Media Release by Senator the Hon Mitch Fifield

Labor short on funding facts

The Coalition Government is 100 per cent committed to delivering and funding the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) in full.

The Coalition has supported the NDIS from Day One.

Negotiations for full rollout of the NDIS beyond the trial sites are going well.

Negotiations with each jurisdiction are following their own path and a number are very close to conclusion.

But to correct the record, Labor’s claim that they fully funded the NDIS is incorrect.

The fact is, in 2019-20, at full scheme, the NDIS will cost $22 billion:

  • $10 billion in funding will come from the states
  • $3 billion is Commonwealth money that would have been spent on disability programmes regardless of the NDIS
  • and there is a further $9 billion of new Commonwealth investment.

Contrary to Labor’s claims, the Medicare levy increase will cover less than forty per cent of the Commonwealth’s $9 billion annual new contributions to the NDIS at full rollout. There is $5 billion in the first full year of the scheme for which Labor did not account.

The Government has laid out the funding profile across the Forward Estimates for the NDIS, however, it falls to the Coalition to ensure full funding for the NDIS in the long term.

A strong NDIS requires responsible economic and budget management. Only a Coalition Government can deliver a scheme that stands the tests of time.