Thursday, 15 August 2019

In reply to  Ms CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (21 March 2019)

Mr DONNELLAN (Narre Warren North—Minister for Child Protection, Minister for Disability, Ageing and Carers):

The Andrews Labor Government is fully committed to a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) that delivers high quality services that is underpinned by the fair treatment of Victoria’s valued disability workforce.

The NDIS represents a historic opportunity to transform the way we support people with disability to ensure they get the support and services they need and deserve. A high functioning and professional disability services workforce is critical to achieving this.

The Andrews Labor Government has supported the process that Jobs Australia, the Health and Community Services Union (HASCU) and the Australian Education Union (AEU) has been involved in as this government supports fair employment outcomes and it applauds the parties working collaboratively to reach a settlement in this matter.

The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) has made a series of announcements relating to NDIS pricing that will have a bearing on the final negotiations with the parties.

The first announcement outlined before the federal election gave increases to therapy and attendant care supports and the introduction of a conditional loading over a five-year period to assist attendant care providers transition into the NDIS.

Furthermore, the 2019-20 Price Guide was released on 25 June 2019, effective from 1 July 2019. These increases will need to be considered in the context of the proposed agreement by the parties.

To that end, I understand the parties have recently met (including with a representative from the Department of Health and Human Services) to consider the implications of the recent increases to the NDIS Price Guide.