04/11/2025
State ministers to boycott federal NDIS meeting amid reform tensions
State and territory disability ministers have united to boycott next week's NDIS reform meeting, furious they would each get just two minutes to discuss the $48bn scheme's overhaul.
Furious state and territory disability ministers will boycott a planned meeting with their federal counterparts Mark Butler and Jenny McAllister as tensions over NDIS reform erupt.
The gathering of the country’s disability ministers, set for Friday next week, was to be the first since Mr Butler blindsided states and territories by announcing the $2 billion Thriving Kids program, calling it a key step to setting up a new system of services outside the NDIS labelled ‘foundational supports’.
But state and territory ministers, in a letter to the Health Minister, Mr Butler, and NDIS Minister, Ms McAllister, now say they’ll boycott the meeting, after claiming each minister would only get two minutes to voice their concerns and opinions on the scheme’s overhaul.
“We are no longer able to confirm our attendance at the Disability Reform Ministerial Council (DRMC) meeting … until we are assured that states and territories will have the opportunity to meaningfully contribute to a discussion on foundational supports,” the letter, seen by The Australian and signed by every state and territory’s disability minister, states.
MPs holding disability portfolios said the agenda, which includes a 20-minute Commonwealth update on NDIS reform efforts, would only provide “each jurisdiction two minutes to contribute to this important discussion, if allocated equally”.
The joint letter states the lack of time to discuss with their commonwealth counterparts “is not reasonable or acceptable and would effectively prevent disability ministers from using this forum as intended – to drive national reform in the interests of people with disability, their families and our communities”.
It’s understood Mr Butler will attend the meeting, after concerns from state and territory ministers he was not going to.
The potential absence of either minister is pointedly mentioned in the letter, with state and territory politicians writing a future meeting would “preferably (have) both commonwealth disability ministers present”.
The letter requests each state and territory minister gets 10 minutes each to discuss foundational support.
The flare-up is the latest amid the commonwealth’s attempt to reform the NDIS and reign in the funding spent on the ballooning $48bn scheme, while a five-year hospital funding agreement between the federal and state governments is also yet to be locked in.
Changes to alleviate pressure on the NDIS include the creation of a new system of services outside the scheme, labelled foundational supports.
In a week when the government’s much-anticipated economic reform roundtable delivered more caution than conviction, the real shock came from Health Minister Mark Butler’s bombshell overhaul of the NDIS.
While the roundtable produced little beyond consensus on tariffs and road charges, Butler announced sweeping changes that will tighten access for children with mild autism and cut scheme growth, saving billions. Sarah Ison is the senior political reporter at The Australian.
The first tranche of that was the Thriving Kids program, announced by Mr Butler in an August address to the National Press Club, with that scheme intended to sit outside the NDIS servicing children with mild to moderate developmental issues.
“Diverting this group of kids over time from the NDIS is an important element of making the scheme sustainable and returning it to its original intent,” Mr Butler said at the time.
He also said a decision was made at national cabinet for funding for the program to be shared equally between the states and the commonwealth.
The federal government is yet to strike a long term hospital funding deal with the states and territories, after it announced a one-year stopgap funding deal shortly before this year’s federal election.
Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek has spoken about the upcoming overhaul of the NDIS, stating that Labor is committed to “protecting and preserving” the scheme.
“The NDIS is a fantastic program which has changed the lives of many, many Australians, and we want to protect it and preserve it,” Ms Plibersek said.
“That means it can’t continue to grow at a rate of 22 per cent … it can’t continue to grow at that rate or it will become unsustainable.”
Tensions have steadily rose since, with state and territory leaders last month issuing a joint statement blasting a commonwealth hospital funding offer of $20bn over five years, despite it being a $7bn increase on an earlier offer.
State and territory leaders also said at the time the Thriving Kids announcement represented “a significant change” from an agreement struck at a December 2023 national cabinet meeting, that states would be “better off overall” under the reforms.
Mr Butler and Ms McAllister have been contacted for comment.
Mark Butler MP
