Learning hard won lessons from NDIS reform

Decision makers can draw important lessons from across the intense and remarkable reform journey of the NDIS to chart the way forward. 

The NDIS Review is incomplete without a clear Federal Government response 

People with disability, their families and service providers all want to return the NDIS to its original intent – a social model of support that maximises the autonomy of people with complex and acute needs. However, the lack of a whole of government response on the NDIS Review means there is no clear direction on what recommendations it accepts, and more importantly what it rejects. 

The NDIS Review provides the Federal Government with the mandate and road map for effective reform. I’m keen to see consolidated response to the NDIS Review coordinated by the Department of Health, Disability & Ageing, with consideration of each recommendation, an achievable implementation timeline and ongoing sector engagement on co-design. 

Market-led reform has not delivered the full potential of the NDIS 

Governments have learned hard lessons about the cost of prioritising market-driven growth in the care sector – this approach does not deliver quality without government intervention. The scale of the NDIS has grown significantly without a consistent focus on delivering quality for participants, ensuring good providers can thrive or maximising full value from government investment.  

The Federal Government now has the task of reframing the system to ensure good providers can deliver quality services sustainably, as well as invest in innovation and growth. This is no small challenge. However, decision makers can prioritise changes to build the foundations for quality including: 

• ensuring the services and staffing funded to support NDIS participants with complex and acute needs are consistent with clinical best practice and the NDIS Practice Standards 

• requiring all NDIS service providers with more than one employee to be registered with the NDIS Quality & Safeguards Commission 

• requiring support workers to have an appropriate level of expertise to support participants with complex and acute needs, as part of provider registration. 

Can NDIS participants with complex and acute needs experience belonging in their everyday lives? This is the measure of success for the scheme 

Achieve Australia was founded by parents who wanted something far better for their children than the limited options available in 1952. They forged a path on accommodation, education and training for people with disability that was truly innovative for that time. We honour this every day by advocating for a system that supports quality and innovation, and dismantles barriers to inclusion. 

When the NDIS works, it delivers clear benefits for people with disability, their families and our communities. However, we know that people with disability are missing opportunities to live independently and well under current policy settings. 

The Federal Government should prioritise support for people with complex and acute needs to maximise their choice and control including: 

• establishing NDIS rules on reasonable and necessary supports for participants with intellectual disability and complex needs 

• funding NDIS participants’ supports using a ‘whole of life’ model, based on expert advice and clinical assessments of their current needs including disability related health supports 

• ensuring NDIS participants with complex and acute needs have access to targeted early and ongoing intervention to improve their quality of life 

• ensure the decision making practices and responsibilities delegated by the NDIA to disability support workers are consistent with the scope of practice.   

What’s next? 

In this term of Parliament, we need continued Federal Government leadership to fulfill the promise of the NDIS. This means putting people with disability at the heart of a truly inclusive system by: 

• investing in quality person-centred services delivered by trained staff in ways that protect NDIS participants’ safety and improve their quality of life 

• implementing a compulsory tiered registration system that safeguards those most at risk, and maximises choice and control 

• increasing access to open employment for people with disability including in service delivery roles. 
  

I’m excited about the future of the NDIS. This is our chance to finally remove the systemic barriers that stop people with disabilities living on their own terms.  

As we continue this journey, I encourage the Federal Government to put inclusive and transparent engagement at the heart of ongoing reform. This is the basis for unlocking the full potential of the NDIS for people with disability and our communities.