APS Submission to the Inquiry on the NDIS Amendment (Getting the NDIS Back on Track No. 1) Bill 2024

As part of our ongoing NDIS-related advocacy, the Australian Psychological Society (APS) was pleased to be invited to provide a submission to the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee inquiry on the NDIS Amendment (Getting the NDIS Back on Track No. 1) Bill 2024 (the Bill).

The APS supports the Government's effort to implement the recommendations from the NDIS Review Final Report, starting with this Bill.  However, we raised concerns about how the Bill has been developed with limited consultation and how much is left unspecified at this point.

Our key concerns include:

1. The overuse of delegated legislation: Significant aspects of the Bill defer essential details to yet-to-be-developed NDIS Rules and legislative instruments.  This approach limits meaningful consultation and scrutiny, which could result in unintended consequences or poor outcomes for all stakeholders, including psychologists and their clients.  The APS advocates for a more collaborative process of developing substantive and operational reforms involving participants, providers, and peak bodies.
2. Needs-Based Assessments: Details about needs-based assessments, a key proposed reform to the NDIS, are also deferred to a legislative instrument which is yet to be developed.  We also note that fit-for-purpose assessment tools still need to be created and validated and advocate for the role of psychologists in this process. The APS also recommends clear amendments to the Bill to ensure costs of assessments are covered by the NDIA and that assessments decisions are reviewable.
3. Reasonable and Necessary Budgets: The new concept of a "reasonable and necessary budget" is ambiguous in the Bill. The APS is concerned that this may lead to further inappropriate budget cuts, particularly to psychology services, based on purely on perceived cost considerations rather than a participant’s actual support needs.  The APS suggests using clear, legislatively meaningful terms to avoid misinterpretations.

The APS looks forward to working with the Government, including through cooperative co-design processes that we have recommended in our submission, in the next stages of this Bill’s development and implementation and in other reforms emerging from the NDIS Review.

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