Legislation to tighten eligibility for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) could be be passed as early as next week, after a Labor-led Senate committee today recommended the bill be passed.
The bill, introduced in May and amended in July, aims to slow NDIS spending growth by A$37.8 billion over four years. Much of this would come from tightening access to the scheme and reducing some forms of participant funding.
Government modelling suggests around 240,000 existing participants could leave the NDIS by 2031. Another 110,000 people who might otherwise have entered would be diverted to other programs.
Throughout the Senate committee inquiry’s public hearings, there was broad agreement that the NDIS needs reform, particularly to address fraud and exploitation.
But there was intense disagreement – from participants and their families, advocates, health professionals, the Greens and independent Senator David Pocock – over who should bear the cost of making it sustainable.
So what what’s set to change? And who will be most affected?
What the changes mean for people with disability
1. To join the NDIS, you’ll need to show you’ve tried all publicly available treatments
Under the proposed rules, applicants will need to show they have undertaken all “appropriate treatment” before their impairment is accepted as permanent and they’re eligible to join the NDIS.
The Greens negotiated amendments to the bill that have narrowed this requirement.
The original bill said a person would need to show they had exhausted all other treatment options. Under the amended bill, treatments that are regularly used in Australia and publicly funded can be considered. Restrictive practices cannot count as appropriate treatment.
This addresses some of the concerns raised during the inquiry.
But a treatment can still be publicly funded and difficult to access because of long waiting lists, a lack of specialists or where someone lives.
2. Funding for social participation will be reduced
Some participants could lose a substantial share of the funding they rely on to take part in social and community life. This funding can pay for the support people need to leave home, travel safely, attend appointments, work, study, volunteer or spend time with family and friends.
The government plans to reduce budget allocations for social, civic and community participation by 50%, and capacity-building daily activities by 10%, as plans are renewed or reassessed.
With less support, some people may become more isolated or have to give up activities that help them remain independent and connected to their community. Families may also be left to provide more unpaid care.
Read more: Cutting community participation budgets isn’t needed to save the NDIS
3. Ineligible people may have no alternatives
People who are found no longer eligible for the NDIS face another problem: what will replace it?
The government says people can increasingly rely on mainstream services, foundational supports or programs such as Thriving Kids.
But many of these alternatives are still being developed and may not provide the same level of individual support.
This means some people could lose access to the NDIS before another service is ready to help them. Their support needs would remain, with families and already stretched health, education and community services left to fill the gap.
Who could be hit hardest?
People with psychosocial disability from mental illness may be especially vulnerable. Their conditions can fluctuate and may be difficult to capture through a standardised assessment.
They also rely heavily on social and community participation funding, one of the areas targeted for reductions.
People with intellectual disability, Down syndrome and vision impairment may also be heavily affected because social and community participation supports often make up a larger share of their plans. These supports help people leave home, maintain relationships and participate in everyday community life.
Children and young people are likely to be particularly affected by the tighter eligibility rules. Government modelling suggests around 154,000 of the 241,000 existing participants expected to leave the NDIS by 2031 will be aged 18 or under.
About 145,000 people expected to leave have autism or developmental delay as their primary disability.
People in regional and remote communities could also have fewer alternative services available if NDIS support is reduced.
First Nations people would face additional barriers where services are not locally available or culturally appropriate.
Families and unpaid carers may ultimately be left to fill some of these gaps where replacement services are not yet in place.
What happens next?
The bill must first pass parliament and this could happen as early as next week. The changes will then be introduced in stages.
From October 2026, some participants will begin seeing reductions to social and community participation and related capacity-building funding when their plans are renewed or reassessed.
Thriving Kids would also begin its staged roll-out from this date.
Read more: No diagnoses and no gap fees for physios and speechies. What else do we know about Thriving Kids?
From February 2027, the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) will begin applying tighter rules when deciding which supports it will fund. These rules would first apply to new participants and then gradually to people already in the scheme as their plans are reviewed.
From April 2027, participants will begin moving to new framework planning, where a new support-needs assessment would be used to determine plan budgets.
From January 2028, when the biggest changes come into effect, applicants will face a stricter test of whether their disability is permanent and would be assessed using a standard measure of how their disability affects everyday life.
New applicants aged eight and under with developmental delay or autism and low-to-moderate support needs will generally be directed to Thriving Kids rather than the NDIS.
Existing participants will then be progressively reassessed under the new eligibility rules over three years.
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
