EDITORIAL: Fix NDIS, but don’t forget about kids in the process

The original intent of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, was to provide support — and decision-making power — to Australians living with significant disability.

When then-prime minister Julia Gillard introduced the legislation to create the NDIS to Parliament in 2012, there were about 400,000 such people in Australia.

Australians bought into the system. We wanted — and continue to want — it to succeed.

Because as Ms Gillard said at the time, we know that disability can affect any of us, therefore it affects all of us.

But in the decade the NDIS first rolled out nationally, it has moved away from that original intent to become something bigger, more cumbersome and far more expensive than was ever envisioned.

It is now supporting close to 740,000 people and growing fast.

That comes at a significant cost to taxpayers — about $1 billion every week, greater even than Australia’s national defence budget.

The prospect of change is already causing angst for families

It is unsustainable.

For the scheme’s own benefit — and for the benefit of every Australian — something needs to change to rein in these cost blowouts.

Health Minister Mark Butler believes he has hit upon the solution.

The Commonwealth intends to shift tens of thousands of children with mild to moderate autism and developmental delays off the scheme and into a new, capped program.

The Federal Government has committed $2b to the program, to be called Thriving Kids, and wants the States and Territories to tip in the same.

It’s a compromise option. Originally, the Commonwealth wanted each State and Territory to establish its own body for providing support for kids with autism. This new plan is an admission that was unlikely to be workable.

But Thriving Kids will put more of the onus back onto individual jurisdictions, which have backed away from their responsibilities, leaving them to be absorbed by the NDIS.

The consequence of that abrogation of responsibility has been the tremendous growth of the NDIS. Seven out of 10 new entrants to the scheme were kids with autism. One in 10 Australian children aged five to seven are on the scheme.

Without making changes, the Government has no hope of constraining the NDIS’ growth to 8 per cent per year as targeted.

However the prospect of those necessary changes is already causing angst for the families of those thousands of children.

They’ve come to know what to expect on the NDIS. Now they’ll have to learn to navigate a new system, and deal with more unknowns.

Mr Butler has vowed that kids won’t be left to slip between the cracks.

“I want to reassure them that we’re not going to leave them high and dry,” he said.

“We’re going to make sure that there is a well-designed scheme that gives them confidence that we’re going to do everything we can to support their kids to thrive.”

If the Government can fulfil that pledge, everyone will be better off.