Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme: Recent Outcomes and Satisfaction

Abstract

The National Disability Insurance Scheme was introduced in Australia on the basis of the NDIS Act 2013 and its national roll-out began in 2016. Such a nationwide disability policy reform, which aims to provide practical support services to persons with disabilities to ensure their rights to ‘choice’ and ‘control’ in personally designing and achieving life aspirations and goals, is in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This study presents the background and details of the NDIS, together with its outcomes taken from currently available data. The services provided by the NDIS and its participant characteristics are explored. Some of the concerns raised during the reform are also examined. Understanding the details and issues of the NDIS, along with the preliminary results of this study, is expected to be useful in the near future in designing a similar system in Korea, where the support system for disabled persons and their carers is fragmented and its reform is long overdue. Results from the study indicate that the number of NDIS participants is the largest for disabled persons aged between 0-14, and mental and developmental disabilities constitute the majority of the NDIS participants. The participants utilize daily activity support within the capacity-building support category the most. Further, life satisfaction resulting from NDIS participation is generally high, but improvement is needed in specific support categories of the services.