Governance

Most worried about NDIS cost blowout: poll

AAP May 29, 2017

< 1 min read

Almost two out of three Australians are worried about cost blowouts in the national disability insurance scheme.

But only a third of respondents to a Newspoll agree with the Turnbull government’s plan to bridge a funding gap with a 0.5 per cent hike in the Medicare levy on all taxpayers.

The poll’s findings coincide with the concerns of federal Social Services Minister Christian Porter who warns the $22 billion program is facing a “whole range of challenges” to deliver services on time and on budget.

The scheme is already behind schedule and is expected to triple its workload in the next three years as it heads towards a target of 460,000 people.

“Rolling out from trials at 30,000 people to the full scheme is a massive enterprise,” Porter said.

Labor says the government needs to take full responsibility for “these terrible delays” which were down to making a “complete mess” of information and communication technology.

“We see many many problems emerging … and a lot of them can be sheeted home to the very poor implementation of the IT system,” opposition disability spokeswoman Jenny Macklin told reporters in Canberra.

“Many mistakes are being made because people aren’t seeing their plans before they’re implemented.”