16th Mar 2021, 4:55 PM – Senate Motions - National Disability Insurance Scheme - Pause independent assessments

The same number of senators voted for and against a motion, which means it failed.

Motion text

That the Senate—

(a) notes that the Australian Government proposes to introduce 'independent assessments' for access and planning decisions for the National Disability Insurance Scheme's (NDIS) 400,000 participants;

(b) recognises that:

(i) people with disability, their families, carers, service providers and their representative organisations were not consulted on independent assessments before they were announced by the Government,

(ii) independent assessments will provide a one-size-fits-all approach to access and planning while adding bureaucratic hoops for participants to jump through, and

(iii) neither the Productivity Commission report, nor the review conducted by David Tune AO PSM, support the introduction of independent assessments in the form proposed; and

(c) expresses its concern that, as the Government only returned $1.5 billion of the $4.6 billion it cut from the NDIS, independent assessments are just another way to take support from Australians with disability by restricting access to the scheme and limiting plan funding; and

(d) calls on the Government to:

(i) immediately pause the rollout of independent assessments,

(ii) hold a genuine, transparent consultation process, and

(iii) work with participants, families, carers and the sector to co-design the best solution to address the issues of consistency and fairness in NDIS access and planning identified by the Tune Review.