National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026

Mr BUTLER (Hindmarsh—Minister for Disability and the National Disability Insurance Scheme, Minister for Health and Ageing and Deputy Leader of the House) (11:49): I thank the member for Bradfield and the member for Kooyong for their comments. The NDIS has more significant consultation structures and protocols than any other social program I've dealt with, at least, and so it should.

As a minister at the time we were building the NDIS, with mental health and ageing I was involved quite centrally in that design. That government set up this scheme to be very much a scheme based on the philosophy of choice and the philosophy of 'Nothing about us without us', as the member for Kooyong reminded us. There are a number of structures already in place there.

The member for Bradfield referred to the NDIS review, which recommended the establishment of deeper consultation structures, and we acted on that. The reform advisory committee has a key role in advising us about things like this, particularly the functional capacity assessment system, which was also a recommendation of the review way back in 2023. As the member for Kooyong reminds us, that committee does its job frankly and fearlessly.

As both members know, and I imagine all members know as well, this particular part of the reform program will be implemented after proper advice and proper consultation—of the type I set out in my Press Club speech—through category A rules that need to be agreed with every state and territory. There are pretty clear processes for not just our government to go through but state and territory governments to also go through with their state or territory based disability representative organisations.

These systems are well established. On top of that, when tabling any of these types of instruments, particularly category A rules, section 211 of the act requires me, very clearly, to issue a consultation statement that sets out the way in which we have fulfilled that commitment that was made 15 years ago to build, implement and run a scheme that was very much done in partnership with people with disabilities.

We're very satisfied with this process, going forward, that already has involved a deep engagement of government with disability representative organisations and that will have the work of the RAC, the reform advisory committee, sitting alongside it. Obviously, as the members both indicated, it would involve engagement from the technical advisory group. We're very satisfied that this work will be done in the way I think the members want to see it done.

So, on that basis, we won't be supporting this amendment. The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Ms Scrymgour ): The question is that the amendment moved by the member for Bradfield be agreed to.