Malcolm Turnbull hails signing of deal, one of his first official duties as prime minister, but government admits $5bn question mark over scheme’s funding

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Victoria and New South Wales have officially signed up to the national disability insurance scheme (NDIS), while the commonwealth government admits there is still a $5bn question mark over how to fund the scheme.

Malcolm Turnbull hailed the signing of the deal, one of his first official duties as prime minister.

“This marks a huge milestone towards the delivery of one of the largest social policy reforms in our nation’s history,” he said.



The two states jointly account for nearly half of all people living with a disability, nationwide, who are eligible for the scheme. It will support 140,000 people living with disability and their families in New South Wales, and 105,000 in Victoria.

The rollout of the full implementation of the scheme will begin in July 2016.

“It is an absolutely inspirational day for the country. The NDIS is a work that has been in progress for many years,” the NSW premier, Mike Baird, said.



“There is a group of politicians sitting up here but it is not our day. This is a day for those who have campaigned for so long to deliver this sort of equity, this empowerment, this justice for those [in] our community who have every right to expect the fair go,” the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, said.

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“This is a fantastic example of what can be achieved when we work together, when we spend less time bickering and more time focusing on the things that families and communities right across our nation need.”

The federal assistant social services minister, Mitch Fifield, admitted that there is still a question mark lingering over funding.

The fully rolled-out scheme will cost $22bn. Of that, $10bn will come from state and territory governments, $3bn from redirecting existing commonwealth money, and $3.6bn from the increase in the Medicare levy. A budget hole of over $5bn remains.

Fifield says the commonwealth will find the money.

“Rest assured we are fully committed to funding the NDIS,” he said. “We are going to fund it in full and we are going to deliver it in full.”

The president of People With Disability Australia, Craig Wallace, said state and federal governments “can’t dodge the question of funding forever”.

“We do think that the matter of funding does need to be settled, and it needs to be settled politically,” Wallace said, adding that every possible funding option “needs to be on the table”.

“Let’s have a discussion about future-proofing this core government business,” Wallace said.

Labor said the money already exists.



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“You cannot have the commonwealth government signing agreements for the full roll-out of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, signing them today, unless the money is in the budget. It is in the budget,” the shadow disabilities minister, Jenny Macklin, told reporters.

Fifield said that modelling done by the productivity commission shows that the NDIS would not go over the earmarked $22bn.

“The experience we have had in the trial sites to date is that they are operating within budget. We are pretty much on track in terms of the numbers of people who should be in the scheme at this stage,” the assistant social services minister said. “In terms of the budget of the scheme, it is tracking well. The actual work shows that the funding envelope that has been laid out and agreed between governments should be appropriate for what is required.”

The campaign director of Every Australian Counts, John Della Bosca, denied claims that some people living with a disability are being told that they are ineligible for the NDIS, saying that people can appeal their decisions.

“The concern that the scheme is not robust ... is not a serious one,” he told Sky News on Wednesday.

Della Bosca said he would continue to push for the remaining states and territories to sign on to the deal.

The statutory body overseeing the scheme, the National Disability Insurance Agency, is expected to create 300 jobs in Geelong, the Victorian city still smarting from the demise of the automotive manufacturing industry.