What Is the NDIS?

Abstract

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has been labelled one of the most important social policy reforms that Australia has seen in a century. The scheme represents a revolutionary reform of the disability system in Australia, with its significance likened to the introduction of Australia’s universal national healthcare system Medicare. This chapter provides an overview of the NDIS as it was originally described by the Productivity Commission in its 2011 inquiry into a national disability long-term care and support scheme in Australia. It provides an interpretation of how the NDIS sought to introduce a new approach to disability care and support, based on insurance principles. It also comments on several headline changes made to the design of the scheme as it was written into intergovernmental agreements and legislated through the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (the Act).