Jordon Steele-John (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

The central piece of information that I'm trying to extract from the government in this moment is in relation to this—and I think this is feasibly directly drawn from your legislation. It is, in fact, a direct quote:

The following amounts specified in the reasonable and necessary budget must be worked out by applying the information in the needs assessment report for the plan—

with the substitute words from the government's amendment on the revised sheet PA112—

… in so far as the report relates to the participant's need for NDIS supports arising from impairments in relation to which the participant meets the disability requirements or the early intervention requirements—

followed by, from the legislation—

… in accordance with the method determined under subsection (2) …

That is the result of the amendments that you have brought forward today. You've created that set of requirements around the needs assessment process.

However, for 'in accordance with the method determined under subsection (2)', the government has made no amendments to this point in relation to that method which require the method to take account of impairments arising from more than one impairment. You have retained the language in the bill to this point that ties the determination of the budget to the specific impairment for which the participant gained access to the scheme. So the concern is, while the needs assessment is now slightly more whole of person, the budget method remains tied to the explicit individual impairment. If that is not the government's understanding, I welcome the opportunity for you to clarify that, but that is the concern that is in the community right now.