During the final hearing of the Senate inquiry into the government’s proposed National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) changes, it was revealed more than 350,000 people who would have accessed the NDIS will have to find supports elsewhere.
The health, disability and ageing department projected that 240,000 existing participants will be “exited” from the scheme under the changes.
But an additional 110,000 people who are not yet participants, but would be over the next five years, will be diverted away from the scheme.
The figure includes children with developmental delays or autism being moved onto the “Thriving Kids” program.
Shadow NDIS Minister Melissa McIntosh says the government can’t rush through reforms that will affect so many people.
“Throughout the hearings, witnesses have been telling the Committee that people will die as a result of these changes. It is our responsibility to listen to their concerns,” she said.
“The NDIS must be sustainable, and it needs real reform. However, in the rush to cut expenditure, we cannot forget that there are human lives at the other end. People are not line items on a spreadsheet.”
