The NDIS is a bottomless pit of tax payer money: is it being used, or abused?

FAST FACTS: 

• The rapidly increasing cost of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), which started with an estimated cost of $4 billion for the year 2016-17 and had risen to $22 billion by 2019-2020, with projections suggesting it could reach $60 billion in the near future.

• The large number of claimants on the NDIS, with 600,000 individuals supported by June 2021, and the average individual cost increasing to $71,000.

• The significant increase in the number of individuals claiming autism as a diagnosis under the NDIS, with alarming statistics such as 1 in 3 NDIS participants claiming autism as their diagnosis.

• The rise of other behavioral disorders being included in the NDIS, such as Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), oppositional defiance disorder (ODD), and conduct disorder (CD).

• The increasing severity of disability classification, with individual payments rising by an average of 12.5% annually.

• Concerns about fraudulent claims by suppliers or participants, with recent examples of service charges being doubled while on the NDIS.

• The rapidly growing expenditure on welfare and disability schemes, with future projections indicating NDIS costs heading towards $60 billion.

• The increasing proportion of GDP spent on welfare in Australia, with around 10% of GDP currently being spent on welfare.

• The rising levels of debt accumulated to support welfare spending, increasing from about 40% of GDP to nearly 100% since the COVID-19 lockdowns.

• The need for independent assessments of disability eligibility and severity, and the controversy surrounding this proposal.

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In the noble pursuit of enhancing the welfare of populations, an unfortunate and recurring truth emerges: the moment earnest efforts are made to uplift the well-being of society, there exist opportunistic individuals who exploit the very essence of these noble intentions.

Our welfare system could be said to discourage work and self-reliance, it also tests our ability to pay for it. Bill Shorten currently has to face the reality of the NDIS scheme costs, whist demands for more money pile up all around for Chancellor Jim Chalmers.

Throughout the years, we've observed that single-parent support has inadvertently incentivised more pregnancies for financial reasons, often without contributions from fathers. The unemployment benefit, originally intended as a temporary assistance for individuals without work, has, for some, transformed into a long-term, and at times, multi-generational dependency.