The Albanian government has finally reached an agreement with the states that should result in the stalled bill to revise the National Disability Insurance System being approved in Parliament.
NDIS Minister Bill Shorten announced on Wednesday that state and territory governments, which will be responsible for delivering more services, have agreed to amendments that will help significantly reduce the scheme’s ballooning cost by $14.4 billion over four years.
States had been resisting the federal government’s plan to transfer some of the NDIS functions to the states.
The amendments to the bill will focus on introducing faster timelines for approving NDIS regulations and changes that will mean disputes will be escalated to premiers or chief ministers.
New rules affecting disabled people and governments will also now require only majority support from prime ministers, rather than unanimous backing.
“There’s been a lot of anxiety, first and foremost, I just say to people with disabilities and participants that the message is that the states and the federal government are acting together and that people with disabilities and participants are not a political issue,” Shorten said.
“The federal government wanted to make sure states were doing their part, and we’re pleased that the states’ commitments in the proposals do that as well.”
The bill had been stalled in the Senate, but now with the approval of the Coalition and the states, it is likely to pass once it is put to a vote on Thursday.
NDIS Minister Bill Shorten announced on Wednesday that state and territory governments, which will be responsible for delivering more services, had agreed to amendments that will help significantly reduce the scheme’s ballooning cost by $14.4 billion over four years.
Mr Shorten said the legislation would create the foundation for a reformed NDIS, bringing about significant changes to who can access the scheme and creating tighter controls on what services can be accessed.
He said participants would be given “clear guidance” on the changes, including plans to phase out automatic budget refills and cases where plans run out early.
“The passage of this legislation is basically building the scaffolding that will allow us to co-design unique assessment tools, new budgeting tools,” Shorten said.
‘It will allow us to resolve our consultation with people with disabilities on a list of what money can and cannot be spent on.
“This will always be a work in progress, but as we have seen, we are committed to ensuring that the plan is maintained in the future. It is moving at an unsustainable pace.”
The bill is expected to pass the Senate on Thursday before returning to the House.
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