Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee, , 6:02:09 to 6:10:23
Officials provide data on current NDIS participant numbers, growth rates, and the timeline for the next scheme actuary update.
Topics: Government spending, Public service staffing
Speakers: Hon Anne Ruston, David Gifford, Blair Comley, Hon Jenny McAllister, Scott McNaughton, Speaker 36
Okay. Thank you. Do you want me to just keep going? Yes, please. So just back more generally entered to the scheme, the general scheme. I'm just wondering just some stats which I can just rattle through reasonably quickly. Probably Mr. Comley, just as an opportunity to have a little swipe. There's a whole heap of data here that I'm about to ask for that's going to waste a whole heap of time. I wonder whether maybe over the period between now and the next estimates, we might be able to come up with a way where we can actually ask for information to be made available. I mean, it's just statistical data that we previous used to get in the lead up to estimates that save just having to ask all these questions. Whether you might give some thought to perhaps providing it, if I can give some thought to it, and particularly if it comes through the committee,
but I'd also be interested to know whether you want is there any way you can table that request or send it afterwards because we might actually work out. I know it can be hard to navigate where this data might be available in various publications that we have, so we can have that on thing. But if we find out what the data you're after, that would be good.
It was almost like I mean, I I having had a look through this folder, I mean obviously it's a folder of one of my colleagues, it's not mine. Um but I do know that that there's an awful lot of information in here that if you would had received on notice prior to this, probably it's going to save up a whole time, but be on the internet. Yeah, but some of it's not. Some of it that's gone on the internet, you look and it's it's not necessarily up to date. So um uh but anyway, you'll I'm sure soon let me know if I'm asking for information that's publicly available. Um so um what's the current number of participants on the NDIS?
30 June 782,003.
Um is that higher than lower, higher or lower than you were projecting for that date?
Oh, if we're going to do comparisons, I might maybe stand that's right.
Sorry, and also you said high and low when you were projecting. There's always a question of when we were projecting it. So I'm not trying to be difficult, but as you can imagine, this is a scheme that the the actuary puts out an update every six months. Is that right?
All right, well let's do that then. So is it from the the previous six months when you put out a projection um in December of where you expected the scheme participation numbers to be of the 30th of June? Um is 782,013. Higher or lower than your predictions at that time.
Um that's David Gifford Scheme Actory Senator. Um I might just take me a little while to access the projection from December. I can certainly get that for you during the hearing. Um I believe it was fairly close just from memory.
So when's the next um actuary update due?
Uh so the uh latest projection, which was takes place based on data up to June 2026. Um will be published in full um probably in the next couple of months. That's correct.
Yeah, okay. So about within six months of the data period.
That's correct.
Yeah, okay. Um be interested um, and I only taking this on notice. Do you provide um what is your latest data for participant numbers by primary disability, both the number of participants and the percentage of uh participants in the scheme and the amounts that are paid to those groups of participants by primary disability?
So the um the the number actually in the scheme at by primary disability and the amount paid um apologies, I might describe my folder that's got some information.
Well Mr. Gifford's getting his folder, Senator Ruston. One resource that may be of interest to committee members is the quarterly report that's produced. Um that may be a it is produced as prescribed quarterly. And uh it's it's it's quite a large report and does have a lot of data in it. The most recent one is 113 pages. So that might be a starting point for some of the data that Senators are interested in.
Yeah. Um and the other data I'm interested in the breakdown of participant numbers on the basis of of how they uh how their packages are managed, um NDA managed, self-managed or plan managed.
Um Senator, I can um I'll just maybe I'll take that question um of the 782,000 that Mr. Head referred to um about 538,000 plan managed approximately 195,000 self-managed um about 46,000 agency managed.
Not that many agency managed.
And I can take the the question around um number of participants by primary disability. Um there's we've got 15 or sorry, 16 years.
Yeah, um so I'm just wondering, do you um what's the latest data that you have in relation to how many NDAS participants are currently in hospital?
Uh Senator Scott McNorton um National Brisbane Insurance Agency, as at the end of June, there were 2,989 and S participants uh in hospitals.
Okay, so you don't have any data up to the Q1 2026-27?
No, that's the latest.
Do we have any data Q1 for this year?
Uh I have to take that on notice. I don't have it with me, but I can see if we've got it. And then of that figure, Senator, we break that down by those who are clinically ready for discharge and those who aren't, and by state and territories a whole range of other factors.
Um a lot of the data I I understand has already been published for Q425-26. Yep. So I'm sort of seeking to find data that's more up to date than that. Do we have a time frame when that that quarter of data is likely to be made available?
Um so the quarterly report will be released prior to the it's the statutory time frame is uh within 45 days at the end of the quarter. So I think that would be the 14th of November this quarter. Um Senator, maybe if I could just just to cover the question from earlier about the number of participants at 30 June, that was um slightly below the projection from six months earlier.
Okay.
Yeah.
Um if that's the case, I shouldn't ask. What the current participation growth rate is because it's actually going backwards. Or just backwards on projections. What about the growth? So do you have a growth rate on the basis of those?
Yes. So the um the number of participants over the 12 months to June 2026 grew by 6%.