I'm pleased to table the Joint Standing Committee on the National Disability Insurance Scheme's Annual report No. 2 of the 47th Parliament. I'd like to thank everyone who lodged a submission, appeared at public hearings or shared their views to us over the past year. I'd particularly like to thank all participants, their families and carers who have contributed to this report. Your lived experience of the scheme is so important. And I'm proud to be part of a committee that listens to you and values your insights—insights that provide the foundation for shaping meaningful recommendations to improve the NDIS. The submissions and other evidence received as part of this report highlight opportunities to strengthen the role we play as a committee to oversight the scheme.
As a result, the report recommends that the committee's resolution of appointment be amended to the next parliament to include consideration of the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission annual reports. This will bring the committee into line with other parliamentary oversight bodies. The report also details the three inquiries our committee has progressed during this term of parliament, from the inquiry into NDIS general issues to the inquiry into the capability and culture of the NDIA and also our current inquiry into the NDIS participant experience in rural, regional and remote Australia. Through these inquiries, our committee has received 363 public submissions, held 18 public hearings, tabled four reports and made 32 recommendations.
I'd like to thank all members of the committee for making this a reality.
The report also looks at the new and proposed changes to the NDIS introduced by the Albanese government and the National Disability Insurance Agency since the committee published its last general issues report earlier this year.
In doing so, it maintains the committee's focus on three key themes highlighted in annual report No. 1:
co-design,
choice and control, and
sustainability.
The government's new and proposed changes to the scheme include:
passage of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Getting the NDIS Back on Track No. 1) Act 2024,
the establishment of a NDIS Provider and Worker Registration Taskforce,
cracking down on fraud to protect the sustainability of the NDIS,
publication of the NDIS cultural and linguistic diversity strategy and action plan 2024 to 2028, and
additional funding of the $227.6 million over five years for a new specialist disability employment program.
The report also outlines the government's work to establish a new children's expert advisory group to work with the NDIA to co-design improvements to the NDIA for children and their families.
And, importantly, the report considers the Australian government's initial response to the final report of the disability royal commission.
The committee welcomes the level of consultation and engagement that the government is undertaking on a range of changes to the NDIS.
The report notes recent consultations by the Department of Social Services on a range of issues including:
the response to the disability royal commission's final report,
the new definition of NDIS supports,
foundational supports, and
the new specialist disability employment program.
Our committee also maintains the view that co-design principles, choice and control for participants, and sustainability remain crucial for the success of the NDIS in improving the lives of people with disability.
And to this end, the committee will continue to provide oversight of the government's implementation of the recommendations of the disability royal commission and the NDIS review.
On that note, I want to thank the secretariat and the committee members for their work on this report, and I encourage all members to consider the committee's report closely.
With these comments I commend the committee's annual report No. 2 to the House.
