PM says new NDIS funding increase a “significant milestone”

The NSW government has announced an increase in funding for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) to better care for consumers.

The state is the first to officially sign up to the full rollout of the NDIS and the agreement means more certainty for NSW disability service providers as well as better outcomes for consumers.

NSW will escalate its annual funding contribution to the NDIS, which exceeds $3 billion in 2018-2019, by four per cent to contend with population surges. The Commonwealth has agreed to pay the balance NDIS costs in NSW to ensure sustainability.

“It is extremely humbling today to be able to do this, because not only does it secure the funding, but it also makes sure that the transition continues to be as smooth as possible,” said NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian.

Berejiklian and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull reached the “significant milestone” for the delivery of the social reform, and the move will place people at the centre of the system to give them choice over the services they receive.

The increase in funding is aligned with several recommendations made in the 2017 Productivity Commission Report, Review of NDIS Costs. This includes the two governments committing to using shared funding to establish an NDIS reserve from 1 July 2019 and a subsidy to provide greater flexibility to manage sustainability.

Currently over 84,000 people in NSW are already utilising the scheme, including more than 16,000 people who have not previously accessed government-funded specialist disability supports. The NDIS is expected to eventually support 140,000 NSW citizens.

The agreement will reflect the Australian and NSW governments shared responsibility for the NDIS and locks in arrangements for both governments to continuously make ongoing and up-front contributions to the scheme.

The NDIS scheme agreement for NSW will take effect from 1 July 2018.

Social Services Minister, Dan Tehan, said the NSW government had provided a blue print for the other states and territories.

“Negotiations with South Australia and Victoria are going extremely well. I look forward to also increasing the pace of those negotiations with the other state and territories,” Tehan said.