Radio interview with Minister McAllister, ABC Hobart Breakfast – 19 August 2026

Media event date: 19 August 2026 Date published: 19 August 2026 Media type: General public DAVID REILLY: Jenny McAllister is the Federal Minister. Minister, good morning to you. JENNY MCALLISTER: Good morning.

DAVID REILLY: Well I suppose that is the central question here. How can we save $38 billion without people with disability losing support? JENNY MCALLISTER: Well this legislation was all about securing the NDIS for the future to make it sustainable, safer and to make eligibility for the Scheme clearer.

This is a Scheme that Australians support. It's been life changing for people with disability. But it has had some challenges.

We wanted to be honest about those challenges and to address them. DAVID REILLY: So the challenge is mainly being fraudsters taking advantage of the system? JENNY MCALLISTER: The scheme had become much larger than ever expected.

There was too much fraud. We also know that there's been some runaway cost growth that we needed to address. And so we set out in April a plan to deal with all of those things.

This bill does make significant changes, but we think they're necessary so that this Scheme is sustainable. And most importantly that it retains its social licence. DAVID REILLY: Can you guarantee though that those savings, as much they are needed, won't come at the expense of people who have a genuine need with a disability?

Will they lose the support that they currently rely on? JENNY MCALLISTER: People with disability should be able to rely on this Scheme, but it was always designed for people with significant and permanent disability. There are five and a half million Australians with disability and at the moment, 760, 770,000 of them are on the Scheme.

That's much bigger than was ever anticipated. This Scheme was always intended to support people who had the most significant disabilities and it was also always intended that there would be supports outside of the scheme for other disabled Australians. One of the things the Australian Government is doing is working with the States and Territories to put in place $10 billion worth of alternative arrangements so that the NDIS isn't the only lifeboat in the ocean.

DAVID REILLY: So roughly three quarters of a million people on the NDIS currently. How much are you looking to reduce that by? JENNY MCALLISTER: We expect that after our reform process has concluded there'll be around 600,000 people on the Scheme but that'll take some time to work through.

We're not making any access changes to the Scheme until January 2028. We've got time to work with the States and Territories to put other arrangements in place. DAVID REILLY: And so what will happen for those 160,000 people then who will be off the Scheme?

Will they receive a letter in the mail? What's the process from here? JENNY MCALLISTER: Look, we've got time to work through this and I think my key message to people who are on the Scheme right now is we want you to just keep using your supports as normal.

We're going to be working very closely with the disability community on these changes and for individuals if there are changes that affect you, you'll hear about it directly. In the longer term, we will see people coming off the Scheme and we expect that those people will access either mainstream supports or some of the new foundational supports that will be put in place in cooperation with the States and Territories.

DAVID REILLY: And are you ready to wear the political fallout that will inevitably come from this. Those who are relying on the Scheme are already raising serious concerns about it. JENNY MCALLISTER: We've thought about these changes really carefully, and we know that this is a challenging conversation for people in the disability community, but we think these are necessary reforms.

We wish to make sure that this Scheme is here, in a decade's time for a little boy or a little girl that's born with a very serious disability. And that means making sure that the community continues to support the Scheme. The Scheme is costing much more than was ever expected and we really do think that the changes that we are making return the Scheme to its original intent and offer us a chance to secure it for the long term for that little boy or that little girl in a decade's time.

DAVID REILLY: I have a question from a listener here asking, how are we defining a significant disability? Please define significant disability, Minister. How are we actually defining that?

JENNY MCALLISTER: This is one of the things that the legislation puts in place. It makes it clear that the Scheme is for people with substantially reduced functional capacity. And we've said that this is a definition we want to work on with the disability community.

We've appointed a technical advisory group. It contains eminent people with deep expertise in disability, including people with lived experience. And that group will be providing advice to Government about how we would assess substantially reduced functional capacity.

That group will also, of course, be consulting with representatives of the disability community, including the Reform Advisory Committee. DAVID REILLY: My guest, Jenny McAllister, Federal NDIS Minister, following news that the NDIS reforms have passed Federal Parliament. $38 billion in savings over four years.

An enormous amount of money, but you must acknowledge, Minister, a lot of fear now. Senator Jordan Steele says it represents the end of the NDIS as it was promised by the Federal Government. What do you say to people with a disability who are hearing this right now and are frightened about what comes next?

JENNY MCALLISTER: I know that change can be very frightening, but what would be more frightening would be a collapse in community confidence in this Scheme. We'll work really closely with the disability community in the implementation of these reforms. We will work very closely with Scheme participants to make sure that they have good information about the way that reform and change will affect them.

And we'll work closely with the States and Territories on our shared commitment to implement a $10 billion program of foundational supports so that there are supports outside the Scheme. DAVID REILLY: Alright Jenny McAllister, we better leave it there. I suspect this is not the last we’ve heard of this story, disability advocates certainly saying this has gone too far and its happened too fast but appreciate you joining us this morning to go over the basic details of the reforms.

JENNY MCALLISTER: It’s my pleasure. Thank you for having me on. 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.

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