Australians with a disability would first need to exhaust “all appropriate” treatment options for their impairment to be eligible for the National Disability Insurance Scheme under strict entry criteria to help curb the program’s soaring costs. Source: The Guardian.
The proposed test is expected to start in 2028 and existing participants could be forced off the scheme if they do not meet the requirement.
The change is part of sweeping laws to overhaul the $50 billion-a-year NDIS, which are set to be introduced to Parliament today.
Health Minister Mark Butler last month outlined major changes to contain the scheme’s costs, including new eligibility rules, standardised assessments of participants and mandatory registration for more categories of providers.
The measures – to be rolled out progressively over the next two years – are forecast to save the federal budget about $36.2 billion through to 2030 and reduce participant numbers to 600,000, down from a projected 900,000 at the end of the decade.
There are about 760,000 participants on the scheme.
Opposition and crossbench MPs have been briefed on the legislation by the Albanese Government, which wants it passed as soon as possible to start implementing the changes.
The bill will clarify the definition of “permanence” for disability, which will act as a gateway test for access to the scheme.
Under the definition, entry to the NDIS would only be granted if “all appropriate treatment that can remedy or alleviate an impairment has been undertaken; no other treatment is likely to materially improve the impact of the impairment, and the impairment is likely to be lifelong.”
The Greens’ disability spokesperson, Jordon Steele-John, said the proposal was “extraordinarily alarming”.
“If that is what they [the government] do, people would have to spend even more time than they currently do, running around, getting treatments that may be ineffective or inappropriate,” he said.
“It will be very costly even to be able to even stand a chance of accessing the NDIS.”
The new test would start from January 1, 2028, according to the briefing documents.
After that, as existing participants are progressively reassessed, those who do not meet the requirement would be pushed off the scheme.
FULL STORY
Australians will need to exhaust ‘all appropriate’ treatment options to access NDIS under proposed rules (By Dan Jervis-Bardy and Sarah Basford Canales, The Guardian)
