This Month
NDIS rorters push to spend more before reforms take effect
Unscrupulous providers are pushing participants in the disability scheme to spend up before changes limit cost growth of the $44 billion scheme.
- Tom Burton
- Exclusive
- Workplace culture
Just one gesture stopped Anthony worrying about his disability at work
Employers often assume that employing people with a disability is costly. New research suggests that’s not true.
- Euan Black
April
Millions wasted as NDIS scraps training program that produced nothing
Advocates have lashed the axing of the scheme that would have enabled people with disabilities to work in NDIS auditing teams.
- Gus McCubbing
This former tennis champ is chasing unicorns and dancing pantless
Dylan Alcott has a dizzying list of achievements from 15 tennis Grand Slams to being Australian of the Year. Now, he’s chasing start-ups and performing with Jason Donovan.
- Updated
- Gus McCubbing
- Exclusive
- Bill Shorten
We got it wrong on ‘wasteful’ NDIS: former PC boss
Gary Banks has conceded the recommendation to create the National Disability Insurance Scheme was flawed, and has called for major reforms to limit eligibility.
- Michael Read
March
New rules aim to cut 11 per cent growth in NDIS plans
Experts say new powers to thwart unscrupulous care providers encouraging disabled people to overspend will help cap surging costs.
- Tom Burton
NDIS is as popular as Medicare, study shows
Redbridge research reveals deep community support for the national disability insurance scheme, underscoring why both sides of politics are wary of criticism despite massive cost blowouts.
- Tom Burton
February
- Opinion
- Opinion
I predicted NDIS disaster. Here’s how to make it sustainable
Instead of a demand-led and open-ended scheme, it is perfectly ethical and practical to calculate the total level of funding needed and then distribute it fairly.
- Simon Duffy
- Exclusive
- Bill Shorten
The Brit who predicted the NDIS disaster a decade ago
Dr Simon Duffy warned a decade ago that the design of the national disability insurance scheme created perverse incentives, leaving it flawed from day one.
- Tom Burton
- Opinion
- The AFR View
NDIS entitlement flawed from the start
The scheme has operated as a honey pot that has predictably attracted too many participants.
- The AFR View
Nine ways Musk’s brain implant idea could change the world
Brain-computer interfaces such as Neuralink could alter the lives of millions of patients.
- Matthew Field
January
Fears NDIS alternatives won’t be enough to stop scheme growth
Disability advocates warn that reforms to prepare schools for a large number of children with autism will take too long and not be adequate to stem the growth of the NDIS.
- Tom Burton
Initial results from first human brain implant ‘promising’
The first human patient has received a brain implant from Neuralink, a step forward for the company that aims to let humans control computers with their minds.
- Sarah McBride
NDIS cost could blow out to $125b a year
The annual bill for the National Disability Insurance Scheme is projected to blow out to more than $125 billion a year by 2034 amid warnings the number of participants could more than double.
- Tom Burton
December 2023
- Exclusive
- Bushfires
‘Very, very anxious’: Bushfire app stops working for the blind
Donna Purcell relied heavily on the Hazards Near Me app to provide early bushfire warnings. It abruptly stopped working.
- Tess Bennett
No ‘quick and dirty’ NDIS assessments: Shorten
The agency running the NDIS will get more funding so that it can supervise allied health professionals trained in disability to complete assessments.
- Gus McCubbing
NDIS reforms may throw up $3.7b in new autism costs
Governments may have to find $3.7 billion a year to support people with mild autism and less severe disabilities once Labor changes how to access the disability scheme.
- Michael Read
John Setka’s ex-wife threatened to kill him, court finds
The union leader’s estranged wife threatened to kill him in comments to a private investigator, more than 700,000 drivers eligible for $560m NSW toll-relief scheme; follow updates live.
- Updated
- Gus McCubbing
- Opinion
- The AFR View
The $92b disability services question is still unanswered
The NDIS minister failed to drive home the real political message: as harsh as it may sound, expectations of what the NDIS can do, and for whom, have to be wound back.
- The AFR View
Mother’s plea: Don’t let kids such as Florence fall out of the system
Disability organisations supporting families with an autism diagnosis say no child should be left worse off under a new $10 billion plan for care.
- Tom McIlroy
