States and territories are failing to deliver adequate support to school children with disabilities, with National Disability Insurance Scheme Minister Bill Shorten declaring the Commonwealth did not have enough oversight of the federal funding delivered to jurisdictions for special needs education. Source: The Australian.
Mr Shorten said the National Disability Insurance Scheme was becoming “a default funding source” for parents with disabled children who were not receiving adequate support in school, which he said was presenting a growing problem.
The sustainability of the NDIS is one of the key elements of a milestone review into the scheme, headed up by Bruce Bonyhady and Lisa Paul, with the exploding number of young people on the NDIS already identified as a major challenge.
“The federal Government provides $27 billion a year to the states and territories to support education. About $3 billion of that $27 billion is to help with the delivery of education for kids with special needs. I don’t think that’s working as well as it (could),” Mr Shorten told a roomful of disability advocates on Wednesday.
“I don’t think we have a clear enough line of sight on where that’s going and how that’s working.”
The fastest-growing NDIS cohort is children with autism and developmental delay, with more than half of the scheme’s participants aged under 18. Of those, 75 per cent have a primary diagnosis of autism or developmental delay.
Mr Shorten confirmed on Wednesday the NDIS Review would report back by the end of October to state disability ministers, before being looked at by national cabinet in November.
FULL STORY
NDIS Minister Bill Shorten warns of NDIS funding fail (By Sarah Ison, The Australian)
