Radio interview with Minister McAllister, ABC Radio Sydney 702 – 19 August 2026

Media event date: 19 August 2026 Date published: 19 August 2026 Media type: General public CRAIG REUCASSEL: Minister. Is this the end of the NDIS as intended? JENNY MCALLISTER: This legislation means we have secured the NDIS for the future.

This was a set of reforms designed to ensure that the NDIS will be safer, that it will be sustainable, and I think most importantly, that it will be supported by the Australian community, that it will have its social license secured. CRAIG REUCASSEL: One change as part of this legislation is a pathway for high-risk participants. What's this change there to protect us from?

JENNY MCALLISTER: We were clear from the outset that we wanted to ensure that our changes didn't compromise the support needs of people who need care 24 hours a day, and so this pathway makes it clear that a person who is a high-risk participant, generally someone who has 24-hour support needs, will be able to make application to the NDIS if they think that our changes are compromising that care.

CRAIG REUCASSEL: Okay, so why would they compromise that care to start with? JENNY MCALLISTER: Well, we've indicated that we will be making some reductions to people's social and community participation. For most people, that wouldn't compromise the ordinary things that they need in their day-to-day living, like assistance with continence care, medication management, hygiene, support at home.

But for some participants with 24/7 care, we wanted to be certain that they weren't using this social and community participation for those kinds of purposes. And so, if that's the case, they will be able to make an application to the NDIA, and the NDIA will vary their plan if necessary. CRAIG REUCASSEL: If necessary, so the application, whilst the application is happening, have they already lost the care that they had, or do they keep that care until the application is dealt with?

JENNY MCALLISTER: They'll be able to make the application immediately after the support determination applies. CRAIG REUCASSEL: Okay, Jared Sandell-Hay, who is the interim president of the People with Disability, was speaking on AM. This is what he said: JARED SANDELL-HAY: Lives will be lost because of this bill and they know that, and so I'm not quite sure in the community, I'm not quite sure why they're still pushing ahead CRAIG REUCASSEL: What's your response to this accusation that lives will be lost because of these changes?

JENNY MCALLISTER: The minister has to be certain and needs to take into account the safety of participants in making any determination of this kind, and we've thought really carefully about these reforms. We're confident that we can do it safely, and more importantly, we're confident that the changes that we're proposing will secure the NDIS for the long term.

And it's so that we can be certain that, as a community, we’ll continue to support participants who most need our help. This scheme was always designed for people with permanent and significant disability. The changes that we're proposing return the scheme to its original purpose.

CRAIG REUCASSEL: Yeah, this will mean that some people are kicked off the NDAs. There's going to be a new eligibility system. This new legislation doesn't specify the new eligibility system, does it?

JENNY MCALLISTER: We were really clear that we wanted to work with people with disability on implementing these eligibility changes. The legislation sets up a pathway to do so. We've appointed a technical advisory group that contains really eminent people with deep expertise in disability, and that group is also working with our reform advisory council, that has a range of very significant and important disability representatives from the states and territories.

CRAIG REUCASSEL: On the text line, somebody asked, "I have a four-year-old son with level three autism. I'd love to hear the NDIS minister asked about the plan 10% reduction to capacity-building budgets. My son has funding for the recommended level of early intervention therapy, but now we will get 10% less than he needs.

We would never do something like this for Medicare. Imagine if they only covered 90% of an emergency room visit. Why are they doing this to children with disabilities at such a critical time in their development?

What's your response, Minister? JENNY MCALLISTER: We do want people with disability, adults and children to have the supports that they need, and we've looked carefully at the way that we can do that and ensure that the scheme is sustainable into the future. The changes that your caller refers to will, we assess, have a quite limited impact on participants because most participants with those with that element in their plan are not using the full amount that's been assigned.

CRAIG REUCASSEL: All right. Well, thanks for speaking to us Minister. We know the NDS is something that a lot of our audience cares about deeply.

So, we'll watch with great interest the changes. Thank you. JENNY MCALLISTER: It's a pleasure, Craig.

Thank you Senator the Hon Jenny McAllister Disability and carers Accessibility We acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians of Country throughout Australia, and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to them and their cultures, and to Elders both past and present. © Commonwealth of Australia