The Albanian government has finally reached an agreement with the regions, which should lead to the parliament’s adoption of the stalled bill to revise the national disability insurance scheme.
NDIS Minister Bill Shorten announced on Wednesday that state governments, which are responsible for delivering more services, have agreed to changes that will reduce the rising costs of the program by $14.4 billion over four years.
The states are opposing the federal government’s plan to move some NDIS functions back to the states.
Changes to the Bill will focus on introducing faster timeframes for approving NDIS rules, and will also introduce changes that will refer disputes to Premiers or Chief Ministers.
New rules affecting people with disabilities and governments will now also require only a majority of prime ministers, rather than unanimous support.
“There is a lot of fear, more than anything. I want to say to people with disabilities and participants that the states and the federal government need to get their act together and that people with disabilities and participants are not political pawns,” Mr Shorten said.
“The federal government wanted to make sure that the states were taking responsibility, and we are confident that the commitments the states made in the proposals do that.”
The bill was blocked in the Senate, but now that the coalition and states have approved it, it is likely to pass when it is voted on Thursday.
NDIS Minister Bill Shorten announced on Wednesday that state governments, which will be responsible for delivering more services, had agreed to changes that will significantly reduce the program’s rising costs by $14.4 billion over four years.
Mr Shorten said the legislation would provide the basis for a reformed NDIS, bringing significant changes to who can access the scheme and tighter controls on what services can be accessed.
He indicated that participants will be given “clear guidance” on the changes, including plans to eliminate automatic budget replenishments and instances where plans are exhausted early.
“The passage of this legislation is really the construction of the framework that will allow us to design together unique assessment tools and new budgetary tools,” Mr Shorten said.
‘This will allow us to conclude our consultation with people with disabilities on a list of what you can and cannot spend money on.
“This will always be a work in progress, but as we’ve seen, we’re committed to making sure the plan is there for the future. It’s happening at an unsustainable pace.”
The bill is expected to pass the Senate on Thursday and then be sent back to the House of Representatives.