September
‘Needs’ test plan to slow surging NDIS costs
A needs-based assessment system, autistic children to be treated by mainstream services, and tighter control of service providers are part of a suite of changes being pushed by a NDIS review team to cap surging costs.
- Tom Burton
Bloated NDIS encourages providers to keep children in care: experts
Relying on a marketplace of private providers to support the care sector is incentivising service providers to chase repeat customers rather than better outcomes according to actuarial experts.
- Tom Burton
This charity couldn’t find enough puppies, so it’s breeding its own
In an attempt to meet demand for its animals, Assistance Dogs Australia has brought its breeding program in-house for the first time.
- Jemima Whyte
August
Labor counts on 60pc saving to NDIS before plan exists
A national cabinet plan that has not been finalised is assumed to more than halve the cost of the National Disability Insurance Scheme over the next 40 years.
- Michael Read
More than 11pc of boys aged 5-7 are on the NDIS
The NDIS is on track to once again exceed official participant projections as the program experiences strong enrolment rates among children with autism.
- Michael Read
How EY treats its ethnic workers (and the racism they report)
EY Oceania staff from non-Western ethnic backgrounds, and those of Hindu, Islamic or Buddhist faith, are most likely to say they have experienced racism and discrimination at the big four firm.
- Updated
- Edmund Tadros
June
Children ‘undermining the sustainability of the NDIS’
The explosion in kids joining the NDIS is undermining the program’s sustainability, according to a review laying the foundation for an overhaul of the scheme.
- Michael Read
NDIS participants slam ‘discriminatory’ price gouging in review
NDIS participants say they get charged more than double the cost for the same service an able-bodied person could get from an allied health professional.
- Gus McCubbing
May
Number of NDIS participants rises rapidly, smashing forecasts
The growth in the National Disability Insurance Scheme has already exceeded full-year participant forecasts released just months ago.
- Michael Read and Tom McIlroy
Will my spouse lose health benefits when I die?
Under deeming rules, a surviving partner could have financial assets of about $4 million before losing the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card.
- John Wasiliev
‘I feel like no one hears me’: $405k in NDIS that’s still not enough
Vaida Palevic is exhausted. With four children under 12, including two with profoundly complicated special needs, she feels ignored and abandoned.
- Updated
- Julie Hare
Bill Shorten wants to save $74b on the NDIS. Here’s how
Cracking down on ticket-clipping accommodation providers and getting the government to negotiate directly with service providers are key to Labor’s plan
- Michael Read
April
- Opinion
- Opinion
Six reforms to repair the NDIS
The open-ended nature of the NDIS creates perverse incentives for users. But there are fair ways to tighten the system up.
- Hassan Noura
NDIS overloaded by Thermomixes, aged care and mental health, says carer
Deborah Cooper, whose daughter has a rare genetic condition and receives NDIS support, says the scheme is ‘being too big of a bucket’.
- Updated
- Campbell Kwan
- Opinion
- The AFR View
It is past time to unwind the mistakes of the NDIS
The wrong incentives can undermine the most noble objectives, and every incentive in the NDIS is the wrong one.
- The AFR View
- Exclusive
- Property investment
NDIS watchdog cracks down on housing providers duping tenants
Housing providers have allegedly robbed NDIS participants of their right to choose care providers and have loaded them up with services they have not agreed to.
- Max Mason and Jonathan Shapiro
This mum says rising therapy costs mean the NDIS is essential
Families of children with special needs would not have adequate support without NDIS funding, says Louise Gleeson, who is a mother of a neurodiverse child.
- Campbell Kwan
Shorten demands states ‘step up’ to pay fair share of NDIS
Bill Shorten accused the states of shifting the costs of services they used to cover onto the under-pressure NDIS, in remarks that will spark a row over funding.
- Phillip Coorey
Control Bionics teams with Deakin Uni for mind-controlled wheelchair
Powered wheelchairs will be able to move along pre-defined routes in the house, just by clicking a mouse button in your mind.
- John Davidson
Why has the NDIS blown out? Because almost nobody exits the scheme
Just 1.5 per cent of children aged under 6 exited the scheme in the year to September 2021, compared to an expected exit rate of 4 per cent.
- Michael Read
