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

I'm getting some instruction, Senator Reynolds. As I indicated, the NDIS review made a number of recommendations, but a number of those recommendations are reflected in the legislation which is before the Senate this evening—in particular recommendations 3, 6, 7 and 8. A core recommendation from the NDIS review is that the scheme should provide a flexible budget for participants based on a consistent, transparent needs assessment. So the bill introduces a statutory framework to implement that recommendation, with the detail of how that assessment process should work to be further designed with the community. National Cabinet agreed in December 2023 to move legislation as an initial immediate response to the review. To the extent that the government is responding to the review, that is the response that I, perhaps inarticulately, indicated.

Of course, the legislation is not the last word in terms of the government's response to the review or to the reform question. So there will be further legislative work. The work that the legislation itself enables will commence if the legislation proceeds through the Senate.