National Disability Insurance Scheme

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is a healthcare program initiated by the Australian Government for Australians with a disability. The Bill was introduced into Parliament in November 2012.

In July 2013 the first stage of the NDIS, initially known as "DisabilityCare Australia" commenced in South Australia, Tasmania, the Hunter Region in New South Wales and the Barwon area of Victoria, while the Australian Capital Territory commenced in July 2014. NDIS was rolled out nationally on 1 July 2016.

During the 1970s, care of people with a disability in Australia shifted from institutionalisation to being cared for in the community. In 1974, Gough Whitlam proposed a national disability insurance scheme like the scheme offered in New Zealand. Academic Donna McDonald suggests that it was Treasurer Bill Hayden who convinced Whitlam to focus on the introduction of Medicare instead.

In 2006, Bruce Bonyhady, chair of Yooralla, met with former Labor cabinet minister Brian Howe, who put him in touch with a group of people who became known as the Disability Investment Group. The Disability Investment Group made an independent submission to the Australia 2020 Summit in 2008. They then sent their recommendations to the Productivity Commission. The Productivity Commission released its report in 2011. Research by PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2011 found that by approximately 2025, the cost of maintaining the status quo would be greater than the cost of the NDIS. In 2011, the Council of Australian Governments agreed that the disability sector in Australia needed reform.

The bill was introduced into parliament in November 2012, by then–Prime Minister Julia Gillard. It was passed in March 2013. At the same time, the NDIS was renamed DisabilityCare Australia. The 2013 Australian federal budget committed $14.3 billion to DisabilityCare, to be paid for by increasing the Medicare levy by 0.5%. As of May 2013, the Australian Government estimated that the disability sector in Australia would need to double to meet the needs of DisabilityCare Australia. The first part of the scheme rolled out on 1 July 2013. The Medicare levy increased from 1.5% to 2% on 1 July 2014, to fund the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

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