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) (19:09): Senator Steele-John, you mentioned in your remarks the stress and strain that is placed on parents who worry about a day when the NDIS is not here. The implication, of course, in speaking about that circumstance is that this bill will create the circumstances where supports are not there, and nothing could be further from the truth.

This bill sets up the NDIS to retain its social licence and to operate in a sustainable way so it is here for the long term. It seeks to address precisely the concerns that you outline—that people should be able to be confident that the NDIS is here for the long term. As the government has argued, we are concerned that, at the moment, the social licence for the scheme is under some pressure.

With the possible exception of the Greens political party, I don't think that the community broadly believes that a scheme that will cost $100 billion a year by the middle of next decade is a scheme that is operating sustainably, but that is the path that we are on unless sensible amendments are made to the operation of the scheme to ensure that it works as intended.

The NDIS, after these reforms, will still be here to support families. It will still be the Commonwealth's second-largest social program, after the age pension. Australia will still be spending twice the average OECD expenditure on disability supports.

The reforms that are before the parliament are about making sure that these supports are here for people with disability. Of course, we recognise the role that unpaid carers play in supporting people with disability and, really, in the economy overall. It's why we've invested as we have in the National Carer Strategy and in the supports that we offer through the Carer Gateway, which includes counselling, peer support, coaching, tailored support packages, planned and emergency respite, skills courses, information, advice and assistance to navigate other services that can support carers in their caring role.

The proposed amendments are not intended to change the considerations relating to reasonable family care and other supports that are currently reflected in the supports-for-participants rules. Of course, we hope that people with disability will live rich lives embedded in family and community, with kin and with friends. The NDIS was always designed to interact with those informal systems of supports, which we hope are in the lives of all Australians.

For children—by children, I mean people who are under 18—who are NDIS participants, parents are expected to provide the level of care and support that would ordinarily be expected for a child of the same age, and, where a child's support needs extend beyond what would be considered age-appropriate parental support due to their disability, those needs can continue to be considered in the context of the child's disability-related support needs and family circumstances.

We will monitor the impact of these reforms. We will continue to listen to community feedback. We will consider the needs of carers through our implementation of the National Carer Strategy.

These reforms are all about ensuring that this scheme, in fact, is here to support people with disability and their families for the long term.