National Disability Insurance Scheme

The Hon. I. PNEVMATIKOS (15:08): I seek to leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Human Services regarding the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Leave granted.

The Hon. I. PNEVMATIKOS: The end of financial year is fast approaching and with the supposed full rollout of the NDIS in South Australia, there is near universal scepticism from South Australian participants, service providers and advocates that this deadline will be met. This is particularly so given the minister has failed to publicly commit to any deadline. My question to the minister is: what confidence can the South Australian people have in either the Marshall or Morrison Liberal governments to actually deliver the full rollout of the NDIS on time in South Australia as promised?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (15:09): I thank the honourable member for her question. As I stated in response to the first question that I received in relation to the NDIS and funding, the NDIS has been fully funded. The question of some of the problems we have had with the rollout can be clearly tracked back to that decision by former Labor Prime Minister, the Hon. Julia Gillard, to introduce the scheme earlier than had been recommended by the Productivity Commission.

My view for some time—and as I have publicly expressed it—has been that the numbers were too ambitious to squeeze people through, and in hindsight the system should have focused more on quality rather than quantity so that we did not end up with people having plan reviews and the like. In South Australia, it is the fact that the full rollout has been delayed by some 12 months—it was due to take place originally by 30 June 2018.

We are quite reasonably confident that we will be at full scheme by 30 June. There has been a mixed response, I think, from participants and providers in terms of the delay in the scheme. Because it is such a massive change to the way that the system has previously operated, a number of individuals and providers have actually appreciated having extra time to adjust so that they can get their systems in place, and certainly participants are having some challenges getting used to the scheme in itself.

I think the figures that were originally expected to come into the scheme in South Australia were in the order of 34,000. The advice I have received in terms of South Australia is that the total access request decisions made by the NDIA in South Australia between October 2013 and 31 December 2018 is 34,162. So both the Department of Human Services and the NDIA are working assiduously to ensure that any other participants who are still on the state scheme are transitioned by 30 June.