How to fix the NDIS without blowing the budget ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has been a game-changer for many people with disabilities. Around 700,000 Australians receive support packages, and this is expected to rise to one million by 2034. It’s now one of the fastest-growing pressures on the federal budget.

But one in four people with a disability don’t qualify for the NDIS. A new system of “foundational supports” was supposed to be in place from tomorrow, July 1, to bridge this gap and support people with disability who don’t need individualised packages.

As Sam Bennett and his Grattan Institute colleagues explain, these supports are nowhere to be seen. The authors argue they should be available to all disabled Australians who need them – and outline a blueprint to pay for them, without increasing total spending on disability support.

P.S. Today is the last day of the financial year in Australia, which means there’s still time to make a tax-deductible donation to our annual fundraising campaign. Thank you to the more than 21,000 of you who have given this year.

Fron Jackson-Webb

Deputy Editor and Senior Health Editor
 

How to reform the NDIS and better support disabled people who don’t qualify for it

Sam Bennett, Grattan Institute; Hannah Orban, Grattan Institute; Mia Jessurun, Grattan Institute

Here’s how the government can fund these vital supports and save the NDIS – without spending more money.

Could we live with a nuclear-armed Iran? Reluctantly, yes

Benjamin Zala, Monash University

Both Israel and the US claim a nuclear-armed Iran would pose an existential threat. It wouldn’t. Here’s why.

Murdoch’s News Corp has moved into the mortgage business. Where are the regulators?

Roberta Esbitt, RMIT University

Australia doesn’t have a regulator suitable to tackle the kind of media, advertising and home-lending giant News Corp’s REA Group is becoming.

RFK Junior is stoking fears about vaccine safety. Here’s why he’s wrong – and the impact it could have

Julie Leask, University of Sydney; Catherine Bennett, Deakin University

The situation in the US is deeply concerning – for vaccine uptake and for the impacts globally.

Scientists look to black holes to know exactly where we are in the Universe. But phones and wifi are blocking the view

Lucia McCallum, University of Tasmania

The satellites the world relies on for navigation, communication and more get their bearings from distant black holes – but radio noise is blurring the picture.

Mr Smith or Gary? Why some teachers ask students to call them by their first name

Nicole Brownlie, University of Southern Queensland

For many of us, calling our teachers by their first names would have been unthinkable. But some teachers are changing the centuries-old practice of formal names.

NZ cities are getting hotter: 5 things councils can do now to keep us cooler when summer comes

Timothy Welch, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

Converting open-air car parks and creating green cooling corridors on transport routes is an easy and affordable way to beat the city heat as the climate changes.

Mommy dearest? Molly Jong-Fast’s blistering memoir of her ‘always performing’ mother Erica is hilarious and moving

Jane Messer, University of Canberra

Don’t, whatever you do, parent like Erica Jong. Her daughter’s memoir of the ‘worst year’ of her life is fiercely loving – but she’s horrified at how she was raised.

Cats at 40: a dazzling cast – stuck in an outdated show

Karen Cummings, University of Sydney; Simon Kenway, University of Sydney

In this re-launch, the score, direction and choreography are almost identical to what we saw back in 1985. And the choreography remains the heart and soul.

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Your Say

Tax reform
If Treasurer Jim Chalmers is serious about tax reform, he will finish the job started by Peter Costello 25 years ago and do away with state-based payroll tax, as was initially promised with the introduction of the GST. Payroll tax is a tax on employment and the silent killer of many small and medium enterprises.
Ron Arthur

Do better
It is a duty of care for all our elected representatives to manage the country's affairs so that everyone receives essential goods and services. So many living in poverty is a massive failure of government but it is also a government choice. Our political belief system prefers factions to facts and actions.
Steve Bentley

What Jewish lobby?
I was disappointed to read Denis Muller’s use of the term “Jewish lobby” in the article regarding the ABC v Lattouf case. While further into the article he details the specific groups who coordinated the attacks against Lattouf, to use a term like the Jewish lobby – to my mind – implies that all Jews are part of a concerted group to manipulate or control the media.
Chris Thibaux, Sydney

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