Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee, , 6:11:50 to 6:17:23
Debate over the fiscal impact of delays in passing NDIS legislation, specifically regarding fraud costs and unscheduled reassessments.
Topics: Integrity, Law reform
Speakers: Hon Anne Ruston, Blair Comley, Hon Jenny McAllister, Anthea Long, Unknown Speaker
I was just keen to understand there's been public statements by the government that the delay in passing the legislation that was passed earlier this year. Cost more than a billion dollars or 11.5 million dollars a day. I'm just wondering whether you've recosted the measures and can you provide new funding processes?
Oh, we're talking about this is one of those um complex things. The scheme actually is providing advice to the agency. The scheme actory also publishes the annual financial sustainability report. Scheme actory uh through the NDIO board provides the Commonwealth with that information, which is then taken by the Department of Finance to form the official estimates. Um so the questions related to you know what's going to happen in the budget projections are really matters for the department. So Ms. Long here can walk you through the consequences of delay associated with the legislation. Um I just want to be Ms. Long will go to this. Um I don't know exactly which comment you're referring to. The cost of delay from when the legislation was intended to have the first changes from the first of July until when they first commenced after the it was an August passage. They were more modest than that. I think the comment was about if there was a longer delay. And the reason for that is that the first measure that came into effect was a reduction in the capacity of people to seek an unscheduled reassessment, unless there are exceptional circumstances. Um that was the one measure delayed. If it had been delayed longer than that, and particularly if it had gone past the 1st of October this year, which was the first point at which the reductions of some social economic community participation was hitting reviewed budgets from one October 2026. So Ms. Long will probably answer this more eloquently than me, but if you could provide information, that would be good.
Well, just before you move to that, Secretary. I mean the Minister Butler and others were very clear about the delay and passing the legislation would cost more than one billion dollars or 11.5 million dollars a day. I mean, that's a matter of many public statements and and the like in the process of of leading up to the negotiations on this bill. So probably what I'm keen to understand is that what what um you know can it can maybe Ms. Long can you specify the measures that will have reduced savings as a result of the agreement to extend the Senate inquiry as an example. I mean these accusations have been made, so clearly we needed a demonstration of whether they've actually eventuated or whether they've been realised or not.
Um so Senator, in answer to your question around the measures that were impacted by the bill delay, um, as Mr. Connolly indicated, uh there was really only one measure with material fiscal impacts that was uh impacted by the delay, which was um the tightening the criteria for unscheduled reassessments. Uh otherwise uh tightening the criteria for re for unscheduled reassessment.
Unscheduled, yep.
Uh otherwise uh other measures that related to the commencement of the bill either didn't have a material fiscal impact or were able to be started as scheduled.
Okay. So where did the billion dollars come from?
I'm not just in you may be referring to speech that I was indicating the amount per day on average that we lose to fraud. And the purpose of my remarks at that time uh was to emphasize the significance of the very substantial shent all that was in the bill uh that dealt with fraud uh and provided additional powers in relation to tackling fraud. Uh so that may be the figures you are referring to.
Okay, so what is the subsequent impact of the um the inquiry that subsequently was agreed to in terms of the cost of fraud as uh do we have a number Because I mean you you've said a billion dollars and you've said 11.5 million dollars a day and you said a billion dollars. I'm just keen to understand how that came about.
Senator Aston, I correctly asserted that we were losing significant amounts of money per day to fraud and that it was in the public interest that measures that would allow the agency uh to deal with fraud be progressed urgently.
Okay, well I look forward uh okay. Um I I'm I'm quite happy to um cede the call if um Senator if you want to to Senator Hanson.
Senator Hanson, do you have questions?