One of the architects of the National Disability Insurance Scheme says there is "no excuse" for the staffing caps imposed on the Commonwealth agency running the scheme.

The Federal Government restricts the number of staff that can be directly employed by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) at around 2,500.

The cap has been blamed for the agency's reliance on hundreds of contractors and labour-hire staff.

Speaking on a Q&A panel with a focus on disability and access to support services, the inaugural chairman of the agency, Bruce Bonyhady, said the staffing cap doesn't make sense.

"I look at that and I say why? What purpose is it serving and how short-sighted is it?"

The former chairman of the National Disability Insurance Scheme also said the NDIS' computer system was still not fit for purpose since its rollout in 2016.

"People tell me daily about the troubles they have accessing that system. Providers tell me about the problems that they're experiencing," Mr Bonyhady said.

"This was supposed to be an eMarker that would enable people to transact quickly, would enable providers to claim easily.

"We're just so far from that."

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Mr Bonyhady said funding that was promised to be invested in the scheme has dwindled down, with $850 million less spent on the scheme than was forecast.

"This year I anticipate actual spending will be between a billion and $1.5 billion under what is in the budget papers," he predicted.

"Some of this money needs to be used to fix the system and fix it quickly.

"There is no excuse for the sort of staff caps we've got, the IT system we've got, the lack of tier two support that we've got. And those things could be fixed extremely quickly."

Wheelchair tennis and basketball-champion-turned-broadcaster Dylan Alcott said he could not believe the platform was built so poorly from the start.

"Part of it isn't accessible. It's for people with disabilities and and they're struggling to access it," he said.

"I just want it to be rolled out in the right way."

In a bid to smooth the tension, former Disability Discrimination commissioner Graeme Innes said it was important not to let the great concept of the NDIS be ruined by the staffing caps, budget blows and bureaucracy.

"Let's actually deliver what was, what was the great hope four or five years ago. That's what Bruce and Dylan and others are saying," Mr Innes said.

NDIA 'on your side' but Centrelink IT system holding staff back

Mr Bonyhady said accessibility issues for users was outside of a control of the NDIA.

"Fifteen per cent of them had a disability, 50 per cent had a lived experience of disability when I was there. So they're on your side just as much as they're on the side of everybody in this room," he said.

"But the volume of work and the need for speed are such that we just need to invest in the capability that's needed, the training, and make it happen quickly.

"The IT system … that's not run by the NDIA, it's run by Centrelink. So the NDIA's ability to influence Centrelink is about as much as yours and mine.

"That was a cost saving measure."

Mr Bonyhady said the NDIA needs full government commitment to secure its own computer system.

"When the original Medibank scheme was introduced and there were 500,000 claims that were not able to be processed, as a result of government commitment, it was fixed within six months.

"So these issues can be fixed provided that the Minister and the Government directs Centrelink to fix the problem.

"[These things] can be fixed quickly, it just needs to be done, there needs to be a political will for this to happen in a time frame that meets your and your family's objectives and all the other participants in the scheme who desperately need it."

