LARA STIMPSON: Can you articulate who exactly will no longer be eligible for the NDIS come 2028?
JENNY MCALLISTER: Lara, this is a really important reform to get this life-changing Scheme, a triumph for human rights, back on track. And we want the Scheme to continue to be here in a decade's time for people with serious and permanent disability. And these are the people that the Scheme was always intended to serve. There's never been a clear definition of the threshold for access and over time we've seen the Scheme expand to provide services to a larger and larger group of people. It was never intended to cover all five million Australians with disability. It was always intended to be for those whose disabilities are significant and permanent and we'll be working with the disability community to establish the relevant set of tests that will drive access from 2028. We've left a long runway. We've got time to do that work and our intention is to work really closely with disabled people and also with technical experts.
LARA STIMPSON: So in the next couple of years, will every person who's currently on the NDIS, an NDIS participant, will they need to have their plans reassessed?
JENNY MCALLISTER: Reassessment of plans is already an ordinary part of being an NDIS participant, but we do expect them from 2028, we'll start applying these new thresholds to existing participants. Again, we want to work with the disability community to set up the arrangements for this to occur. And I think Minister Butler's made it really clear that for people who obviously are the intended participants in a Scheme of this kind, we take a light touch to those assessments. But we don't want to get ahead of it. We said we'd do this work with the disability community and that's the way we hope to proceed.
LARA STIMPSON: What about those families who have become now so reliant on the NDIS for critical support, support they may not have been able to access without it, will get like-for-like support outside of the NDIS or are they just simply going to reach a cliff point and fall off?
JENNY MCALLISTER: We've been really clear that we need to build up the service systems outside of the NDIS so that people aren't left between two stools. Over time, those service systems, often run by States and Territories, have been allowed to wither, and we don't think that's produced good outcomes for disabled people or their families. As I said, there are five million Australians living with disability, 760,000 of them on the NDIS at the moment. It's not surprising that so many people look to the NDIS for support. We think there are better ways to provide support for people who have lower support needs in the community in the way that people used to access them before this Scheme was put in place.
LARA STIMPSON: You're hearing from the Federal Minister for the NDIS this morning, Jenny McAllister on ABC Darwin. My name is Lara Stimpson and I want to get to part of that solution, I suppose, or alternative program which is Thriving Kids a little later. But what about those who may not be eligible for Thriving Kids, may not be eligible for the NDIS and I'm thinking here in the Northern Territory often live in places where there isn't an abundance or even some support services available at all. Will there be federal money attached to this? More programs stood up?
JENNY MCALLISTER: Yes, back in 2023, State and Territory Premiers and the Prime Minister agreed that we'd allocate $10 billion to standing up community supports. $4 billion of that has been applied to Thriving Kids and that leaves $6 billion which State and Territories and the Commonwealth have agreed should be used to stand up these services. It's a 50-50 split between the Commonwealth and the States and Territories. We really believe that this is a better response for the community, providing services back in the way that they used to be provided, but also making sure this scheme is sustainable. You know, in 10 years’ time, there'll be a little boy or a little girl that's born with a very significant disability. I want that family to know that this Scheme is still here.
LARA STIMPSON: These changes are largely because the cost of the Scheme is growing at such a rate that your Government has said it will no longer be affordable. A lot of people can accept that, but a lot of people think that's not the fault of those using it meaningfully and with a need to use the Scheme, but those who have set out to rort the Scheme. Minister Butler called them grifters, others unscrupulous providers, people who are doing the wrong thing at the expense of others, it would seem. Could you not have just managed this cost grow out or cost blow out by cutting down on those and coming down on those who are doing the wrong thing?
JENNY MCALLISTER: It's a really, important question. A couple of things. Firstly, the people who have sought support from the NDIS have done it for entirely sensible reasons. In many cases, friends or family supporting a disabled person to reach out for the only source of support that is available to them at the moment. Nothing wrong with that, but we do think there's a better way to provide that support and a way that is more sustainable for the broader Australian public and will also deliver the support needs that those people require. In In terms of fraud, it is really significant that NDIS became a soft target under the previous Government. We have got to deal with that. But most of the time, when we intervene and disrupt a fraudulent activity, what happens is money that was going to an unscrupulous provider goes back to the person it was intended for, the person with disability. It's not a cost saving to Government. It doesn't mean it's not important. We have to disrupt the people who are doing the wrong thing because there are so many amazing, beautiful providers doing the right thing. We can't let them be dragged down by this handful of people who are behaving very badly and exploiting people with disability.
LARA STIMPSON: This seems like a difficult enough job in cities and urban areas. We saw a report though last year that found in remote parts of the Northern Territory, unscrupulous providers were effectively having a field day and targeting vulnerable, particularly Indigenous Territorians with often bribes to get them onto the Scheme and using their services. What kind of resources will you allocate to that? Because I understand that doesn't necessarily equate to a cost saving for you, but that's got to be the wrong thing.
