A new Technical Advisory Group (TAG) will meet for the first time today, in the next phase of work towards delivering reforms to secure the future of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
The TAG brings together expertise in disability, clinical practice and assessment. It will provide independent advice, helping to develop a robust and consistent approach to assessing substantially reduced functional capacity which will guide access to the NDIS.
The NDIS Review found that the current approach to NDIS access is inconsistent and inequitable and does not always target support in the way the NDIS originally intended.
The TAG will not make decisions on who can and cannot access the NDIS. Instead, the group will advise Commonwealth and state and territory governments on a framework for assessing capacity, possible assessment approaches, tools and thresholds.
It will ultimately help to ensure more consistent access to the Scheme and a system that reduces administrative burden on people with disability and their families.
Minister Butler will co-convene the TAG with ACT Minister for Disability, Carers and Community Services Suzanne Orr. Minister Orr was nominated to co-convene by state and territory Ministers, recognising the shared responsibility for the NDIS between governments. The co-convening Ministers are responsible for bringing parties together and facilitating collaboration.
The TAG will be co-chaired by Professor Christine Imms and Ms Mary Wood. The co-chairs are responsible for jointly leading the meeting, including setting the agenda, guiding discussions and providing advice.
The group’s work will include:
- developing an evidence-based assessment framework for functional capacity
- advising on assessment tools, evidence requirements and threshold options
- helping to implement, test and validate the proposed approach.
Its advice will be informed by engaging with people with disability, families, carers, clinicians and the broader sector, ensuring lived experience is central to designing the reforms.
The TAG will deliver its advice in stages through 2026, with further input to support detailed design and implementation into 2027.
Further information about the TAG, is now available on the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing website.
Technical Advisory Group for NDIS functional capacity | Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
Professor Christine Imms (Co-chair)
- Apex Chair in Neurodevelopment and Disability – joint appointment between the University of Melbourne and The Royal Children's Hospital
- Honorary Fellow Manager within the Neurodisability and Rehabilitation Group, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
- Director, Healthy Trajectories Child and Youth Disability Research Hub
Mary Wood (Co-chair)
- Deputy Secretary, Disability and Carers Group, Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
Dr Lisa Chaffey
- Founder of Equipped for Action (occupational therapy and disability leadership practice)
- Member of NDIS Evidence Advisory Committee
Associate Professor Shane Clifton
- Associate Professor in Health Sciences at the University of Sydney
- Director of the Centre for Disability Research and Policy
Associate Professor Anita D’Aprano
- Principal Research Fellow, Indigenous Child Health, Department of Paediatrics, Melbourne Medical School
- Consultant Paediatrician, Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne
Associate Professor Jill Duncan OAM
- Associate Professor, School of Education, University of Newcastle
- Current Member of the NDIS Evidence Advisory Committee
Professor Valsamma Eapen AO
- Professor and Chair of Child Psychiatry, UNSW Sydney Clinical
- Academic Head at South-Western Sydney Local Health District
Professor Nick Glozier
- Professor of Psychological Medicine, Central Clinical School, University of Sydney
- Program Lead, ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course
- Senior Staff Specialist, Complex Mood Disorder Clinic, Professor Marie Bashir Centre
Professor Richard Madden
- Professor of Health Statistics at the University of Sydney
- Former Director of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) and former Deputy Australian Statistician
Associate Professor Michael McDowell
- Associate Professor, School of Medicine, The University of Queensland
- Developmental Medicine Consulting
Professor Frank Oberklaid
- Honorary Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Melbourne.
- Co-group leader of Child Health Policy, Equity and Translation at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute
Professor Jennie Ponsford AO
- Sir John Monash Distinguished Professor of Neuropsychology, Monash University.
- Director, Monash Epworth Rehabilitation Research Centre
Professor Joel Townsend
- Professor of Practice (Access to Justice), Faculty of Law, Monash University
- Director of Monash Law Clinics, at Monash University
Quotes attributable to Minister Butler:
“The establishment of the TAG is an important step in strengthening fairness, consistency and confidence in the NDIS and making sure the Scheme remains focused on people with significant and permanent disability.
“The current approach to NDIS access relies too heavily on medical diagnosis and can produce unfair outcomes and unnecessary burden for participants and families.
“This is about getting access reform right — technical expertise going hand-in-hand with the lived experience of people with disability, to secure the future of the NDIS for generations to come.”
Quotes attributable to Minister McAllister:
“The NDIS’s fundamental purpose was always to meet the needs of Australians with permanent and significant disability, along with the needs of their families.
“We are setting up the Technical Advisory Group so there is a clear definition of who is eligible for that support, so we can get the NDIS back to its original purpose.
“The Group is a technical advisory body, but it will be informed by lived experience and by continued dialogue and engagement with the disability community and their representative organisations.”
Quotes attributable to Co-Convenor Minister Suzanne Orr:
“States and territories have an important role as co-governors of the NDIS and we welcome the opportunity to join the Commonwealth in convening the TAG.
“All jurisdictions share a collective responsibility for ensuring the NDIS is sustainable and that access is both consistent and fair.
“The TAG will be reporting directly to the Disability Reform Ministerial Council so all jurisdictions can work together to design and implement this reform work through an informed and carefully considered approach.”
Quotes attributable to Co-Chair Professor Christine Imms:
“This is important reform to get right, and I am pleased to be joined by such esteemed experts to help guide this work.
“I know how important this is to people in the disability community, and we are committed to working collaboratively with the disability community, representative organisations and peak bodies.”