T. J. Arden
The NDIS transformed disability support in Australia. But more than a decade after its introduction, the Scheme is facing some of the most difficult questions in its history.The National Disability Insurance Scheme was built around an ambitious idea: people with disability should have greater choice and control over the support they receive. It replaced a system widely criticised for being fragmented, underfunded and heavily dependent on where a person lived and what services happened to be available.The NDIS brought opportunities that had been missing for many people. It also changed the disability sector in ways that were not always anticipated.As the Scheme grew, so did its cost and complexity. A rapidly expanding provider market brought greater choice, but also new opportunities for fraud, exploitation and poor-quality support. Concerns about planning, safeguarding and the boundaries between the NDIS and other public systems became increasingly difficult to ignore.Reform was inevitable. The harder question is what happens during the correction.Support Under Pressure traces the development of the NDIS from the system that preceded it through to the reforms now reshaping disability support in Australia. Drawing on legislation, government reports, parliamentary inquiries, regulatory material and other public evidence, T. J. Arden examines both the reasons reform became necessary and the consequences that can follow when a large social program is placed under pressure to change.What happens when stronger safeguards also increase the cost of providing support? What does provider withdrawal mean for participants who cannot simply find another service? How can governments control expenditure without gradually shifting responsibility back onto families?And how does Australia catch the bad actors without losing the good ones?Support Under Pressure is a timely examination of the choices Australia is making about the future of the NDIS - and why the way the Scheme is repaired may matter just as much as what went wrong.
