Today I was delighted to host my third ministerial meeting on disability reform.
My sincere thanks go to my fellow ministers from across the states and territories for their continued commitment and commitment to reforming the NDIS and improving the participant experience and discussing new sustainability issues.
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has been established in a bipartisan way and all Australian states and territories are continuing to work together to improve the participant’s experience and ensure that the scheme is permanent.
The NDIS now supports more than 466,000 participants, with more than 245,000 receiving disability benefits for the first time.
At today’s meeting:
- Ministers were informed of the additional data provided in the quarterly report on sustainability pressures for the NDIS.
- Ministers recognized the significant work senior officials have done to improve their understanding of the assumptions and cost drivers that underpin the sustainability pressures that NDIS is facing.
- Ministers have committed to a forward plan with a final report on the financial performance of the system to ministers by December 2021.
- Ministers discussed possible legislative reforms related to improving the participant experience, including service guarantee for participants and the ability to more easily change an NDIS plan.
- New South Wales agreed to work with the Commonwealth to develop measures that ministers should consider to further strengthen powers to combat fraud and unscrupulous conduct.
The preparation of a formal communiqué for today’s meeting is under way and will be published next week.
Minister also:
- Agree to advance Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021-2031 for formal government approval.
- Agree to give priority to improving the supply of safe, affordable and suitable housing for people with disabilities.
- took note of the progress in COVID-19 vaccination rates for NDIS participants and workers.
- reaffirmed their commitment to prioritizing vaccination access for NDIS participants and disabled staff through the many available channels.
The next meeting of the ministerial meeting on disability reform will take place in October this year.
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