Early costs of the NDIS on 891ABC
19/12/2013
Tony Abbott, Prime Minister; Kelly Vincent, Dignity for Disability; John Della Bosca, Every Australia Counts; Liz Cairns, Disability Manager (891ABC 12.25-12.29) Early costs of the NDIS
(Presenter: As the Federal Government conducts a review into the National Disability Insurance Scheme, service providers are defending the early costs to the scheme. The program’s first three months have cost about a third more than the Government projected, but disability service advocates say these start-up costs will decrease … )
(Reporter: People in the disability sector have been hearing mixed messages. The Tresaurer, Joe Hockey, says the NDIS must be affordable, which was taken by some as a hint of cuts. The Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, told commercial radio … he’s as committed as ever.)
Abbott: The National Disability Insurance Scheme … if it’s done right, and I’m confident that it will be done right under this Government, that is actually going to be an economic boost because there are a lot of people with disabilities who can be economic as well as social contributors and the NDIS will make at least some of that possible.
(Reporter: Yesterday, State and Territory Ministers were told the scheme cost a third more than predicted in its first three months. The number of people registering their interest is about 50% more than forecast … Kelly Vincent … says the higher costs are largely due to underestimations.)
Vincent: A child with autism for example, if a child with autism needs to see a speech pathologist or a psychologist, it might be for example that the scheme has budgeted $100 for a session when it likely costs around the $150 … that’s the kind of example I can give you.
(Reporter: John Della Bosca … says there’s another bigger reasons the costs so far are higher than thought.)
Della Bosca: Obviously … disability clients with the greatest needs have been put into the trials in larger numbers than clients with lower needs and inherently that means the more expensive clients are coming into the trials first, which means that the average costs over time of clients in the scheme will go down. So I think some of these fears around the scheme costing too much are misplaced and I think we all need to take a deep breath.
(Reporter: So far the program’s been rolled out in four places around the country … children in South Australia and young people in Tasmania are receiving the packages that are meant to end the duplication of services and result in better care. So too are people in the Hunter Valley … and the Barwon region around Geelong in Victoria. Liz Cairns manages the Barwon region and she says the demand is well above what was expected … she says the scheme is already making a difference … and it shows how savings down the track will outweigh the short term costs.)
