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

Senator McALLISTER (New South Wales—Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) (18:14): I'd like to acknowledge and thank all of the senators who have spoken in this debate on the bill. There are few programs that have transformed lives as profoundly as the National Disability Insurance Scheme, and it stands alongside Medicare as an expression of who we are as a nation.

We're a nation that believes every person deserves dignity, independence and the opportunity to participate fully in community life. Despite all that it has achieved, the future of the NDIS is at risk. Its growth is unsustainable, its market structure too chaotic, and it has deviated from its original intent.

There is too much fraud, and, in many instances, the services which are offered to people with disability are not of the quality that we would expect. I have spoken to participants and parents and to providers and everyday Australians who worry that the scheme is becoming unsustainable. They worry that, without action, it won't be around for the long term.

If we fail to act now to address this, we could lose one of Australia's greatest achievements—a program that has redefined what is possible for people with disability. It is our responsibility to safeguard and strengthen the scheme so it can continue to be one of Australia's most important social support schemes and so it will be there for Australians in the future.

The NDIS must be sustainable. It must maintain the support of the community, but a scheme that will cost $70 billion in 2030 and $100 billion a year by the middle of the next decade risks undermining that support. Social and community participation supports, on their own, already cost as much as the PBS.

This bill takes practical, measured steps to deliver on our responsibility to secure the scheme for future generations. It fights fraud and it stops the rorts. It slows rapid cost increases.

It clarifies eligibility requirements. It delivers quality services for participants. It sets us up for a sustainable scheme into the future, and, importantly, it protects the NDIS for those who need it most.

On this basis, we will not be supporting the second reading amendments that have been circulated thus far. I want to make special mention of fraud. One of my key priorities since taking on this portfolio has been improving the integrity of the scheme.

I am grateful for the support of this parliament earlier this year to legislate new offences, new powers and new safeguards. There is more to do. Every dollar that is taken by fraud is a dollar that is taken from someone who needs it.

The NDIS must be safe and operate with integrity. Those who defraud the NDIS are exploiting the hundreds and thousands of Australians who rely on the life-changing supports that the NDIS delivers. Since coming to government, we have invested $1.35 billion in tackling fraud and noncompliance in the NDIS, including over $800 million in this budget.

Any claim that this bill does not deal with fraud is simply wrong and is made disingenuously. There are five schedules in this bill. Schedule 2, which is titled 'Fraud measures', is the longest of those five schedules.

There are more pages in the legislation focused on fighting fraud than on any other measure. I hear senators' claims that there ought to be more savings to government from tackling fraud. This fundamentally misstates the problem.

There are few savings to the budget because, generally, when we disrupt fraud, we disrupt fraudulent behaviour that takes money away from disabled people. When we disrupt it, we see that money returned to the disabled person, who needs that money. It doesn't go back to consolidated revenue.

It doesn't produce a save. That is the wrong metric to measure our success or otherwise in tackling fraud. Members and senators know this, but they keep repeating this false claim.

Integrity and sustainability are not mutually exclusive. We can pursue both at the same time, and that is what we are doing. Our focus is on tackling the crooks for the benefit of participants and for taxpayers, and it is what this bill does.

I want to finish by thanking the many disability leaders, advocates and representatives who have continued to engage in constructive dialogue on these reforms. I know that this is a challenging debate. I have appreciated your practical proposals and your willingness and ability to work collaboratively with us to ensure that the drafting and the practical implementation arrangements reflect our policy intent.

Our shared commitment to the NDIS will ensure that it continues to be part of Australia's social infrastructure today and for future generations. Like our government, disability advocates understand our responsibility to ensure that this debate, which has material impacts for people with disability, is conducted in a reasonable way and is based on the actual measures within the bill.

We should not, in this place, unnecessarily stoke fear in the community while debating, in the robust way that is our tradition, in an appropriate way, the measures that are in the bill. I hope that this chamber can fulfil this responsibility in its consideration of this bill. After the passage of this bill, the NDIS will continue to be one of the largest per capita investments in support for people with disability in the entire OECD.

It will remain the second-largest social program in the Commonwealth after the aged pension. It will continue to be a life-changing support for Australians. Most importantly, it will have a better chance of being part of Australia's social contract for the long term.

Debate adjourned.