The Minister for Disability and NDIS, Mark Butler, made major announcements on Wednesday, 22 April with regards to the NDIS and aged care. These measures are part of the federal budget to be handed down on Tuesday, 12 May, with the early announcement intended to encourage community debate on the proposals ahead of that time.
Changes to aged care will include:
Changes to the NDIS will be more wide-ranging, and include reforms to eligibility, assessments and plan reviews. Not everything will change this year, and it is dependent on the passage of legislation. The Minister has committed to designing some of these changes with the disability community, so the final outcome will remain unknown for some time. On behalf of the National Carer Network, Carers Australia has advocated to the Minister that the carer voice is represented in the groups that are being tasked with planning and implementing these reforms.
What we know so far:
Changes to eligibility criteria
From 2028, eligibility will be determined on an assessment of functional capacity, and those people who have a significant reduction in their functional capacity and whose day-to-day lives are impacted by their disability will stay on the Scheme. The detail is not available yet, but a Technical Advisory Group will be convened to determine such an assessment.
This is intended to reflect a shift from the diagnosis-led model and/or ‘lists’ which were developed when the Scheme was first initiated. Acknowledging the anxiety related to this change, it’s also important to note we’ve heard from many carers over the years that plans do vary despite the same diagnosis. And those parents who have sought a diagnosis when their children turn 9 currently must demonstrate how the diagnosis impacts the child’s day-to-day living.
The Minister made it clear there is no specific attention on certain groups and ruled out that people with psychosocial disability will be excluded from the Scheme. He acknowledged it can be hard for people with psychosocial disabilities to access the Scheme and recognised that many of those participants have high support needs. He also said, adults on the spectrum won’t necessarily be excluded because their functional capacity will be taken into account – not their diagnosis.
Reducing individual funding for social and community participation and focusing on ‘block’ funded organisation-led inclusion.
As individual budgets for capacity building daily activities will be progressively adjusted (and decreased) from 1 October 2026, there will be a complementary $200 million Inclusive Communities Fund. When asked, the Minister said the Government wants “to rebuild the capability of community organisations, whether they're traditional disability organisations or sporting clubs, arts groups and so on and so forth, to host NDIS participants in them.” Further details of how the government intends to reduce barriers to people with disability and their carers participating in everyday activities have not been set out at this time.
As the NDIS Review found, state and territory-based services need to be reestablished, and these are now being called Thriving Kids and Foundational Supports. In principle, agreement has been reached with governments, but bilateral agreements are still forthcoming. This is where we will see more detail about supports for people outside the NDIS that build individual capacity of carers and people with disabilities, as well as inclusive mainstream services.
There’s a department factsheet linked here, and more information as it becomes available.
We know carers are mission critical to the sustainable functioning of the NDIS, and we have consistently advocated to the Commonwealth Government that carers’ lived experience needs to be recognised and their voices integrated into policy and program design. Recently, we advocated with Carers Australia that the new framework planning process includes opportunities for meaningful conversation for carers to be heard (separately if needed to allow the carer confidence they can share their own) to identify their own capacity to care in the short to long term, communicate directly with carers and include appropriate time and communication methods to inform participants and carers about how different options impact them for example, plan management. We understand many carers are worried about how these changes will impact their family or friends.
Carers Victoria will continue to advocate as part of the National Carer Network for the perspectives of carers to be fully considered as these reforms evolve, and for carer voice to be included in any consultation processes. We encourage carers to contribute to consultation opportunities as they arise. Stay connected through our newsletter and social media.
