NSW Agreement on NDIS

The Federal and New South Wales Governments have reached an historic agreement that will allow for the full roll out of a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) in New South Wales by July 2018 ahead of today’s COAG meeting.

The Government says the agreement will provide care and support to around 140,000 NSW residents with significant disability, and provide coverage in the event of disability to around one third of the Australian population.

Under the agreement reached :

• The Commonwealth will provide funding of $3.32 billion in 2018 – 51.4 per cent of the funding needed. This will cover the administration of the scheme and contribute to the cost of individual care and support packages and other supports for people with disability, their carers and their families.

• New South Wales will provide more than $3.13 billion in 2018 – 48.6 per cent of the funding needed. This will contribute to the cost of individual packages and other supports for people with disability, their carers and their families.

• The full scheme costs will be reviewed by the Productivity Commission in 2018-19 to inform COAG agreement on final scheme funding arrangements.

The NSW Government says the agreement builds on the agreement to launch in the Hunter region of NSW from the middle of next-year. Other eligible New South Wales residents will start entering the scheme in 2016, and by July 2018, all eligible residents will be covered by the NDIS.

An NDIS will also be launched in South Australia, Tasmania, the Barwon region of Victoria and the ACT and final bi-lateral agreements for these launches will be considered at today’s COAG meeting.

The Prime Minister is meeting with all state and territory leaders at the Council of Australian Governments in Canberra asking states and territories to secure agreements for a full national scheme.

For more information on the announcement please visit www.ndis.gov.au