JENNY MCALLISTER: We are really ramping up enforcement and that includes in the Territory. I'm deeply troubled by some of the reports I’ve heard from Aboriginal people who are deeply concerned about the behaviour of some providers in remote communities. The Quality and Safeguards Commission are in fact in Alice Springs this week talking with participants, families and the broader community. It's a chance for community members to share feedback on how the NDIS is operating locally. Part of it, of course, is about building trust with First Nations people. We want Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people to be confident in the NDIS, to feel confident they can use it. And that does mean working with them to crack down on sharp practise in the Territory.
LARA STIMPSON: Service delivery in remote communities outside of this, those who are doing the right thing and are operating in good faith, it's difficult enough as it is. And there is often a lack of people, actual services that are able to do that kind of work. That $6 billion left, co-funded by the States and Territories and the Federal Government to lift up supports that may now be needed as a result of changes to the NDIS. How much of that will you put towards remote and regional service delivery?
JENNY MCALLISTER: These are questions we need to work through with State Premiers and First Ministers. That's not a question that the Commonwealth can or should answer just by ourselves. But I'll say this. We think very carefully about the operation of markets in remote areas where the population levels are low. In the Territory, we've worked really closely with community in Maningrida to stand up an alternative way of delivering allied health services. Instead of having multiple providers fly in and out of Maningrida, we've worked with community to identify one provider who'll provide those services. It's a more reliable and cost-effective way to get services into Maningrida. It's a really promising way of working, and I'd like to see more of that extended through the Territory and other remote parts of Australia.
LARA STIMPSON: My name is Lara Stimpson on ABC Darwin. You're hearing from the Federal NDIS Minister Jenny McAllister talking about the changes to the NDIS announced last week and rolled out in the coming years. Part of this plan, as you've already mentioned, includes a new program called Thriving Kids, which States and Territories signed up for in order to get more hospital funding from the Federal Government. This has already sort of transpired, but has locked them into this particular agreement. I spoke to the CEO of Autism NT earlier this week.
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I am a little concerned on supports within The Territory. It's great to have them here and they will be supported, but how far will that go, especially into rural and remote? Who's going to do this, even then having the people to employ to make that possible. It's very, very stretched. It's limited. We know that now.
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LARA STIMPSON: It's the CEO of Autism NT, Niki Lehmann, saying the supports required at a Territory level to pull off something like Thriving Kids. She doesn't see them existing. Where does that leave this program two years is the lead-in time, Minister, but it's not all that long.
JENNY MCALLISTER: The States and Territories said that they wanted to lead on this and to build the service systems in their own jurisdictions. That's a good thing because they often are operating other kinds of health services or support services for communities. We do have a really terrific disability workforce. It's one of the consequences of the NDIS. Lots of allied health professionals have moved into this sector. It means we've got a whole lot of people who do now know a lot about providing support to people with disability. I'm really confident that States and Territories will be able to reach into that workforce to stand up these services. But let's acknowledge, it is always challenging in remote and very remote locations to get service delivery right. We don't underestimate the challenges that the Territory Government will face in doing that. And we're really determined to work with them closely as they stand this up. I have a good relationship with my colleague, Jinson. We talk relatively regularly. I'm looking forward to working with the Territory Government as they stand this really important program up.
LARA STIMPSON: What does it mean for autistic kids, families who have relied on the NDIS for support, those zero to eight-year-old children? What will it mean for them? Because it sounds like with the uncertainties that still remain, they can just expect chaos when it comes to their care.
JENNY MCALLISTER: I don't think that's accurate, Lara. We've said really clearly that anyone who's still on the Scheme can stay on the Scheme subject to the usual reassessments. Access changes won't start till 2028. But we actually think the service model we're proposing is going to be better. At the moment, parents are spending a lot of money and a lot of time that they don't really have to get diagnoses for their kids to gain access to the Scheme. During that period, we could be doing early intervention and getting those kids back on track. What we want through Thriving Kids is to have service systems that connect with the places where kids and families already are. Maternal child health, early learning, GPs, clear pathways for families to get support early without having to chase down a diagnosis. We think we can get better results for kids. We think it's a better model of delivering services to families.
LARA STIMPSON: There'll be lots of families waiting to see what that looks like couple of years' time. Just finally, before I let you go, Minister, inflation news is out. It's not good. It's now at 4.6%. We know that the Reserve Bank hiked up interest rates twice when it was just 3.8%. How do you deal that blow to Australian families?
JENNY MCALLISTER: Look, these numbers show that Australians are paying a really hefty price for the war in the Middle East. These are costs and consequences of a conflict that's on the other side of the world, but it's really being felt here. From an economic point of view and for a range of other reasons, an enduring end to this war can't come soon enough.
LARA STIMPSON: Will there be relief in the budget in a couple of weeks' time for those families who may be dealt another interest rate hike?
JENNY MCALLISTER: Look, we're really hard at work on the May budget. Our focus will be addressing inflation, productivity and responding to global uncertainty. But you’ll know that cost of living support has been a feature of our approach to budgeting in every budget and we continue to roll out the existing measures. A tax cut for every taxpayer, wage increases for award wages, people on award wages and low incomes. we have really focused on cost of living and we continue to roll those interventions out.
LARA STIMPSON: Minister, thank you for your time.
JENNY MCALLISTER: It’s my pleasure. Thank you.