NDIS Gives the ACT a Jobs Boost

The arrival of the National Disability Insurance Scheme is tipped to create more than 1,000 jobs in the ACT and boost the territory economy by up to $160 million a year, according to a new report.

The Market Position Statement (MPS) for ACT, which was released on Thursday by the National Disability Insurance Agency, outlines the opportunities the NDIS will create in the ACT and the surrounding region of Southern New South Wales for current and prospective disability providers.

According to the report, the ACT disability support market is expected to grow to $350 million a year by 2019 with the rollout of the scheme.

Minister for Social Services Christian Porter said, “most importantly”, an additional 1,800 local residents living with a permanent and significant disability would receive funded supports, which marks a 35 per cent increase.

“The NDIS is expected to provide support to 6,900 participants in the ACT by 2019,” Porter said.

“In Southern New South Wales, there are expected to be 4,100 people supported by 2019 – a 52 per cent increase in the number of people supported in the region.

“Local jobs in Southern New South Wales in the sector are also expected to double from 700 to 1,450 with the disability market in the area expected to grow from $100 million to $200 million a year.”

Assistant Minister for Disability Services Jane Prentice said the increased demand for disability supports would lead to a surge in job opportunities in the region.

“It is expected there will be up to 1,000 new full-time jobs created in ACT, and up to 750 in Southern New South Wales,” Prentice said.

“The number of NDIS registered providers in the ACT has nearly doubled in just over two years since the launch commenced.

“Across Australia, new providers are emerging to fill gaps in the disability support market.

“While adapting to a transformation of this size can be challenging, the overwhelming majority of providers are excited about their growth prospects and opportunities under the NDIS.”

The NDIS is expected to have 460,000 participants by 2020.

The latest MPS marks the sixth in a series being developed to inform and prepare market stakeholders for the opportunities that the NDIS will create in coming years.

The statements, which include information at a state level and also include more specific insights to selected local markets, seek to share information about the emerging NDIS marketplace, allowing providers to better understand areas of expected demand growth and the characteristics of particular markets around Australia.

The report comes as the NDIS has again come under fire over the IT “debacle” that hampered the rollout of the scheme.

Reports in The Australian on Friday claim NDIA staff collectively spent 51 hours in one day waiting on hold to the Department of Human Services, the new in-house operator of the new IT system.

According to the report, in one week the agency logged 655 issues with the system and one agency source said staff “did the best they could by meeting clients and recording the meetings on bits of paper to fix up later”.

Shadow Minister for Families and Social Services Jenny Macklin said Porter “must reveal who is responsible for the NDIS IT mess”.

“Labor remains willing to work cooperatively with the government to resolve the issues with the payments system, but the Turnbull government must take responsibility for fixing the problems,” Macklin said.

“No more blame games, no more buck passing – now is the time to fix the problems with the rollout of the NDIS.  

“Mr Porter must come clean on the problems with the NDIS rollout.”