As I wrote yesterday, by far the biggest bloat in the swollen Gargantua of Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme is ‘autistic children’. Supposedly, things have come to such a pass that around one in 10 Australian kids is ‘autistic’. Does anyone really believe this?
Yet, here we are, with 70 per cent of referrals to the $52 billion (and still rapidly growing) NDIS with a primary diagnosis of autism. Nearly half of all NDIS recipients now are supposedly ‘on the spectrum’. Not coincidentally, a ‘cash for diagnosis’ industry has sprung up in the medical profession, with some doctors openly touting an autism diagnosis for a lazy five gs.
So, what is the Albanese Labor government doing to fix the taxpayer-funded behemoth the Gillard Labor government left around our necks?
After months of promising there would be no changes to NDIS eligibility as a means to reduce scheme growth to eight per cent a year, the Albanese government on Wednesday revealed its plan to limit children’s access to the NDIS from 2027 and slash growth further, down to between four and six per cent annually.
Does this mean they’ll be ending the rorts? This is Labor, remember: instead, they’re going to keep the scam rolling – just with double the bureaucracy.
Health and Disability Minister Mark Butler said while it might be “hard for some parents to hear”, it was clear that the NDIS was not suitable for children with mild developmental delays, who should instead be offered “a robust system of supports” as envisaged by national cabinet in late 2023 […]
The $2bn Thriving Kids program would serve as the first tranche of the “foundational” or “mainstream supports” promised by national cabinet, with Mr Butler to co-chair the program’s design with pre-eminent pediatrician and childhood development expert Frank Oberklaid.
So, all they’re doing is re-branding the scam and creating yet another bureaucracy to administer it. Two billion dollars for the “first tranche”? Oh, we know where this is going: remember, the NDIS started with one billion dollars over four years to start rolling out the first stage.
Who wants to take bets that this ‘Thriving Kids’ program will be another multi-billion-dollar monster within a decade?
Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program – Milton Friedman.
Former NDIS board director and Aruma chief executive Marin Laverty said the 2027 deadline for children to be diverted from the NDIS onto Thriving Kids was ambitious but necessary in the face of protracted negotiations with the states. “While it’s a big call to set July 2026 as start date for the new Thriving Kids program before it’s been designed, in part to prepare families for July 2027 NDIS child access changes, not setting concrete dates would see state and territory governments drag foundational supports out further and kids continue to access therapies not always supported by evidence of them being in the child’s best interest,” he told the Australian.
Before it’s been designed.
Before it’s been designed.
Let that sink in: they’re throwing billions down yet another virtue-signalling sinkhole without any idea of what they’re doing.
Professor Oberklaid said the NDIS had “not worked for children” and seen those with milder disabilities receive “buckets of money” while others in need missed out.
“Anecdotally, there were stories of children who clearly needed NDIS support, who didn’t get it or it was withdrawn, and alternatively, there were those children with very mild problems who got buckets of money,” Professor Oberklaid, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute co-group leader of child health policy, said.
Which is as close as they’ll come to admitting that it’s the most expensively failed government boondoggle in Australian history.
Meanwhile, far too many people have found that they can vote themselves money.
