QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Senator McALLISTER (New South Wales—Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) (14:27): When we came to government, the NDIS had been left as a soft target by the government that came before. The compliance architecture that the scheme needed simply did not exist. A senior fraud investigator resigned in 2020 and said: It's simply too much fraud for too few people.

The Australian National Audit Office said that the NDIS lacked basic prevention controls for fraud and noncompliance, and there were big gaps in the compliance system. Under those opposite, claims submitted between 4.30 pm and 6 pm on a weekday couldn't be reviewed in NDIS systems before they were paid. Claims made every second weekend couldn't be reviewed, and our government is fixing this.

More NDIS claims are now reviewed each day than were reviewed in a year under the system presided over by those opposite, because we know that protecting the NDIS is not optional. (Time expired) The PRESIDENT: Senator Shoebridge. There's no Senator Shoebridge?

Okay. Senator Waters: Could I ask that we come back to Senator Shoebridge? The PRESIDENT: Yes, I will.