Feds attack disability scheme

Carol Brown says so-called independent assessments are a cost-cutting measure

WHEN Disability Ministers from around the country recently met, they put the final nail in the coffin of the federal government’s push to introduce independent assessments as part of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

When that news broke, the disability community breathed a sigh of relief.

The introduction of the NDIS in March 2013 was the most significant social policy reform of this century. From the beginning the scheme has had at its heart the needs and aspirations of people with disability.

However, when the government went down the path of independent assessments, this represented a dramatic shift from the scheme’s core principles.

The government proposed to make every participant of the NDIS have an assessment by a stranger for up to three hours.

The government gave many reasons for this change in policy. Then minister Stuart Robert cited a need for flexibility and equality when he announced the trial of assessments in August last year. In May, Minister Linda Reynolds claimed they needed to be introduced because NDIS plans relied heavily on empathy from public servants.

In the lead-up to the recent meeting of Disability Ministers, Senator Reynolds shifted to a new reason — the changes were to make the scheme economically sustainable. This was despite the fact that spending on the NDIS remains on track with the modelling released by the Productivity Commission in 2011. To justify her claim of cost blowouts, the Minister referred to a Financial Sustainability Report produced by the NDIS Actuary. The problem is the Minister won’t let anyone else see the full report, not even the other Disability Ministers. Apparently, we are meant to take her word for it.

According to a report summary, in 2024 the NDIS will need more funding than is allocated in the federal budget. This does not mean the scheme is unsustainable — it means the government isn’t committed to fully funding it.

Following widespread community concern, the Parliamentary Committee on the NDIS launched an inquiry into the proposed assessments and the trials that had already taken place. During the committee’s public hearings, we heard from inaugural NDIS chairman Bruce Bonyhady, who was scathing of the motivations behind the changes. Professor Bonyhady said he opposed independent assessments, as he believed they were driven by cost cutting and would “fundamentally damage the NDIS”.

He told the committee the assessments were not independent and should be called “Robo-planning” because, just like the government’s illegal robodebt scheme, they applied a mathematical formula in ways it should never be used.

According to Prof Bonyhady, “Robo-planning could be used to exclude participants, cap plans or change the NDIS eligibility criteria. These planned reforms completely undermine the vision of the NDIS and as a result they’ve caused tremendous fear, anxiety and anger among people with disability, their families and carers. Trust between the National Disability Insurance Agency and the disability community has reached new lows, which is extraordinary.”

The operation of the NDIS should be reviewed from time to time, of course, to ensure it meets the needs of participants and expectations of the community. But people with disability must be at the heart of any review and proposed changes. Personcentred choice and control by and for people with disability must remain as the central principal.

This commitment to codesign needs to go much further than the standard consultation process undertaken by the NDIA in the past. For too long outcomes of co-design have been ignored by the NDIA executive or overridden by the federal government.

For people with disability and their families, codesigning with the NDIA means much more than consultation. It should mean shared decision-making and recognition of the expertise and experience people with disability contribute.

Co-designed reform means lasting, successful reform, which is something everyone can support. It is also the key to keeping the “D” at the heart of the NDIS.

Tasmanian Labor Senator Carol Brown is deputy chair of the joint standing committee on the National Disability Insurance Scheme.