Tim Ayres (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

I think that your question is, in many respects, similar to the one that I responded to earlier today. It goes, I think, a little bit further, in that it seeks a response in relation to any work that the agency or the government may have done in relation to workforce issues more broadly. I can only say, in relation to the needs assessment process, that the government's view is that that work should occur once the needs assessment process has concluded. That is, of course, one of the major changes that was proposed by the NDIS review. It would result in each individual participant being given a flexible budget. That is a substantial change, in terms of the way that the process will unfold. It is, as I think you're pointing to, going to require the persons who are undertaking that needs assessment process to have a set of skills and capabilities. That is all to be worked through. That process of working through those issues commences on passage of this legislation, and it's our strong view that it ought not be pre-empted by the government in terms of the final outcomes.