Budget Measures to Support Long Lasting Reform for the Disability Community
24 January 2024
The past 12 months have been significant for people with disability. The National Disability Insurance Scheme Review (NDIS Review) and the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability (Disability Royal Commission) both concluded and released their final recommendations.
As we enter the 2024-2025 financial year, significant disability reform will need to commence with the Australian Government as well as state and territory governments, implementing agreed recommendations from both reform processes. Implementing recommendations will take years, and if done ‘right’, these reforms will have a lasting positive impact on people with disability, their families, friends and communities. However, this is no simple task, and it will take time and resources.
To set people with disability up for success and to ensure recommendations are implemented effectively, and the disability community needs are met while recommendations are implemented, we need the next Federal Budget to:
- ensure people with disability have a ‘seat at the table’, through a formal engagement mechanism to influence the reform agenda and implementation
- ensure that Disability Representative Organisations (DROs) are adequately resourced to engage in reform processes
- adequately fund individual advocacy support for people with disability
- ensure our basic needs are met as we face a dire cost-of-living crisis, including through increased JobSeeker payments
- increase our access to housing through an increase to the Commonwealth Rent Assistance rate, funding for home modifications and developing a Targeted Housing Action Plan under Australia’s Disability Strategy and an associated Congregate Housing Transition Plan
- ensure the NDIS Review’s recommendation for expanding the remit of the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission is enabled by the provision of appropriate budget allocations.