After Jess Collins fell off her surfboard two years ago, her family was shocked to learn she'd have been better off being hit by a car.

Key points: The National Injury Insurance Scheme (NIIS) was meant to be rolled out alongside the NDIS

The National Injury Insurance Scheme (NIIS) was meant to be rolled out alongside the NDIS State governments say work on the scheme is still being done

State governments say work on the scheme is still being done Jess Collins says she was entitled to a fraction of the rehabilitation others in her ward received

"The nurses [were] commenting to us that we should have actually put Jess up onto the road," Jess's father Peter Collins said.

Jess hit a sandbank while surfing on the Gold Coast in 2018.

The accident left her with a broken spine and no feeling from the neck down.

If Jess, 25, had been injured on the road or at work, a state-based scheme would have provided her with lifelong rehabilitation.

But life is a lot harder for those who suffer catastrophic injuries in the community.

A proposed insurance scheme to help people like Jess was due to be rolled out at the same time as the NDIS, but it never got off the ground.

"It's ludicrous to think that someone can have their injury a different way to me and their injury could be exactly the same level of injury, yet they get a payout through a sporting service, insurance, through motor vehicle accidents and put on lifetime care," Jess said.

"Someone else is sitting there who is a paraplegic and can have 10 hours of physio a week and I get 45 minutes just because we are in different insurance schemes."

The NIIS: the NDIS's forgotten cousin

Data from 24 major trauma centres across the country, provided by the Australia New Zealand Trauma Registry, shows more than 2,500 Australians sustain catastrophic brain and spinal cord injuries each year.

In 2011, the Productivity Commission recommended the establishment of a federation of state-based lifetime care and support schemes — a National Injury Insurance Scheme (NIIS).

Jess Collins undergoes regular rehabilitation sessions. (ABC News: Brendan Esposito)

Former AMA president Andrew Pesce was on the advisory committee set up by the federal government in 2013 to make recommendations on how to roll out the scheme.

"The original intention of the scheme was to be a parallel arm of the NDIS — that was a recommendation of the Productivity Commission," Dr Pesce said.

"The disability scheme was to look after people with naturally occurring illnesses, not as a result of an accident, but also recognising that there is a very small number of people catastrophically injured that also need to be looked after."

Professor Alex Collie from Monash University's School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine specialises in research into injury compensation schemes.

He said the main problem was that the NDIS wasn't set up to support early rehabilitation after an accident.

"We know that early, good quality, early care and rehabilitation can dramatically improve people's outcomes, their … ability to work, their ability to have a good quality of life," he said.

"It's potentially a life-changing difference for some people.

"It can really improve their prospects in the longer term and the NDIS isn't set up to fund and support that."

'There's only so much people can give'

Since Jess's accident, the New South Wales and Queensland surf lifesaving communities and locals in Newcastle have raised almost $300,000 to help pay for her ongoing care.

"Without them, Jess would probably still be at rehab somewhere trying to negotiate with the NDIS to get some home modifications done," her father said.

Jess Collins in her childhood home, which had to be modified after her accident. (ABC News: Brendan Esposito)

Jess receives financial support from the NDIS but her plan doesn't adequately cover the costs of at home care and all of her rehabilitation sessions, which are key to her long-term quality of life.

But the C4 quadriplegic doesn't think she should have to rely on the community to help cover her costs.

"There's only so much that people can give. It's not OK," she said.

Governments 'still considering' a general-accident NIIS

In a statement, Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the injury insurance schemes were being "developed in stages" and that significant progress had been made since 2011.

He said a road accident scheme had been rolled out, and a workplace accident scheme would soon be fully implemented. But the states and territories were still considering a general accidents NIIS, which would cover people like Jess Collins.

"The states and territories are largely responsible for legislating, funding and administering the NIIS," he said.

The New South Wales, Queensland and Victorian governments said work on a scheme to cover general injuries was still being done.

"We're open to further discussions with other states and territories on the feasibility of a general accident stream," a spokesperson for Victoria said.

Jess Collins had access to significantly less rehabilitation than others with similar injuries. (ABC News: Brendan Esposito)

Dr Pesce said the estimated costs to the system were relatively small.

"No matter how horrible it is to think about, accidents do happen and sometimes our loved ones will fall off the swing at the park or injure themselves diving in a surf beach," Dr Pesce said.

"I think most Australians would feel that they would like fellow Australians who are in [have] these catastrophic injuries to be looked after."

Jess agrees it is about making the system equal for everyone.

"We are all in the spinal ward together, why does it need to be different? Why do we all need to be treated different and on different payment plans?"

Watch this story on 7.30.