National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013
The National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (NDIS Act) established the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), Australia’s landmark reform of disability support. The NDIS provides individually funded packages of support to Australians with permanent and significant disabilities, giving participants choice and control over their supports. The Act establishes the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) as the administering agency and provides for the development of individualised plans, the reasonable and necessary supports that can be funded, the portability of supports across state borders, and the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. The NDIS is jointly funded by the Commonwealth and state and territory governments.
Legal area: Disability law establishes the framework for individually funded disability support and the rights of people with disability.
Year enacted: 2013
Full text: https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2013A00020
Key Provisions
- Section 3: Objects of the Act (choice and control, reasonable and necessary supports)
- Part 2: National Disability Insurance Scheme (establishment and administration)
- Section 30: Early intervention requirements
- Section 31: Request for a plan
- Section 32: Preparation of a participant’s plan
- Section 33: Statement of participant supports (reasonable and necessary supports)
- Part 6: NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission
- Section 10: Actuarial assessment and sustainability of the Scheme
Significance
The NDIS Act created one of the most significant social policy reforms in Australian history. The NDIS, which commenced full operation in 2020, now supports over 600,000 Australians with disability. The Act’s ‘reasonable and necessary’ test (section 33) determines which supports are funded, and has been the subject of significant administrative review and litigation. The NDIS has faced challenges including cost blowouts, market failures in thin markets, and concerns about plan management and provider quality. The 2023 NDIS Review made extensive recommendations for reform.