NDIS Reform Bill Nears Approval Amid Backlash From Disability Community Over Growth Cap

As the states, territories and the opposition lent their support to the federal government in passing the major reforms in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) bill in the Senate this week, Australians with a disability condemned the "dirty deal."

Ending months of stalemate, the states and territories agreed to the amended reforms in the bill, which will empower the federal government to cap the scheme's growth at 8%, AAPreported.

The bill is expected to be passed on Thursday.

The government pointed to the scheme's growing expenses expected to cost the federal budget more than AU$50 billion annually by 2025-26, higher than Medicare.

The states and territories opposed the proposals to transfer certain functions to them, citing insufficient time to develop alternatives, as the federal government pushed for swift approval of the reforms.

They warned that these changes could create gaps in services, negatively affecting individuals with disabilities.

To get approval, the government agreed to some of the amendments, including a new approach to dispute resolution and a fast-tracked timeframe to implement the changes in the NDIS rules.

"We're committed to making sure the scheme's here for the future. It's growing at an unsustainable rate," NDIS Minister Bill Shorten said.

However, advocacy groups pointed out the amended legislations would undermine the beneficiaries and that they were excluded from the discussions regarding the reforms.

Calling the deal to pass the bill "devastating for people with disability," paralympian and People with Disability Australia president Marayke Jonkers said, "This has been struck before genuine co-design occurred with those most affected – NDIS participants and the disability community," she said. "Our concerns have not been addressed. The legislation, even with amendments, threatens to undermine the scheme and the rights, dignity and access to support for people with disability."

"Bill Shorten has blood on his hands for doing this dirty deal with the coalition," Independent senator Lidia Thorpe said. "Labor and the coalition have teamed up to characterize NDIS participants as fraudsters, criminals and sexual deviants."

The national peak body, People With Disability Australia, expressed concerns about the bill in its present form and urged the government not to pass it. A major concern was the need for increased participant rights to review assessments, ABC News reported.

Once implemented, the minister and the National Disability Insurance Agency will gain power to determine the supports eligible for NDIS funding, expand their investigative powers and impose limits on NDIS participants who seeking to top up their plans. The bill also bans access to sex work under the scheme.

Shorten admitted there was overcharging and waste occurring within the scheme, but he dismissed the concerns of advocacy groups as "unfounded."