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In what he described as “difficult but necessary” choices, Butler announced a revamp of the scheme aimed at curtailing exploitation by service providers and reassessing participant eligibility. These measures are designed to tackle the rapidly increasing number of enrollees.
“The NDIS was initially envisioned to support approximately 410,000 individuals with disabilities. Presently, the scheme supports 760,000 people,” Butler explained.
He further revealed that, while new eligibility criteria are still under development, preliminary projections suggest a reduction in participants to about 600,000 by the decade’s end. This is a strategic shift from a trajectory that could have seen numbers soar past 900,000.
Butler cautioned that allowing the NDIS to expand unchecked at its current pace could jeopardize its sustainability for future generations.
“It is becoming prohibitively expensive and is expanding too rapidly,” Butler remarked.
“We can’t afford for the NDIS to continue growing at its current rate.”
The government flagged eight “recurring design failures” in the NDIS that will be addressed by the overhaul.
Butler said taxpayer dollars spent on the NDIS will be reduced from a forecasted $70 billion to around $55 billion by 2030.
The cost-cutting measures will see NDIS funds per participant wound back from an average $31,000 per person to around $26,000.
The government will also reduce spending on third-parties who manage the majority of NDIS plans and claims by around 30 per cent.
NDIS providers will be more heavily vetted under the changes.
“Too often in the NDIS, we see that competition play out with third parties cutting costs and cutting corners to get as many plans on the books as possible rather than trying to win clients based on the quality of their service,” Butler added.
“Instead of this contest, our government will identify a shortlist of accountable, quality providers which people can choose from.”
The government will also make it harder for people to access NDIS funds, with eligibility rules set to change.
A “standardised, evidence-based assessments of a person’s functional capacity to determine access” to the NDIS will be introduced, Butler said.
Lists that decide a person’s eligibility to access the scheme will be scrapped.
“These so-called access lists were put in place to get the scheme up and running, but they were always supposed to make way for an objective assessment tool,” Butler said.
“Instead, the diagnosis gateway has funnelled people onto a scheme that was never designed for them. Now, that’s not their fault. They’ve been told this is the only program available, or that this is the help that their child needs.
“It’s our responsibility as governments to make sure that in the future, these Australians are pointed in the right direction.”
Cuts to subsidised health cover Aussies aged over 65
Butler also announced that the government will hand down cuts to subsidised private health cover for older Australians in the May budget.
Residents aged over 65 will receive the same, lower rebate that other Australians are given.
The health minister admitted it would not be a welcome decision, but that it was the “right thing to do”.
He said these savings will be diverted into aged care.
“Right now, we subsidise private health cover for Australians over 65 at a higher rate than other Australians,” Butler said.
“It means two households on the same income receive different levels of government support based only on their age.
“That’s simply not fair between generations. And it’s simply not the best way to spend precious taxpayer dollars.”
Criticism levelled at NDIS cuts
The opposition claims Butler is attempting to “ram” the NDIS changes through parliament without enough consultation with the Coalition.
Shadow NDIS minister Melissa McIntosh said said not enough detail has been provided over how 160,000 people will be booted from the scheme.
“I have a woman who’s told me that she had to prove that she did not have legs to be able to access the NDIS. Does this mean she has to reprove that she no longer has legs so she can get the funding that she desperately needs?” McIntosh told reporters in Canberra.
Greens senator Jordan Steele-John said his reaction to Butler’s announcement is one of “shock and deep sadness”.
He told the ABC that the disability community is now terrified of what is to come.
”What this means is that thousands of families will live for weeks, months, if not years, in the anguish and uncertainty,” Steele-John said.
Chief executive of Spinal Life Australia Mark Townend raised questions about the introduction of stronger eligibility tests.
He said NDIS participants should not be subject to repeated evaluations of their disability.
“For people living with significant, permanent disability, the system must be built on trust,” he said.
“Disability does not disappear with age, impairments actually increase, and participants should not be subjected to ongoing, unnecessary reassessments that create stress and uncertainty.”
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