The government has passed the law which will pave the way in which for major reforms to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
In late March, many in the incapacity community were surprised when the federal government introduced recent laws to get the NDIS “back on track”. The Bill’s journey through Parliament was demanding, and lots of in the incapacity community were highly critical of it, even calling for the whole abandonment of current reforms.
NDIS Minister Bill Shorten said on Wednesday that an agreement had been reached with states and territories on how they might work together on this system. The provision of “core” disability supports and services outside the NDIS has been some extent of contention.
Why is that this bill so controversial? And now that the revised reforms have been passed, what’s next?
A protracted and winding road
When the NDIS Reform Bill was tabled, there was no exhibition design published earlier. This meant there was no public discussion and although some organisations representing disabled people got details, were asked to sign confidentiality agreements to stop them from talking about it. This was contrary to the recommendations of the NDIS review that the foundations and changes must be co-designed with disabled people and follow principle “nothing about us, without us.”
When the bill was submitted to parliament, two fundamental processes took place – NDIS Overview and royal commission on disability – which made recommendations on services and supports for disabled people, to which the Government has not yet responded.
Since then, there has been a response to the incapacity royal commission that has been widely criticised as “bland and disappointing”. But we’ve got yet to see the federal government’s response to the recommendations of the NDIS review published late last 12 months. This means the federal government is passing laws before it has set out what changes it will make in response to the review.
Further investigation
The bill was submitted to Senate Committee for further investigation. In what was to grow to be an everyday theme, submission deadlines were tight, with hearings in late May and a final report due in mid-June. However, a whole lot of reports received from the disabled community.
A staggering number amendments to current laws, including how NDIS support is defined and human rights are taken under consideration.
The bill was passed by the House of Representatives in early June, but the federal government didn’t gain enough support to pass it within the Senate and was reference was made for the second meeting of the committee.
Again, a whole lot of reports were received with people and groups mentioning the restrictions of the bill and calling for its non-enactment. The Commission recommended the bill must be passed directly, despite renewed resistance from the Greens.
Today it happened.
Concerns about cost-shifting
Given the federal government’s aim to contain costs and programme expansion, the incapacity community is anxious that this decision will lead to cuts to services and supports.
Some in the neighborhood have accused the federal government of stoking public outrage over this system, saying there’s serious fraud and spending on things like sexual serviceswhich only a small variety of people can receive under this system.
One of the solutions to reducing the prices of the programme, suggested by the NDIS review, was to develop a core support strategy that may relieve a few of the pressure. In December last 12 months, National Cabinet agreed to share the prices of this support equally between the Commonwealth and the states and territories, and in January the Commonwealth committed $11.6 million over two years to support the event and implementation of the core support strategy.
Meanwhile, states and territories have opposed the bill from the outset, likely because of concerns that changes to this system would transfer facets of services and supports from the NDIS to states and territories.
The disability community also shares concerns about essential supports. Given that they usually are not in place and have five years to transition, changes to the NDIS could lead to gaps in services and supports, and people with disabilities may very well be left without them.
Minister Shorten allayed concerns and said he was able to force states to take on additional responsibilities. This process has caused a big rift with vital partners on this and other policies and programs.
This week the federal government he admitted participants could have to pay for the required NDIS needs assessment. This can be a big cost to participants and will mean that some wouldn’t have access to the NDIS, creating a big equity issue.
Until the very last moment, groups resembling Every Australian counts AND People with disabilities Australia urged the federal government to stop or reject the bill for fear of harming NDIS participants.
What’s next?
The government has lost quite a lot of political currency among the many disabled community. It is probably going that any future laws or changes to this system rules will be met with significant opposition.
And now that the bill has been passed, significant work will should be done to ascertain what these reforms will appear to be in practice. The government has said it will co-design them with the community, but many remain doubtful considering the journey to this point.
These fears have come true in the present situation. consultation on how eligible supports must be defined within the NDIS. While these details have significant implications for the way this system will operate, the consultation period was initially set at just two weeks. This has since been prolonged by one week. This short consultation window on such a vital issue could lead on to changes that significantly limit innovation and participant independence.
Unless the federal government really starts listening to disabled people, we will see the NDIS regress and far of the progress that has been made for the disabled community in recent times will be undone.