As we enter the last week of the Federal election campaign, Advocacy for Inclusion is urging candidates across all parties to commit to strong, practical action on disability policy – starting with fixing and protecting the NDIS and building the foundational supports that sit outside it.
AFI’s Head of Policy, Craig Wallace said: “Despite all of the commentary, the NDIS is the great unlikely Australian social policy reform of the 21st Century – driven forward against the odds by the passion and commitment of people with disability, carers and bipartisan legislators who realized the old system could not cut the mustard. It’s also a big public investment and a major government service – it warrants airtime from serious candidates in the campaign.
“However there is a need to improve the NDIS experience outside the political narratives on scheme costs and sustainability. Poor communication, flawed decision-making, missing or inadequate supports, and unreliable Local Area Coordination are just some of the persistent issues identified in recent consultations and reviews – especially here in the ACT which was the launch site of the whole scheme. Many participants report being stuck in a system that is hard to navigate and quick to deny or cut supports.
“We’ve also seen punitive reforms, restricted supports, and a shift away from a rights-based approach.
“We are calling on the next government to guarantee a secure, well-funded NDIS that centres the experiences and needs of people with disability. That includes stepping away from narrow, restrictive reform models and committing to a continuous improvement approach – one that genuinely addresses client service issues and enhances quality and consistency through measures such as re-tendering Local Area Coordination and establishing a dedicated, whole-of-jurisdiction advisory mechanism.
“Beyond the NDIS, attention must now turn to the foundational supports system intended to meet the needs of people who are not eligible for the scheme. While the ACT Government has committed $90 million to build foundational supports, there is no matched federal funding, no comprehensive needs analysis, and little clarity on how services will be delivered on the ground.
“We support the idea of foundational supports – they need to be locally grown, disability-led, and designed to fill real, identified gaps. ACT disability organisations have the knowledge and the trust to build some key services, but they need long-term investment, not short-term project grants.
Advocacy for Inclusion is calling for the next government to:
- Commit to a secure, well-funded NDIS with a consumer-centred approach to reform
- End punitive reforms and adopt continuous improvement strategies for client service
- Improve Local Area Coordination and establish a whole of jurisdiction advisory mechanism
- Match the ACT Government’s $90 million investment in foundational supports
- Undertake and publish a comprehensive needs analysis to guide funding decisions
- Fund ACT disability-directed organisations to build capacity and deliver the General Tier of foundational supports
- Adopt a long-term commissioning model that centres people with disability in service design and delivery
“This election is a turning point,” said Wallace. “We need candidates who are ready focus on the real structural work of reform. The NDIS needs to be improved, and the new foundational supports system must be built properly – from the ground up, and with us at the centre.”
“It’s also important the impacts of change are properly understood. At our election forum on 19 April candidates including Federal Finance Minister Katy Gallagher stated (see 41:05 to 41:53) that nobody has been removed from the scheme but acknowledged there had been routine reassessments that meant some people were not receiving the same supports as before. We are collecting information and stories from Canberrans about their experiences and will be passing these onto elected representatives”, Mr Wallace concluded.
You can tell us about the changes to your NDIS plan here: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=_1u-gtyI2Eq3n_EpH85TXmm8eHxypeJDiiAMcIbgMllUQVkxWUdFRlk2Mk80VTFEVkVYTEcyRVE0Ry4u
Further details on our NDIS and Foundational Support platforms are available in Attachment A. You can also check out our summary on TikTok plus our long form video explainer.
Advocacy for Inclusion’s 2025 Federal Election Platform outlines nine key priorities for change, spanning essential services, responses to the Disability Royal Commission, NDIS and Foundational Supports, income and housing reform, and action on discrimination and emerging threats.
Media comment: Craig Wallace 0477 200 755
Attachment A
Sustain and fix the NDIS
What is the problem?
For Canberrans the NDIS is complex, experiences poor Local Area Coordination, inconsistent and flawed decision making, poor information about services and poor communication with the insurance agency. Continuous uncertainty about scheme continuity and funding causes fear and a rationed support mindset.
What is the evidence?
