Butler outlined tighter eligibility rules, slashing spending on some support categories, reducing third-party management costs, and introducing new provider standards. He said core supports such as daily living, accommodation, personal care, transport, hygiene, continence, and medication management would not be affected. The government is targeting areas where spending growth accelerated rapidly, particularly unscheduled plan reassessments. Butler acknowledged changes to social and community participation funding would reduce the number of hours participants can spend on that, noting that spending in that area tripled in five years and is projected to grow to $20 billion. He said the changes are intended to improve quality, pointing to the creation of a new Inclusive Community Fund.
Reactions have been mixed. Sunrise host Nat Barr slammed Australians taking advantage of the NDIS, saying 'everyone knows someone's milking it'. Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie said the Opposition wants to stop the rorting, referencing NDIS providers offering 482 class visas and certain suburbs with exponential numbers of providers. However, AAP FactCheck proved in March that the claim of 1,300 NDIS providers in Lakemba was based on a list comprising providers from across the country, online services, inactive businesses, and duplicates. Labor MP Josh Burns said the NDIS needs to be cleaned up because it is unsustainable if it continues to grow. Disability advocates warned cuts would leave participants worse off. People With Disability Australia president Jeramy Hope urged the government to reduce bureaucracy rather than cut eligibility. Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said the long-term viability of the NDIS needed to be addressed. Dr Nick Coatsworth said many people have lost faith in the NDIS, that NDIS spending is more than Medicare and aged care and takes staff away from health and aged care, and that the NDIS benefits 800,000 people while other budget items serve 26 million. He also shared personal struggles with his mother's dementia care, noting she waited six months for funding covering only 3.5 hours.
We've worked very carefully to identify where we think we can control spending growth, and the areas where we need to preserve existing support.
Those areas of support that are essential for daily living, accommodation supports, personal care, transport, hygiene and continence supports, medication management and all the rest, will not be subject to any of the controls I've talked about.
There will still be capacity for reassessments, but they should only happen in exceptional circumstances, where there's been a significant change in a participant's situation.
Getting that spending back to where it was a few years ago is going to mean a reduction in the number of hours participants can spend on that.
This is an area that has tripled in the last five years and is projected to grow to $20billion on its own. That's not something we think we can continue to sustain.
This isn't just about spending. It's also about the quality of supports, which is why we're building an inclusive community fund, to rebuild the capability of community organisations, whether they're disability organisations, sporting clubs or arts groups, to host NDIS participants.
You talk to anyone in the community, everyone knows someone's milking it, and it's been years and years of people milking it. It's just so frustrating for people because there are so many people who need it.