One of the key designers of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) concedes the program is not working as intended. Bruce Bonyhady, who is helping lead a review into the scheme, said after 10 years of operation multiple challenges still needed to be addressed. “It’s inevitable when you introduce a scheme of this magnitude, which…

Australia’s Budget has revealed the Albanese government’s plan to save more than $74 billion over the next decade by reducing the annual funding target of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). This follows a decision by Federal Labor to cap the annual funding target of the disability scheme at eight percent by July 2026. In…

The Australian Greens have called the federal government’s decision to place a cap on the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) a broken promise to disabled Australians. The cap, announced on April 28 after the National Cabinet meeting, limits the growth target for the NDIS to eight percent by July 1, 2026, allowing for “further moderation”…

Advocates are calling on the federal government to take immediate action on disability care homes after a watchdog report found thousands of reportable incidents in the past four years. The report (pdf) released on Jan. 16, by the National Disability Insurance Scheme Quality and Safeguards Commission investigated seven NDIS-registered facilities. It found that since 2019, there had been up…

One economist warns that Australian policymakers will need to make tough decisions sooner or later as the latest budget papers reveal the soaring cost of ambitious social welfare programs like the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), which is predicted to exceed the cost of the defence portfolio. “They’ve got this long-term problem with trying to…

Despite efforts by the previous federal government to bring costs under control, the budget for Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme has continued to spiral as the program spent A$3.29 billion (US$2.29 billion) in the last month alone. The NDIS, established under the Gillard Labor government in 2013, was designed to be a fully government-funded program…

Over eight million Australians suffer from a long-term health problem, with 2,231,543 (nearly one in 10) reporting a mental health condition, according to newly released Census 2021 results. However, clinical psychiatrist Tanveer Ahmed says that although it is positive, more Australians are willing to speak out about mental health; he warns of an increasing willingness…

One of the biggest challenges facing Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is that it has become the primary go-to option for disabled individuals across the country, according to new NDIS Minister Bill Shorten, who said the system was only supposed to help those who were “profoundly impaired and severely disabled.” The Labor minister is…

Australian government minister Bill Shorten has vowed to put an end to the fraud that is hurting the federal government’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), which results more than $1.5 billion (US$1.06 billion) in loss a year. The announcement comes after a report by The Herald Sun on Sunday revealed that criminal syndicates are targeting…

The massive costs of Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)—tipped to hit $60 billion a year (US$42.7 billion) by 2029-30—will continue to escalate if changes are not introduced to arrest the ever-widening scope of services it tries to cover. Clinical psychiatrist Tanveer Ahmed has also warned that the program has distorted parts of the health…