Australian state disability ministers lash Albanese government's NDIS overhaul

The reform bill, announced Tuesday by Federal Disability Services Minister Jenny McAllister, brings down the annual funding-growth rate the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) will apply to personal-care plans from 5.5% to 4%; it also applies a new waiting-list methodology to structured therapy plans. The Federal Government says the step is necessary to put the scheme's budget trajectory on a sustainable path.

Health and disability ministers from Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory issued a joint statement Wednesday evening after meeting in Adelaide. Speaking as their spokesperson, Victorian minister Lizzie Blandthorn said the reform breaches three core principles set in the June 2024 intergovernmental agreement: transition predictability, preservation of state contribution and participant continuity. The ministers asked the federal government to defer the reform until end of August and reopen negotiations.

Services Australia is overseeing a process that will require changes to the individual plans of 715,000 NDIS participants; the disability-sector bodies Every Australian Counts and People With Disability Australia warned that any delay in execution would lead to unavoidable service disruption. Treasurer Jim Chalmers, responding to the Adelaide statement, said the federal government remained open to further consultation with the states, while the underlying budget framework would not change. ASX insurance and health-services shares closed mixed Wednesday.