The Final Report of the NDIS Review was handed down on Thursday 7 December 2023, proposing a five year plan of reforms. When announcing the review, Minister for the NDIS Bill Shorten stated the Federal Government would respond to the recommendations of the review in 2024. In all, the NDIS Review made 26 recommendations with 139 supporting actions.
The Review proposes substantial changes, some of which have understandably caused concern within the Mable community. However, Minister Shorten has emphasised that final decisions have not been made and that he is keen to hear further from the community – both people with disability and their support workers – on specific proposals.
There has been a lot of media coverage of the issue of registration and claims that the review has proposed an end to non-registered providers. However, the NDIS Review calls for a ‘risk proportionate’ approach to registration. This would see multiple levels varying from enrollment (for the lowest risk service categories) through to Basic, General and Advanced Registration. Rather than registration requirements being determined by the management of funds (as under the current system where agency managed participants generally must use registered providers), this approach will be based on other factors such as category of services. For example, personal care may require a higher level of registration than social support. There are a lot of outstanding questions about exactly which services will fall into each of these proposed categories, and no doubt the Government will provide further clarity in 2024.
The NDIS Review has also proposed establishing a single online registry of providers across the NDIS, into which online platforms like Mable would be integrated. There are also significant changes proposed for plan management, such as central payments system taking over many of the functions currently provided by plan managers, and consolidating elements of the Local Area Coordinator (LAC) role, along with support coordinators and non-payment functions of plan managers, into a new function called “Navigators”. Also, as broadly discussed in the media, the state, territory and federal governments have agreed in principle to provide greater support outside of the NDIS through a new system called Foundational Supports.
In early 2024, the Government will formally respond to the NDIS Review. It is likely that the Government will commission the public service to establish a detailed consultation and response to the NDIS Review. The NDIS Review has suggested that a public roadmap be put in place for the timing of the reforms to provide transparency to the community. While some measures such as more widespread adoption of worker screening checks could be introduced in a relatively short time frame, there are also longer term objectives such as the new registration framework and establishment of a central digital platform which would represent multi-year projects.
So, what does all this mean for our community? It means that, while there will be changes, these changes won’t happen overnight, and the Government has committed to continuing to listen and consult before acting.
Mable has made a decision not to participate in the public debate about the NDIS Review at this time. In our view, now is the time for people with disability to have their voices heard. This year, the Government will begin what will no doubt be a comprehensive consultation process on some of these individual proposals. As always, the needs of the community will shape Mable’s responses to these proposals. Mable will continue to communicate with our community as more information becomes available.
