Wednesday, 27 August 2025

Disability services

David ETTERSHANK (Western Metropolitan) (12:34): (1027) My question is to the Minister for Disability. The 2023 NDIS review recommended the establishment of foundational disability supports for every Australian with a disability. These would be a new tier of disability supports classified as general supports, including capacity-building support, information, guidance and peer support, and targeted supports offering lower intensity disability supports for those not on the NDIS, like children with developmental and neurological differences. It was envisaged that these would sit between mainstream services, like health, education and community services, and the specialised services offered by NDIS.

Agreement between the Commonwealth and the Victorian government was to be finalised by June 2025, but it was not. People with disability are anxiously waiting to find out if their services will be reduced and if the foundational supports will cover the services they need. Can the minister update the house on the negotiations around foundational disability supports and when these will be implemented now that the July deadline has passed?

Lizzie BLANDTHORN (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Children, Minister for Disability) (12:35): I thank Mr Ettershank for his question and for the opportunity to address this matter in the house. I too am most anxious for the information that Mr Ettershank is seeking, and I was most surprised to hear Minister Butler’s address at the press club last week. I had no advance notice of what was to be in that address, and indeed I did not hear from the Commonwealth until I think at least a day or so later. It is most concerning, in my view. It has always been my concern that the changes to the national disability insurance scheme would ultimately result in children being removed from the scheme, and that remains my concern. I remain particularly concerned that children with neurodivergence might be removed from the scheme at the expense of others on the scheme.

There is absolutely agreement across the Commonwealth between jurisdictions that there needs to be work done, and indeed it was what led to the NDIS review in the first place to ensure that the scheme is a sustainable scheme. I have long been an advocate of a national disability insurance scheme. Indeed I think it has the capacity to be, for most of us here, the Medicare of our generation, but it does need to be sustainable.

All of the states agreed to work with the Commonwealth as co-governors of the scheme. I would say we put $3 billion this year into the NDIS itself, so we are co-governors, we are co-funders, hence it was disappointing not to have a discussion with Minister Butler before that address and to still have relatively limited information about what Thriving Kids actually is. It appears from his address at the press club that it speaks to things such as maternal and child health, it speaks to early education and it speaks to other family services. These are all areas in which I would say Victoria leads the nation. One example he gave was a three-year-old health check. We already have, as part of our 10 key ages and stages visits, a three-year-old health check.

What I do not want to see is Victoria being punished for being, again, ahead of the game as compared to other states right around the nation in terms of the services that we provide for children and young people. So I am seeking to assure myself of that and seeking information. I would welcome any opportunity, as I know my colleagues around the country would welcome any opportunity, to further engage with the Commonwealth to better understand what they mean by Thriving Kids and make sure that Victorian children and young people, particularly those in that zero-to-nine cohort, get the services that they and their families need to support them on their journey, and particularly for those who may have a permanent disability that looks somewhat different to somebody else’s permanent disability but who nonetheless need those supports so that they can equally participate in their education and in their care and can live fulfilling and happy lives.

David ETTERSHANK (Western Metropolitan) (12:38): I thank the minister for her response. I guess I was seeking something a bit broader than Minister Butler’s comments specifically about kids, but since you have raised it, that fits well with my supplementary. Parents of children with mild to moderate developmental delays or autism and their support groups were blindsided last Friday by the federal government’s decision to divert these children away from the NDIS. This announcement, as you suggested, was made with zero consultation and no advance warning to either those directly affected or obviously, as you have said publicly, the Victorian government. The lack of consultation has left families rightly concerned that a one-size-fits-all model may be adopted, with children losing access to specialised supports at critical stages in their development. So I ask: as co-funders, as you said, of these supports under the new NDIS model, will the minister commit to co-design with parents of children with mild to moderate developmental delays or autism to preserve affordability and access to vital specialised services? We are seeking that undertaking, Minister.

Lizzie BLANDTHORN (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Children, Minister for Disability) (12:39): Again, I thank Mr Ettershank for his question. As I said, these remarks that were made last week that we still have a lack of clarity around did absolutely heighten concerns. I know in particular there are a number of organisations that represent children with neurodivergence – Yellow Ladybugs, which I know particularly well, was one – that rightly at the absolute outset, as well as many individuals, publicly shared those concerns, and I appreciate them doing that. The Association for Children with Disability was another.

We absolutely want to be involved in the design of what these services look like, and we want families who are using these services to be involved in that as well. That is the assurance that we are indeed seeking from the Commonwealth. They have said they want this to be a nationally consistent scheme. We are seeking to understand what that means and what that means exactly for consultation and design work, because we have not been privy to those conversations. I cannot answer that further. From a Victorian government perspective, we absolutely want to make sure that families and particularly those with children impacted are involved.