Health Minister Mark Butler announced a major overhaul of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) on Wednesday, a move that will see around 160,000 people removed from the scheme.
The decision to rein in NDIS spending will see the scheme cost closer to $55 million by 2030, rather than the $70 billion originally predicted. The scheme currently costs about $50 billion.
Butler confirmed the reforms will not remove specific conditions from eligibility, but rather eligibility will depend on a person’s level of disability and support needs. A new assessment tool, set to be introduced in 2028, will determine eligibility based on a person’s “functional capacity.”
The changes will also see NDIS funds for social and community participation per person wound back to about $26,000 down from the current average of $31,000.
Government spending will also be wound back on third parties who manage NDIS plans, with claims to be cut by 30 per cent. More providers will also need to be registered and enrolled in a digital payment system.
Butler also made a point to say that the NDIS would not be an “ATM for shonks, grifters, fraudsters and crooks”.
“For the sake of the people the NDIS was created for, we have to make sure it’s sustainable now and for future generations,” Butler said on Wednesday.
Currently, just over 20 per cent of recipients of the NDIS are aged eight years old and under, while under-25s make up more than 60 per cent of active NDIS participants.
The reforms will apply to those currently on the NDIS as well as new participants.
Disability advocates are already raising concerns over the impact the changes will have on women with disabilities, as well as women who are more likely to be unpaid carers and take on more work as a result of the cuts. There will also be an increased mental load for women carers who are now left wondering if current participants they care for will be removed from NDIS coverage.
Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA) CEO Sophie Cusworth said she is “deeply concerned” by reforms, saying more women with disability will lose out if the changes are not executed properly with the right supports in place.
“Women with disability already face greater barriers to access and are exited from the Scheme at higher rates than men,” Cusworth said.
“If these reforms are not done properly, more women will lose out, and they will lose out in the midst of a complete absence of adequate supports outside the NDIS.”
Cushworth is also concerned about the disproportionate burden of care that will be placed on women if and when children are removed from the NDIS before other much-need supports are put in place.
As we know, women take on the vast majority of unpaid care in Australia, often without receiving adequate support or recognition.
“It falls on parents and families, and we know the burden of gaps in systems falls primarily on women,” Cusworth said.
New access assessments for NDIS will need to be co-designed with disabled people to ensure equitable outcomes, Cusworth said.
“Too often, assessment tools miss or understate the experiences of women and gender-diverse people with disability, especially when disability is shaped by chronic illness, fluctuating conditions, violence or caring responsibilities,” Cusworth said.
“We don’t want to see assessments that medicalise our lives and reduce us to deficits. Moving away from diagnosis could remove barriers for some people but create more for others. It cannot mean one unfair test is replaced with another.”
“We want reform that strengthens the NDIS without balancing sustainability on the backs of women with disability.”
Greens Senator Jordan Steele-John said the changes had already left many families afraid of what happens next.
”What this means is that thousands of families will live for weeks, months, if not years, in the anguish and uncertainty,” Steele-John said.
Written by Madeline Hislop, this article was originally published by Women’s Agenda.