Our submission to the NDIS Review found the following pain points for Canberra NDIS recipients
- Inconsistent and Inadequate Funding or funding for the wrong things
- Lack of guidance and confusing language and issues with navigation
- The amount of reporting and documentation and document mishandling:
- Role confusion, inconsistency and quality in Local Area Coordination
- Wait times for approval and reviews
- Mistakes and mishandling of funding allocations, documents and other matters
- Unsatisfactory and limiting recommendations around equipment and home modifications
- Limited help finding good services including poor information and referral
- Excessive treatment and service costs charged by providers
- Excessive modification and equipment costs
- Limited services in the ACT
- Service delivery constraints i.e., wrong or limited services
- Thin markets and missing services in ACT and region
- Inadequate quality and training of support workers
- Reduced availability of non-NDIS services
More recently the NDIS reforms are resulting in some people losing plans and services or having restricted access to supports.
What do we want the next Government to do?
- Commit to a secure well-funded ongoing NDIS
- Commit to consumer centred NDIS reforms which go beyond demand management to improving the experience of people with disability.
- Remove the simplistic and restrictive list of NDIS supports
- Retender local area coordination
- Establish a focussed, resourced ACT whole of jurisdiction advisory mechanism
- Improve agency resources and put in place continuous improvement measures around a host of client service issues
- Fund advocacy to respond and support people with access problems
- Accelerate development of Foundational Supports and place a moratorium on the removal of NDIS supports until these are in place
Beyond NDIS – build the foundations we need
What is the problem?
Governments have agreed to build a new system of Foundational Supports to provide supports outside of the National Disability Insurance Scheme that were never covered by the NDIS. This system is taking too long to build, work is out of sync with the NDIS changes and there is a lack of resources for people with disability to engage and build new services together especially where it makes sense for them to be directly controlled by people with disability.
What is the evidence?
The 2023 NDIS Review report recommended the development of a system of foundational supports to be developed between the Australian Government and the states and delivered outside the NDIS.
It was recommended that the National Cabinet should agree to jointly design, fund and commission an expanded and coherent set of foundational disability supports outside individualised NDIS budgets. Further that the Department of Social Services, with state and territory governments, should develop and implement a Foundational Supports Strategy.
Areas highlighted within the review included information, navigation support, systemic advocacy and jointly investing in state and territory programs to provide additional support to people with disability outside the NDIS.
These included programs in the areas of home and community care support, a nationally consistent approach for the delivery of aids and equipment outside the NDIS, psychosocial supports outside the NDIS to assist people with severe and persistent mental ill-health currently unable to access supports and early supports for children with emerging development concerns and disability.
Agreement between the States, Territories and the commonwealth has not been fully secured nor has matched funding despite the new system being meant to cut in from July 2025.
The ACT has some key support gaps, a growing population and real poverty and disadvantage. Some of the services and support types available in NSW and other jurisdictions have never existed here while others are very thin.
The ACT also experiences very uneven local area coordination services and a history of poorly transplanted national services and models from over the border or from other jurisdictions. Occasionally assumptions are also made that national organisations can service the ACT as the capital city when in reality those organisations have little to no footprint here.
The consistent feedback across the NDIS review consultations here in the ACT, which include AFI’s extensive What we Heard Report to government, points to the need for locally grown and controlled advocacy, referral and information services while there are known hazards in trying to transplant external providers without local knowledge, capacity, and accountability. The consultations also pointed to the disappointing outcomes from transplanted services and also highlight the importance of local consortia and alliances to facilitate connections within communities and referrals.
We are concerned that this approach, transplanted to Foundational Supports, will be counterproductive
What do we want the next Government to do?
- Match the ACT Governments provision of $90 million for Foundational Supports
- Undertake and release needs analysis work on the extent of gaps and use this to underpin ongoing funding
- Include people with disability and our organisations in the governance model for the new system
- Fund ACT Disability Directed Organisations to scope, surface and build capacity to deliver the General Tier of Foundational Supports
- Take a long-term commissioning approach/not a project grant approach to information, self-advocacy and capacity building supports