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

Senator McCARTHY (Northern Territory—Minister for Indigenous Australians) (18:23): This government is very clear about the value of every Australian, and it's why, as a Labor government, we are proud of previous efforts by the labour movement and previous Labor governments to establish a scheme that is really unparalleled globally to support people with disability to live full and inclusive lives.

We want this scheme to be here for the long term, and it's why we have taken the necessary steps to ensure that it retains its social licence. I want to make this point. Talking about the cost of the NDIS is not the same as talking about the value of disabled people.

The disability movement is a proud social movement. It engages questions of identity, of purpose, of belonging and of inclusion. These are big ideas.

The NDIS is a government program. It should never be conflated with a community of people or a part of the Australian population, but it is a great human rights achievement. We are committed to maintaining the scheme because of what it means for people with permanent and significant disability.

We have to be able to talk about how it works. We have to be able to have honest conversations with the disability community and with the Australian community when we think things are going wrong. I do think that there are challenges with the scheme that need to be addressed, and we have tried to be upfront and honest about those with the Australian people.

We want this scheme to be here for the long term. We want it to work well because we believe in it. We believe in the value that it brings to the lives of disabled people because we've seen it with our own eyes.

These reforms are about making this scheme the best it can be and making sure that it is here in the long term.