Greens senator Jordon Steele-John slams ‘disconnect’ in language over NDIS, disabled people ‘not silly’

Greens senator Jordon Steele-John has accused the Albanese government of a “fundamental disconnect” over its language around fraud and NDIS reforms, telling officials “disabled people are not silly”.Disability Minister Jenny McAllister and officials were grilled on Friday over reforms to the disability scheme, less than 24 hours after the lower house passed the first tranche of Labor’s budget reforms. However, cuts to the NDIS – as well as changes to housing investor tax benefits – are set for a showdown in the Senate, with calls from the Right and Left for a longer inquiry. In a lengthy opening address, Senator McAllister said the government “remains committed to the long-term sustainability of the NDIS”. “The NDIS is a critical part of Australia’s social infrastructure and a human rights achievement,” she told a senate estimates hearing. “It must be protected for people with permanent and significant disability and for future generations who will rely on it.” The estimates hearing is set to address Health Minister Mark Butler’s revelation in May that about 160,000 people would be cut from the NDIS by the end of the decade. These cuts were set to be driven by an eligibility crackdown and were expected to save the budget $35bn over four years. Senator McAllister said “this government takes fraud seriously” and would be working to eliminate fraudulent claims from the NDIS through these new reforms. “Every dollar taken by fraud is a dollar taken from someone who needs it,” she said. Senator McAllister said the reforms also aimed to return the NDIS to its original intent of supporting people with permanent and significant disability. “This divergence from the scheme’s original intent has meant that the NDIS has grown at unsustainable levels,” she said. Senator McAllister said the government would work with the disability community and states and territories through the “significant changes” to the NDIS. She said reforms would deliver quality services and support to participants by giving decision-making power on pricing to the Minister for Disability and the NDIS. “Our intention is to improve quality, encourage innovation and greater responsiveness to participant need,” Senator McAllister said. “The individualised way in which NDIS approaches social and community participation means the programs which once provided real opportunity for community connection have been allowed to wither away.” People with disability ‘not silly’ Later, Senator Steele-John, who lives with cerebral palsy, opened up questioning with a salvo on the breakdown of savings, including how much is expected to be made back by cracking down on fraud. He claimed only $5bn out of about $38.7bn set to be cut from the scheme would be recuperated by cracking down on fraud. “The vast majority of what we’ve got here in this budget are cuts made to participants, impacting them rather than impacting the large private providers who are the primary perpetrator of fraud in the system,” he said. “So we have a wildly disproportionate impact falling on people who are doing nothing wrong.” Senator Steele-John said there was a “fundamental disconnect” between the “government’s language, which is often around tackling fraud, and what the numbers say here in the budget papers”. “To be very, very clear with the government and with yourself, disabled people are not silly,” he said. “We’ve lived and died by what decision government does and doesn’t make in relation to the NDIS for over a decade … we’ve come to understand that when it comes to budget rhetoric and government policy, one of the most effective ways to understand intent is to follow the money.” Senator McAllister said Senator Steele-John had “misunderstood” her evidence, and there would be a “significant impact” on providers seeking to take money from people with a disability. “That is the purpose of the fraud measures,” she said. “We do expect very significant impacts in this regard by way of the measures we’re proposing,” she said. “However, in terms of savings to government intervening to prevent fraud, as I have already explained, generally returns money to people with disability who need it, not to consolidated revenue.” Earlier, Senator McAllister said many fraud measures were intended to improve “performance of the market”, including differentiated pricing for unregistered providers. Asked about mandatory registration of providers, Senator McAllister said it had a “dual purpose”. “Where we see fraud, we often see poor quality services and, in the very worst cases, exploitation and abuse,” she said. “Mandatory registration offers the opportunity to improve safeguarding and to improve the quality of services that are offered to participants.” Senator McAllister said fraud intervention was largely motivated by a concern about the impact on participants. “There are some savings to government when we intervene, but mostly what occurs is an improvement on outcomes for people with disability who need support,” she said.