Penrith home for NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission

Senator for Western Sydney and Minister for Defence Marise Payne today joined Minister for Social Services Dan Tehan in Penrith for the official opening of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Quality and Safeguards Commission.

The Commission will create 160 new local jobs in Penrith and will ensure local and all Australian NDIS participants receive quality services from providers and workers under the NDIS.

Mr Tehan said half of all expected NDIS participants in NSW live in Sydney, of which a high proportion live in Western Sydney.

“Penrith is the ideal location for the Commission’s critical work,” Mr Tehan said. “The location also presents an excellent opportunity for growth in the local disability sector.”

Senator Payne welcomed the milestone announcement for the NDIS in Western Sydney. “This is an important initiative and a significant acknowledgement of the importance of both Penrith and Western Sydney to the Government. It also demonstrates the Federal Government’s commitment to ensuring we provide the highest quality service through the NDIS at a local level, as well as creating 160 more jobs for the people of Western Sydney,” Senator Payne said.

The NDIS provider job market in NSW is set to double from almost 30,000 full-time equivalent positions in 2016 to almost 59,000 full-time equivalent positions in 2019.

The Commission will focus on education, capacity building and development, but it will also have compliance and enforcement powers.

The Turnbull Government allocated $209 million in the 2017-18 Budget for the establishment and operations of the Commission over four years. The Commission will take over functions currently performed by each state and territory as they reach full scheme.

The Commission’s head office and its NSW and SA state offices will be operational from July 2018. For more information, visit www.dss.gov.au/ndisqualitysafeguards.