Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Assistant Minister for Social Services (Senator Fifield) to a question without notice asked by Senator Siewert today relating to the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

There was a report in the media today that the Expenditure Review Committee had been at odds discussing this and, importantly, that various Public Service departmental heads had been at odds about the rollout and the cost of the NDIS. It was very important to hear Minister Fifield say that the government is not considering a slowdown in the rollout of NDIS. In fact, they want the NDIS to be the best it can be. I think everybody in this place wants the NDIS to be the best it can be, but members of the community get extremely nervous when they see reports that departmental heads—and the Expenditure Review Committee, because we all know what happens at the Expenditure Review Committee in terms of slashing to funding of programs.

The community, particularly the disability community and those with disability, have fought so hard to ensure that the NDIS was in place and that it did offer choice, flexibility and support for those with disability. They get very nervous whenever they see reports that the government might be talking about slowing down the rollout of the NDIS and changing the nature of the NDIS. While I hope that the community will be reassured by the comments that Minister Fifield made, I get really nervous when I hear the government making comments about how they have managed to reduce the packages for people. I think $46,000 was the average package when this government came into power, and he was saying it was reduced to the mid-thirties.

There are some particular reasons for that. Firstly, any people with a high level of disability were some of the first onto the scheme, so it was to be expected that there would be a high cost for their packages. Secondly, I do not actually think it is something to boast about—that we have reduced the cost of packages to people with a disability. What we want to hear is that people are getting the supports that they need and that allow them flexibility, choice and the ability to have a quality of life that they have never had access to before but that also enable them, in some instances, to gain employment, if that is one of the goals they have set in their plan. We want them to be able to take part in effectively in the planning process. But I do not want to see us standing here bragging because we have reduced the costs of a package. What I want to hear is that the packages are meeting the needs of people. I think that is something that the people who were campaigning for so long for this scheme want to hear too. They want to know that the NDIS is in fact delivering that quality care and quality choice.

The comment that the government and the Expenditure Review Committee in fact will not be slowing down the scheme is very important, but the implication that was slipped in there was that the Commonwealth cannot control the states: 'So, if there is potentially a slowdown, let's blame the states.' I hope that was not the government's intent, but it certainly was the angle that you could read into that. When I asked about whether the government is going to meet the deadline, particularly with New South Wales, while the minister did not confirm that it would actually make that date, I think he was trying to imply that it would make the date. That issue was specifically referred to in the media—that out of the meeting with the departmental heads did not come a clear sign-off on the agreement with New South Wales. As the end of August comes, that will be a clear sign as to whether we are going to see a potential slowdown of the rollout of the NDIS. (Time expired)

Question agreed to.