Tasmanian Jobs to Surge with NDIS Rollout

In Tasmania the National Disability Insurance Scheme will deliver up to 1,750 new full-time jobs in the next three years and $260 million in new economic activity, according to the latest figures.

The data is contained in a new analysis, called the Market Position Statement, released by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA).

Minister for social services Christian Porter said the NDIS presented huge opportunities for Tasmania to develop a competitive and innovative market that would see more jobs and significant financial investment.

“The workforce required to support the NDIS in Tasmania will need to grow by about 80 per cent by 2019, with up to 1,750 new full-time-equivalent jobs expected to be created across the state,” Porter said.

“We anticipate there will be up to 600 new jobs created in Hobart, up to 500 in the north west, up to 250 in the north and up to 200 in both the south and Launceston,” he said.

Assistant minister for disability services Jane Prentice said the expansion of the NDIS market would provide significant opportunities across the whole economy.

“The increased demand for quality, value-for-money services, new products and technologies will not only benefit the existing sector but also new enterprises,” Prentice said.

“In addition, participants will be seeing innovative and different types of services right across Tasmania.”

Prentice said the growth in demand for disability supports in Tasmania was expected to more than double to approximately $480 million by 2019.

“The NDIS will ultimately support about 10,600 people with disability in Tasmania,” she said.

“The increased demand for disability support will inject an additional $260 million into the local economy.”

NDIA chief executive officer David Bowen said Hobart and Launceston would experience strong growth in participants and required workforce.

“It is also expected 40 per cent of NDIS participants in Tasmania will reside outside the urban regions of Hobart and Launceston, presenting new opportunities for service providers in rural and remote areas,” Bowen said.

“Developing the market will take time, but we’ve already seen it start to respond and grow – since 31 December 2013, the number of registered NDIS providers in Tasmania has increased from 98 to 228 at the end of March 2016, more than doubling in just over two years.”

Earlier this year the NDIA released Market Position Statements for other Australian states.