National Disability Insurance Scheme welcomed

NDS MEDIA RELEASE

The Federal Government will take the first steps to establish a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), as recommended by the Productivity Commission and advocated by the disability sector.

An NDIS would transform the provision of support services to Australians with significant disability. NDS congratulates the Government on its endorsement of the vision articulated in the Productivity Commission's final report on Disability Care and Support and looks forward to strong progress in implementing the reforms.

Today, Prime Minister Gillard, Ministers Macklin and Shorten and Parliamentary Secretary McLucas released the Productivity Commission's final 1,000-page report on Disability Care and Support. While supporting the Productivity Commission's vision, the Government has yet to endorse its recommendations or commit the additional funding required to implement the NDIS beyond an allocation of $10 million to support a newly-established technical advisory group. It will respond to the detailed recommendations in the report at a later date.

In the plan set out in the report the NDIS would be implemented in stages and not fully implemented until 2018-19.  Regional launch sites would operate in 2014 to enable the new system to be tested and fine-tuned. In the 2012 Federal Budget NDS would like to see forward estimates reflect a funding commitment to support these launch sites. The NDIS must be built on the security of a guaranteed and sustainable funding commitment.

NDS strongly supports the Productivity Commission's conclusion that while full implementation of the NDIS would require an additional $6.5 billion a year, the social and economic returns will outweigh its cost.