One in Half a Million: What the NDIS Quarterly Report Means For You

More than half a million people with a disability receive supports through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Minister for the NDIS Senator Linda Reynolds said: “Reaching half a million participants is remarkable … the Scheme is having a huge impact, not only transforming the lives of people with disability but also the many thousands of family members and carers who play such a big part supporting our participants to live the life they choose.”

The latest NDIS quarterly report to 31 December 2021 shows the number of people participating in the Scheme increased 4 per cent in the past quarter, including more children accessing early intervention supports. The Minister noted of 20,384 people who joined the Scheme, 38% were children – with 77,287 children younger than age 7 now in the NDIS.

More than $6.7 billion in payments was made last quarter, up from $6.4 billion in the previous quarter. The Minister said total payments for the financial year were expected to exceed $29 billion. She added that the Government had ensured the Scheme was fully funded. That is good news for anyone on an NDIS plan.

What are the highlights that matter to me?

The report highlights recent updates relating to Covid and the measures taken to ensure people with a disability could continue to access their needed supports and services. These measures included payments and supports to ensure participants could access vaccinations, as well as advice on using their plans for PPE equipment, cleaning services, isolation or other needs to enable them to continue receiving supports and services as safely as possible. You can now also use your NDIS funding to buy Rapid Antigen Tests for your support workers.

Better outcomes

The report also highlighted a range of improved outcomes for NDIS participants.

One was that NDIS participants were more involved in community and social activities. Such involvement rose from 36% to 45% for people aged 25+ and 34% to 42% for those aged 15-24 years. One particularly interesting aspect of this was that community and social involvement increased the longer a person was in the NDIS.

This data suggests that ongoing funded supports and programs – such as LiveBig’s range of services including occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech pathology, behaviour support and counselling – are helping people with a disability to engage more in their local communities, and live their best lives.

And while 71% of people aged 25 and older said that, under the NDIS, they had more control and say in their lives, that percentage increased to 80% after four years on a plan.

Workplace participation remained steady.

In relation to children with a disability, the report also reveals that the percentage of parents who say the NDIS has helped their child’s development rose from 91% after one year to 96% after three years. The percentage who said the NDIS had increased their child’s independence went from 62% in the first year to 72% after four years.

All of these statistics suggest that finding the right supports and services for you can have a strong influence on allowing you to live your best life.

Have your say

Another aspect the report touched on was the continued work towards a co-designed process so that people on the Scheme can have more say in how their plan works.

And other reforms are expected to allow you to better access forms and other information online through an easier-to-use portal and website.