A Policy Study On The National Disability Insurance Scheme In Australia

The Australian disability social welfare has made a difference to the wellbeing of people with disabilities, and their wellbeing may contribute a lot to the stability and prosperity of Australian society. While people's basic needs can be met by the income support provided by the social security system, their high level needs can hardly be satisfied, particularly individualised disability care and support. The traditional crisis-driven disability system is criticised as a fragmented one, leaving Australians many unmet needs. Thus, Australia has begun to replace it by the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) in the hope of affording people with disabilities the dignity of having choice and control over their own lives.This dissertation is intended to conduct a policy study of the newly launched NDIS in Australia, with an attempt and effort to analyse the reasons behind the introduction of the NDIS, identify the major features of the scheme, reflect on the risks coupled with its implementation and summarise the impacts of this new scheme. With reference to the deficiencies of the traditional rationed program-focused service system, this study offers insights into the NDIS in the Australian context in terms of the reasonable and necessary supports provided, the insurance principles revealed in its design, the individualised funding approach and the eligibility for it. It introduces the definition of reasonable and necessary supports and provides detailed information on the coverage of the supports. Considering the features of an insurance, the paper analyses and concludes the advantages of the NDIS. Drawing lessons from both international and local experiences, the author finds that the individualised funding approach can have positive influence on the improvement of disability services. The three tiers of the NDIS are used to clarify the eligibility for the scheme and the study points out that people with disabilities will gain more decision-making power under the NDIS.The thesis then chooses four trial sites of the NDIS as subjects to examine the implementation of the NDIS in the first stage. By observing, comparing and analysing the outcomes of the four selected trials, including the Hunter site in New South Wales (NWS), the Barwon region in Victoria, South Australia (SA) and Tasmania, the author concludes that the NDIS has brought changes to disability services and all the groups involved. Firstly, the introduction of the NDIS pushes the privatisation of disability services and it brings both chances and challenges to service providers. Secondly, the NDIS leads to the growing casualisation and professionalisation of the workforce. Thirdly, the people with disabilities as the major concern of the NDIS are more likely to be full participants of social and economic activities under the scheme, so it is necessary for them to increase their capacities for participation. Fourthly, as the NDIS is in early stages, quality assurance and provider oversight are important due to lack of trustworthy trading relationship and powerful management mechanisms. So state and territory governments keep their positions as monitors.The above findings indicate that the NDIS has produced both positive and negative impacts as well as new opportunities and challenges, all of which may serve as reference for the involved groups to further adjust themselves under the NDIS and better participate in the vigorous and competitive market of disability care and support.