Many Australians have described the National Disability Insurance Scheme, when it works, as life changing. When it was first introduced under a Labor government, there was much hope. Ten years later, it's a Labor government, led by the Minister for the NDIS and Minister for Government Services, who is once again listening and acting on the concerns of people with a disability, their families and carers.

As a result of this year's budget, we see federal government's most significant investment ever in the National Disability Insurance Agency, of $721 million, to lift the capability of the agency. Part of this is an investment of more than $73 million to better support participants to manage their plan. A key reform is longer-term planning because we know that short-term plans often create severe ongoing anxiety and frustration. Importantly, the minister is now listening to the disability community, who, under the government's reforms, will not have to re-prove their disability every 12 months.

As the chair of the Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on the National Disability Insurance Scheme, I've heard such stories often. These heart-wrenching stories are not easy to hear, so I'm pleased we finally have a government that is listening. It's listening to participants, carers and families, and responding to the recommendations from the joint standing committee's 2023 interim report. This budget's $429 million investment to improve the NDIS workforce capability, resulting in better consistency and equity in decision-making, responds to the recommendations in the interim report because the bottom line is: we are here to serve the disability community to make lives better. This budget investment demonstrates this, with a strong focus on rebuilding trust and the capability of staff, to help participants, once again, with compassion and expertise.