A decade in, the NDIS has been “transformative”. But has it delivered on its promises? 

Laura Pettenuzzo has felt the benefits of Australia's National Disability Insurance Scheme in her own life. However, she believes it’s left others in the disability community behind.

It’s been almost a decade since former Prime Minister Julia Gillard held back tears as she introduced the Medicare levy that would fund the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Gillard said that the NDIS would “ensure no one is left behind.” She said that the scheme would deliver the disability community “security and dignity” and that we “deserve the best”.

The first ten years of the NDIS has been transformative, delivering the promised security and dignity to more than 550,000 Australians. This includes almost 85,000 participants with intellectual disability, over 55,000 with psychosocial disability and 17,000 who, like me, have cerebral palsy. The scheme has also created thousands of new jobs for support workers and service providers.  

I’ve felt the transformative power of the NDIS in my own life. Recently I had my first appointment with an occupational therapist (OT) about getting a new wheelchair of my own. Until this point, I’ve been lucky enough to use secondhand chairs from friends. Though the secondhand chairs are brilliant, they weren’t made for me: for my specific height and weight and access needs. 

Electric wheelchairs are expensive, and I don’t have the strength to push a manual one, so before I was on the NDIS, secondhand was my only option. But at that OT appointment, my options felt endless. 

The NDIS hasn’t just given me practical things, like a wheelchair and regular hydrotherapy and physio. It’s also given me more time, as I have support workers to help with cooking and cleaning, and I can dedicate my energy to the things and people I love. It’s given me an indescribable sense of stability and reassurance. I will be forever grateful for the NDIS.

But, like anything, the scheme is not without its flaws. Though intended to eliminate the disparities between people in metropolitan, rural and regional Australia (known as the “postcode lottery”), the scheme has maintained (if not exacerbated) them. Depending on your disability, it can be extremely difficult to get onto the NDIS. Just ask the 250,000 Australians who live with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS), few of whom are deemed eligible for the scheme. 

That said, even getting onto the scheme doesn’t guarantee stability, as funding cuts by the previous government have left participants and their families across the country in desperate situations.

Some people have been left behind, and that’s not good enough. Especially as we witness the disabling impact of repeated COVID infections and increased demand for disability support.

Here is what I hope for the next decade of the NDIS. I hope that every Australian with disability who needs support can access it, without having to endure multiple applications and appeals. I hope that the needs of the most marginalised groups within the disability community are prioritised and met. I hope that each participant can embrace the choice and control we were promised.

Julia Gillard was right: we do deserve the best. I can’t wait for us to get it.