Victoria Wants Confirmation of NDIS Trial
8 August 2012 at 4:30 pm
The Victorian Premier, Ted Baillieu, has called on Prime Minister Gillard to confirm that Victoria is to host a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) trial in the Barwon Region.
Premier Baillieu says Victoria’s proposal meets the thresholds set by the Prime Minister and is consistent with proposals from other states and territories that have already been accepted.
“There is no valid reason why Prime Minister Gillard cannot now agree to announce a trial for Victoria’s Barwon region,” Baillieu said.
“During the Prime Minister’s visit to Geelong on 27 July the Prime Minister repeatedly stated that the Commonwealth was seeking $40 million from Victoria to establish an NDIS trial in the Barwon region.
“Victoria has offered an additional $42 million over the period of the trial. This is more than the $40 million that the Prime Minister publicly proposed for a Victorian trial,” Baillieu said.
The Premier says Victoria’s trial for the Barwon Region would:
- secure a trial for 5,000 Victorian’s with a disability in the Barwon Region
- provide an additional $17 million over the period of the trial for direct service delivery, delivering on the benchmark funding required by the Commonwealth;
- bring forward the start of the trial to 1 July 2013, a year earlier than the Commonwealth’s proposal for 1 July 2014 commencement in Barwon
- provide a one-off payment of $25 million to secure the establishment of the National Disability Transition Agency in Geelong, the home of Victoria’s Transport Accident Commission, an acknowledged leader in social insurance schemes
- allow the Commonwealth to direct further funding directly to clients in the Barwon Region
“I have written to the Prime Minister and confirmed again that Victoria has met the Commonwealth’s requirements and I have asked the Prime Minister to agree to announce the NDIS trial for the Barwon region with me in Geelong this week,” Baillieu said.
NDIS trials have been confirmed in NSW, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT.
