Latest news with #NationalDisabilityInsuranceScheme
AU Financial Review
15 hours ago
- Health
- AU Financial Review
Rise in exam help for school students ‘driven by NDIS'
More Australian school students are claiming disability support, with experts attributing the increase to greater awareness of mental health conditions and the National Disability Insurance Scheme encouraging more diagnoses. The proportion of students requiring educational help – in the classroom and exams – due to disability has risen in every state and territory over the past decade, according to data from the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority.
The Age
18 hours ago
- Business
- The Age
I'll be there for you: After his welfare revolt bruising, Starmer should call his friend Albanese
London: Anthony Albanese learned the hard way that saving money on disability support was a political nightmare. Now the prime minister's friend and counterpart in Britain, Keir Starmer, has just learned an even tougher lesson. Starmer has suffered a serious blow to his authority from rebel Labour MPs, who forced him to retreat on welfare savings meant to save more than £5 billion, or about $10.5 billion. He survived a storm in parliament to pass a draft law with some of the changes, but only after throwing most of the savings overboard. Starmer, who marked his first year in power only days ago, now has a gap in his budget that seems to be worth about £4.5 billion, although the rapid pace of the vote left some of his own team confused. 'I am not sure that all colleagues understood what they voted for,' one Labour MP, Paula Barker, told the BBC after the vote. Albanese will know exactly what Starmer is dealing with – and so will Bill Shorten, the former government services minister who made tough calls over two years to slow the growth of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Shorten got there in the end, but only after months of concern from Labor caucus members and some hard politics with state premiers about where to find the savings. The Greens were strongly against, and the Liberals and Nationals played games to drag out the vote – before most of them agreed to the overhaul last year. Labor did not split. Starmer got there in the end, but with far greater wounds.
Sydney Morning Herald
18 hours ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
I'll be there for you: After his welfare revolt bruising, Starmer should call his friend Albanese
London: Anthony Albanese learned the hard way that saving money on disability support was a political nightmare. Now the prime minister's friend and counterpart in Britain, Keir Starmer, has just learned an even tougher lesson. Starmer has suffered a serious blow to his authority from rebel Labour MPs, who forced him to retreat on welfare savings meant to save more than £5 billion, or about $10.5 billion. He survived a storm in parliament to pass a draft law with some of the changes, but only after throwing most of the savings overboard. Starmer, who marked his first year in power only days ago, now has a gap in his budget that seems to be worth about £4.5 billion, although the rapid pace of the vote left some of his own team confused. 'I am not sure that all colleagues understood what they voted for,' one Labour MP, Paula Barker, told the BBC after the vote. Albanese will know exactly what Starmer is dealing with – and so will Bill Shorten, the former government services minister who made tough calls over two years to slow the growth of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Shorten got there in the end, but only after months of concern from Labor caucus members and some hard politics with state premiers about where to find the savings. The Greens were strongly against, and the Liberals and Nationals played games to drag out the vote – before most of them agreed to the overhaul last year. Labor did not split. Starmer got there in the end, but with far greater wounds.
West Australian
2 days ago
- Business
- West Australian
Melissa Price blasts NDIS reforms as blow to remote providers
Member for Durack Melissa Price has slammed upcoming changes to the National Disability Insurance Scheme, warning the reforms will hurt regional WA's practitioners and their clients. The changes to the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits, due to come into effect from today, are part of the Albanese Government's push to rein in the scheme's rising costs. The plan aims to reduce annual spending growth from 15 per cent to 8 per cent by aligning therapy prices with national benchmarks. While Ms Price agrees the NDIS needs reform, she says uniform pricing ignores the higher costs of delivering services across remote areas like Durack. 'The NDIS has blown out beyond its original intent and clearly needs serious reform,' Ms Price said. 'However, that reform must be fair, informed and grounded in real world experience. Ripping funding out of the regions should not be the first step.' Ms Price said she had been contacted by allied health professionals across Durack, particularly in the Pilbara, and the Kimberley, who fear the removal of regional loadings and reduced travel support will force them to cut services or shut up shop altogether. 'These are small, often women-led, businesses — speech pathologists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists etc. — who have chosen to work in remote communities,' she said. 'These changes put their livelihoods, and their clients' care, at serious risk.' The Coalition has also raised concerns about the sudden nature of the announcement, which it says came with no warning and leaves little time for providers or participants to adjust. 'It is not feasible for providers and participants to adapt service delivery at such short notice,' Ms Price said. 'This is yet another example of the Albanese Government's failure to consult the sector or understand the reality on the ground.' In response, Ms Price said she and the Coalition have written to the Minister for Disability and the NDIS, Mark Butler, calling for a three-month deferral of the changes to allow proper planning and consultation. 'The Government must explain how regional providers are expected to adapt without harming participants,' she said. 'The Coalition will continue to monitor the impact and hold the Government to account for any negative outcomes for NDIS participants.' The Kimberley Echo has contacted Minister for the NDIS Jenny McAllister for comment.
Canberra Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Canberra Times
Fine print in Albanese govt's $50m funding boost to ACT hospitals
That's $139 million less than the 45 per cent the ACT wants the feds to contribute by 2035 - as agreed at national cabinet in December 2023, when states and territories also agreed to help ease pressure on the National Disability Insurance Scheme by funding more disability supports.
