National Disability Insurance Scheme
The Queensland government recently announced a substantial increase in funding to enable Queensland to join the national implementation of the NDIS.
On December 12th, 2012, premier Newman announced the government was committing an additional $868 million by 2018-19 to bring the State’s total NDIS funding to $1.77 billion by 2018-19. The premier also announced his commitment to reforming Queensland’s fault-based motor accident insurance scheme in order to adopt the no-fault National Injury Insurance Scheme (NIIS).
The Federal government is expected to match the contribution as they have done in NSW, bringing the total NDIS funding to approximately $3.5 billion. It will be used to support the 89,000 Queenslanders living with disabilities.
However, the Federal government has said that the Queensland fails to meet the benchmark set by NSW and funding falls short by up to $300 million. Mr Newman appears to have left room for negotiation regarding funding, stating “This is the baseline for us, we’re prepared to put more on the table if we can.”
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