NDIS Amendment Bill 2024

Updated 4 July 2024

On Wednesday 27 March 2024, Minister Bill Shorten introduced the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Getting the NDIS Back on Track No. 1) Bill 2024.

But what has happened since then? What’s likely to happen next? In this article, we help break down what the Bill is about, explore some of the key proposals, and predict the next possible steps.

What is the purpose of the Bill?

The Bill seeks to amend the original NDIS legislation, created in 2013. Basically, it seeks to convert the recommendations from the NDIS Review into law.

What are some of key proposals?

• All NDIS participants will be moved to the revamped scheme over the next five years. The changes include a new assessment of the needs of each participant (not their eligibility) and then providing them with a budget that will last up to five years.
• This is principally designed to eliminate plan inflation associated with the current practice of giving each participant a new plan every year, which is often more expensive than the year before.
• Funding will be allocated based on impairments that meet disability requirements, not by having a listed medical condition that guarantees entry to the scheme.
• The NDIA will be required to provide participants with a clear statement of the basis on which they entered the scheme.
• The legislation defines the supports that will be funded by the NDIS and those that will not. The latter will include such items as groceries, paying bills, gambling, cosmetics, appliances, whitegoods and perfume.
• There will be new safeguards to stop the exploitation of participants and the scheme. For example, if a participant is being manipulated by a carer who is managing their plan (ie. so the Carer can defraud the scheme), then the agency will take over managing the plan for the participant.
• The agency could also change Plan Management processes as well, by imposing shorter funding periods “to safeguard participants where others may seek to exploit or coerce the participant to use their package in a way that is not consistent with their best interests”.
• To further guard again such fraud, the agency can clarify the supports on which a participant can only spend money in accordance with their plan. This will help guard against the deliberate spending of an entire budget early and then asking for, and receiving more money.

What’s the current state of play?

• On 5 June, the NDIS Amendment Bill was passed the House of Representatives.
• On 20 June, the Community Affairs Legislation Committee handed down their report on the NDIS (Getting the NDIS Back on Track No. 1) Bill 2024, which is available here.
• The Labor-majority Committee recommended the Bill be passed, subject to some minor amendments.
• On 24 June, the Bill was introduced into the Senate and commenced the second reading debate. In that debate, opposition Senator Hollie Hughes (Liberals) moved an amendment which referred the Bill back to the Community Affairs Legislation Committee for further inquiry and to report by 5 August 2024.
• The Greens then amended that opposition amendment to specify that the Committee should examine any circulated amendments to the Bill and the positions of state and territory governments.
• On 27 June, the Senate formally voted to refer the NDIS (Getting the NDIS Back on Track No. 1) Bill 2024 to Committee.

What’s likely to happen next?

• As per the vote, the Bill has gone back to the Community Affairs Legislation Committee.
• The Greens and the LNP asked for additional time for the new amendments to be considered by the Senate Legislative Committee, with an accompanying report due on August 5.
• The Bill should go back into the Senate the week of 12 August.
• Labor’s hands are tied as they simply don’t have the numbers in the Senate. They are going to have to bargain either with the Coalition or the Greens, plus two cross-benchers to get this through.

Information referenced in this article has been sourced from the APH website and various media reports.