Tasmania Signs on to NDIS

Tasmania has become the fourth Australian state to sign onto the full rollout of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

The announcement, which coincided with International Day of People with Disability, means more than 10,000 people with disability and their families will benefit from the NDIS by July 2019.

Federal Social Services Minister, Christian Porter, said the NDIS had received wide community support.

“The NDIS is one of the largest social policy reforms in Australia’s history. Tasmanians living with disability, their families, their carers and their service providers will all benefit from it – and from the certainty today’s announcement provides,” Porter said.

“This is a significant change for people with disability and the disability services sector, and that’s why we are introducing the scheme in stages to ensure that it is carefully managed.

“Tasmania’s experience with the trial for young people aged 15 to 24 years offers a successful base to launch the full rollout.”

Tasmanian Human Services Minister, Jacquie Petrusma, said the staged rollout would begin, as planned, from 1 July 2016, with all eligible people with disability in Tasmania aged between 12 and 28 years entering the scheme in the first year.

“After the second year, we will have extended the scheme to all eligible people aged between four and 34 years, and by the end of the third year, to all those aged from birth to 64 years,” Petrusma said.

“In each year of the rollout, the number of Tasmanians in the NDIS will roughly double and will expand every six months, with about 10,600 people receiving individual support through the scheme by 1 July 2019.

“We are continuing to work in partnership with the disability sector throughout the rollout, and we can assure Tasmanians living with disability that existing support services will be retained during the transition to ensure they are not disadvantaged.”

Petrusma said the NDIS would not only give a fairer go to Tasmanians living with disability, it was also expected to create more than 2,500 new jobs in the disability sector in the next three years.

“Modelling also shows that for every full-time job created in the sector, a multiplier of a further 1.5 Full-Time Equivalent jobs would be created in the broader economy,” she said.

Tasmania has followed Victoria, NSW and the ACT in reaching an agreement with the Commonwealth Government on the full rollout of the NDIS.

Federal Shadow Minister for Disability Reform, Jenny Macklin, welcomed the announcement.

“It was a long time coming but it is great news for those who have campaigned so hard to secure the future of this transformational scheme,” Macklin said.

“Today’s confirmation provides certainty for participants, carers, families and providers and allows them to start planning for the future.

“People with disability, their carers and families have waited their whole lives for the NDIS.”