Delivering a more equitable NDIS

VCOSS submission to the Independent NDIS Review

The introduction of the NDIS has been one of the biggest social policy reforms in Australia’s history.   

The NDIS promised to change the way people with disabilities live their lives – how they would become more independent, find work, study, and connect to community – the foundations for a life of wellbeing.  

This would happen by giving those eligible for the scheme greater choice and control over services they need.  

The launch of the NDIS in 2012 was met with great excitement and expectation. And indeed, the NDIS has been transformative to the lives of many people with disabilities.  

Now, more than ten years have passed since the NDIS was introduced, and that optimism has been replaced with frustration and disappointment.  

People with the most to benefit from the NDIS describe their experiences with the NDIS as complex, bureaucratic and difficult to understand, access and navigate. For some people with intersecting identities and experiencing multiple or persistent forms of disadvantage, these experiences leave them feeling disempowered and traumatised.  

‘It’s really draining navigating the NDIS system’.¹ 

‘It’s like I’m on a merry-go-round’.² 

Implementation of the NDIS has created thin markets, especially in regional and rural areas, which undermine the promise of choice and control. Outside of the NDIS, there are now very few supports available to people with disability. These implementation challenges entrench health and social inequities for certain groups. 

These issues have been canvassed in several reviews and inquiries, including the 2019 review of the NDIS Act (the ‘Tune Review’), Disability Care and Support Productivity Commission Inquiry, the NDIS Costs Productivity Commission Study 2017 and the the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. 

But despite these many reviews and inquiries, and subsequent efforts to implement change, barriers to accessing the scheme continue to be described as ‘insurmountable’³. 

In this context, we wholeheartedly welcome the Commonwealth Government’s leadership in bringing together all Australian jurisdictions to undertake this Review and commitment to “fix it and return it to its original intent”. ⁴ 

As the peak body for social and community services in Victoria, our members include specialist peak bodies, frontline services, advocacy organisations and individuals passionate about the development of a sustainable, fair, and equitable society. 

VCOSS is also the auspice organisation for the Disability Advocacy Resource Unit (DARU), which is jointly governed by VCOSS and Disability Advocacy Victoria (DAV). DARU, funded by the Victorian Government through the Office for Disability, supports Victoria’s 28 disability advocacy organisations with information, learning and development, and projects that strengthen the capacity of the state-funded sector.  

We see this Review as a significant opportunity for the now well-known, persistent issues to be resolved and drive a major shift in service provision for people with disability.  

This submission has been informed by direct consultation with our members, including a dedicated member forum we ran in April 2023 focused on the Review. People with disabilities, community sector organisations, advocates and service providers had the opportunity to reflect on the current state of the NDIS. Much of the discussion echoed key challenges canvassed in the NDIS Review Interim Report.  

Our members shared their vision of a NDIS that is person-centered, works better with mainstream services, is co-designed with people with disability and is supported by a sustainable and skilled workforce.  

They also told us what needs to happen to drive lasting change. This includes bringing participants back to the centre of the planning process, improving the reviews and appeals process, strengthening the Quality and Safeguards Framework and NDIS Commission, addressing workforce challenges and interface issues between the NDIS and mainstream services.  There is also an urgent need to address the reduction in service delivery in the mainstream service system for people with disabilities since the introduction of the NDIS.  

As a national scheme, subject to a bilateral agreement with our State Government, VCOSS and VCOSS members – in allyship with people with disabilities – stand ready to work with government to improve the NDIS and deliver on the promise of the scheme. This includes assuring equitable access to mainstream supports.