Podcast: Taking the Pulse of the NDIS
Half a million Australians will benefit from the National Disability Insurance Scheme, but how are teething problems being managed, and is the pace of rollout sustainable?
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is the largest social reform Australia has seen in decades. It aims to provide support to about 460,000 Australians living with disabilities. At full operation, disabilities services funding will more than double under the NDIS, to $22 billion a year – almost the cost of Medicare.
This new scheme hopes to reverse Australia’s poor track record on disability rights, once ranked last in an OECD study of quality of life of people with disabilities.
In this episode, former Chair of the NDIA, Bruce Bonyhady and Associate Professor at UNSW, Helen Dickinson discuss how this policy came to be, the scheme’s rollout, and whether the NDIS will in fact improve the livelihood of people living with disabilities in Australia.
Episode recorded: 6 December 2017
Producers: Ruby Schwartz and Eoin Hahessy
Audio engineer: Gavin Nebauer