Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee, , 6:53:32 to 7:00:31
Officials provide data on average plan amounts, scheme growth rates, and the differences in support needs between long-term participants and new entries to the scheme.
Topics: Government spending, Efficiency dividend
Speakers: Hon Anne Ruston, David Gifford, Hon Jenny McAllister, Unknown Speaker, Blair Comley
Thank you.
Minister, I understand there were changes made to the legislation to protect participants from reductions in their plans in relation to work participation or volunteer work as well as some other small concessions, including the delay plan reassessment changes. And I'm just wondering, have the savings from the budget measure been recalculated or adjusted to these figures? Or wasn't there any impact from those changes? One of those was to make clear that there were certain kinds of activities that are sometimes funded through social and community participation budgets that were not intended to be caught by the support determination.
The second a second was to create a escalation pathway for people with very high support needs, specifically a requirement for 24-7 funded care, so that a variation could be made to their plan if necessary to secure that continuous care.
Okay, so you we won't know till the end of the year. We would make the update at the ordinary time at my FO, yes. Okay, but that that's when it would be revealed. We'll make any updates that are necessary on this or any other matter at my EFA, yes. Okay. Um just what's the average plan amount per participant as we sit here today? the average for the uh financial year, the 2026 financial year was about 85,400. 85. Is uh is there variation between states and territories in those averages? And if so, is that able to be provided? Um there is and I just need to um sort of table that one if you're sure, no problem. Um and and um can you provide the data on the growth of the average paying amount over the last five years? Um I've got the last two years to hand. We can probably take the last five years I've noticed.
The average uh in the 2024 financial year was 79,500 in 2024. So the average growth. Oh, the the growth um look again, so apologies, I just don't have the growth figures sitting right here, but again, we can probably take those table those. Sure. I'm just interested in in aligning them alongside you. You you had a a growth uh uh a scheme growth rate of 10% in 20 425 to 2526,
and then that you're projecting a 5% growth rate in the forthcoming up and coming year, if the figures that you gave to Senator Hanson were correct. So I'm just trying to get an understanding in terms of the growth rate of the scheme versus the growth rate of the participants.
Yeah, I think the growth rate and the average budget um look, we'll table the exact figure, it's approximately uh four to five per cent, I would say, yeah. Four to five to five, yeah. Four to five. But again, we probably will table the size figures.
Okay, no problem. Um it's slightly high because I think that it says the NDSS March 22026 quarterly report notes the average and median payments per participant increase by 3 and 2.4% per annum over the past two years. Is that right?
Uh I think the median the latest quarterly report notes that median budget increase by 1.4% over the two years.
Okay.
Alright, maybe if we can get that, that's an average um average uh for all participants was sorry, 3.6 over the two.
3.6 or participants. Okay, thanks. Um the average payments for participants continuing in the I um in the NDIS. Uh are they higher than the overall average?
Uh for participants continuing. Could you just be comparing Senator?
Yeah, no, no, I get that. Um so the the overall average, so uh are um participing participants, uh is their average um increase higher than the um the new participants rate.
Uh yeah, I don't have the yes, it is the average um payment for participants entering the scheme is uh it's somewhat lower than the average for people in the scheme.
So I just no, I get what you're gonna call. I get what you're gonna say. No, I know, I know.
Are you trying to get at Senator something like early in their time in the scheme?
Yeah, I know as soon as I asked that question. I thought that makes no sense at all.
Oh you know, I think there are obviously it may be of interest to sort of uh ask the actory to talk through some of the trends we're seeing about plan sizes over because there's obviously a cohort of people who came into the scheme at the very beginning who might have different characteristics to more recent entries, and that might be what your question intends to elicit.
Sure, yeah.
Yes, Senator, um, I mean I think that the people as a general statement, people who've been in the scheme for longer um will tend to have higher average plan sizes, like that on average they've probably got um higher needs, you know. They're um a lot of the people who transferred across some other uh state and territory schemes, yeah, they they higher needs, higher average plan sizes. People on average who've entered the scheme, you know, over recent years. Um on average, their um needs wouldn't be as great. So their plan size would be less than the people who who are in the scheme at present. Present.
So do you break down the data in terms of into sort of like groups of you know less than 20,000, 20 to 50? I I don't know what your your groupings are in order to understand where where your the people who receive plants uh where the majority of them are sitting in terms of their plan sizes?
Um yeah, I mean look, there's a there's a range of different ways. I think um I don't think I've got to hand like uh a sort of a ready distribution by plan size, but that's certainly something we can um take on notice, yeah.