Speakers: Blair Comley, Mary Wood, Hon Jenny McAllister, Senator Penny Allman-Payne

Transcript

Mary Wood

Senator It's Mary would speak in, Deputy Secretary in the Department of the Disability and Carers Group. There's a number of reforms that could affect the size of plans, uh both what's called old framework planning, which is the current system and under the proposed system to start next year called new framework planning. Uh they're both subject to the sustainability goal established by National Capitol for meeting the five to six per cent growth rate, and they'll they'll do so through different mechanisms. We can take you through any of the specific reforms if you have interest in particulars.

Senator Penny Allman-Payne

Um maybe if you can, and again, my apologies, like I said, this isn't my expertise, but my Understanding is that a number of those changes are going to reduce under the new framework certain aspects of people's plans. So for example, around social supports, for example. So would it be based on that, I guess, under the new framework, would there be an expectation that most people are going to have their plans go down in under that new framework as opposed to up?

Blair Comley

Or is there been sorry, sorry, uh yes, so Senator, so I think what Ms. Wood was covering off was under old framework planning, so that's before you get to new framework planning. Many participants will have their plan go down as they're reviewed because of the social and economic community participation reduction that was announced as the budget measure. In new framework planning, one of the things that we would anticipate happening is a significant number will go down, but a significant number will go up because we think there's unevenness and where people are getting plans according to their needs. The precise numbers that will go up or down hasn't been finalised because we are currently developing the new framework planning rules, which will need to be consulted with the states and territories. But there will be ups and downs depending on where people have been set with old framework planning. Maybe it's also worth saying that that doesn't happen overnight. New framework planning begins on the 1st of April 2020, but it will take around up to 2030 before people were all converted to new framework planning.

Hon Jenny McAllister

Alright, thank you. If I may, Senator Ullman Payne, just to add that that the advice that we received in 2023 about the system from the independent review was actually that the planning system was inconsistent and it was generating inconsistent results for people with fairly similar levels of need. So much of the work that's underway to set up new framework planning is to start to address that and it reinforces Mr. Comley's comments about it being a little hard to say that the direction of travel will be uniform for all participants.

Blair Comley

Sorry, Ms.