a person with a disability often requires 24/7 care just as do people in aged care or people with other health problems.

Support for people with a disability doesn't stop between nine and five, when most government services or even private services are available. It continues around the clock each and every day, and the scheme that was introduced had to factor all that in. That is why it was a huge commitment by this country at the time to establish a national disability insurance scheme. I can recall one of the very first meetings in which the minister, who at the time was the parliamentary secretary—the member for Maribyrnong—came to my electorate. We met with people with a disability and we heard several stories from individuals about the difficulty they faced in their life each and every day in helping a family member with a disability. One of the stories that stuck in my mind and is still very clear to me this day was that of a young girl. She was probably 15 or 16 years old and couldn't go to school, because she had to care for her mother, who had a serious disability. There was the impact it had just on that young person, let alone the life that her mother must have been living. As a result of the scheme, people's lives have genuinely been changed—and changed for the better.

Of course, providing the services that are required is both costly and demanding. What we need is competent service providers and administrative oversight if the scheme is to remain sustainable and the personal needs of the individuals are to be met. Regrettably, implementation of the NDIS in its first decade rested with the Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison governments. I can recall the debates in this place because I was here when the NDIS was being debated, and it was very clear to me that the heart of the coalition members at the time was not truly in this scheme. They went along with it because they knew public support would have been a major problem for them if they opposed it, but their heart was never really in the scheme, and that came through with their administration of the scheme when they were elected in 2013. Indeed, they proved to be completely incompetent in administering the scheme. Again, members that have been here a few years will recall the questions to the last coalition government with regard to the scheme and how it was being badly mismanaged.

Indeed, under the last coalition government, NDIS complaints to my office became the leading source of issues that my office was dealing with at one stage. It highlighted how difficult it was for people to navigate the system. They were turning to their members of parliament to try get the help that they needed. I can recall the countless cases that we were dealing with in my office through the period. It continues to be an area of concern, but I have to say it is getting better.

What also became very clear from those people who came to my office at the time was that there was a lot of money being spent—we're talking about substantial amounts of money for each individual case—but much of the money was going to the so-called 'providers' who were either exploiting the scheme or blatantly rorting the scheme. I could talk about some of the stories that were presented to me, but I don't think that's necessary; I think the minister has done that himself on many occasions when responding to questions here in parliament and the like.

The reality is that the scheme was being rorted. I asked myself at the time, when people would come into my office, how the coalition government of the day and the departmental managers who were overseeing the scheme could not see what was going on. To me, it was just mindboggling that they couldn't see what was going on like we could see it when people came to our office. Surely, they must have been getting the same level of feedback as that which was coming to each and every one of us. I've heard other members speaking about the same issue, so it couldn't have been confined to my office alone.

What was needed was structural reform of the scheme, price controls and proper oversight of the expenses. That is not what was proposed by the last coalition government. They simply responded by saying 'We're just going to cut the package amounts,' and they did, and that became another source of complaints. This legislation goes to addressing those very needs. It responds to a review, commissioned by the Albanese Labor government when we came to office, that exposed the problems within the NDIS. It addresses the flaws with the administration of the scheme and it responds to the rorting. I don't expect that this legislation will be the last of the reforms that may be needed. Of course, with any scheme, over the years times change and things change, and there may be other reforms needed, but right now the reforms proposed in this legislation are staring us in the face as to what needs to be done.

Last Sunday, I attended a morning tea recognising the 35th anniversary of an organisation called Lighthouse Disability in South Australia. The morning tea was attended by several other dignitaries, including Lighthouse patrons the Governor of South Australia, Her Excellency the Honourable Frances Adamson, and Mr Rod Bunton. It was also attended by Olivia Savvas MP, the state member for Newland, and by Professor Richard Bruggemann, a longtime disability advocate in South Australia—and right across the country, for that matter. Lighthouse Disability is not-for-profit organisation that began 35 years ago when a band of parents familiar with the challenges and needs of their children with diverse disabilities joined forces to develop accommodation for those with a disability. That the organisation has endured for 35 years and has gone from strength to strength is evidence not only that it serves a community need but also—and more importantly—that the dedicated Lighthouse staff, led by CEO Andrew Ellis and board chair John Harvey, have community confidence. People can see what the organisation is doing and know that it is meeting the needs—particularly with accommodation of people with a disability—and their organisation is now a leading disability organisation in our state in South Australia. Today, Lighthouse Disability, with NDIS support—and I stress that it's with NDIS support—assists more than 250 South Australians through supported independent living and plan management services. At the morning tea it was also interesting to hear the stories from the families and carers of people with a disability. It made it clear to me the life-changing effects that the NDIS has had.

However, there are still shortfalls and improvements to the disability services that can be made and that are being called for. For example, many of the previous state government services that were discontinued when the NDIS came into effect have not been picked up by anybody, and some of those services need to be picked up because they fill gaps that the NDIS doesn't cater for. It's also the case that once people reach 64 years of age they are no longer eligible to come onto the NDIS plan. Whilst I accept that there are aged-care services available, they don't always address the need of people with a serious or severe disability. I understand that young children are not always eligible or entitled to get an NDIS plan, either.

Over the last few days I've been listening to debate on this issue from other members in this House, and in particular from coalition members, who are pointing the finger at this government and saying, 'Look what's happening.' In fact, if you look at some of the newspaper headlines today, there are calls for the $2 billion of rorts that were occurring under the NDIS scheme to be responded to et cetera. All of the problems being raised were occurring under the previous coalition government. The reality is that when the Albanese Labor government was elected it immediately sought to address the problems that people are speaking about, that people on the other side are criticising the Albanese Labor government for. An inquiry was commissioned and it came back with over 20 recommendations. Labor is responding to that and has done so with this legislation.

This legislation is about making the scheme sustainable but also about stopping the malpractice that those on the other side would criticise the Albanese Labor government as being responsible for. They were in office for 10 years, and the very issues that I hear the government criticised for were the issues being brought to my office on a regular basis when they were in office. The reality is: it is Labor that brought this scheme in, it is Labor that wants to make it work, it is Labor that knows the importance and the value of it, and it is Labor that will make the scheme a much better scheme and ensure that it meets the needs of all of those people with a disability and their family members. I commend this legislation to the House.

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