Submission to the Australian National Audit Office’s performance audit

PIAC made a submission to the Australian National Audit Office’s performance audit of the National Disability Insurance Agency’s decision-making controls for NDIS participant plans. The ANAO’s audit is examining whether the NDIA has established and implemented appropriate policies and processes to ensure supports in participant plans are ‘reasonable and necessary’, and whether there is appropriate oversight of these policies and processes.

PIAC’s submission makes policy and legislative reform recommendations which are aimed at improving the decision-making process and to increase transparency and accountability in this process. Our submission reflects consultations with stakeholders in the disability community, including people with disability, advocates, Legal Aid Commissions and academics. The key issues addressed concern:

• inconsistency in the plan approvals and the lack of transparency in relation to typical support packages;
• the lack of transparency concerning appeal settlement outcomes at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal;
• issues with the concept of financial sustainability, and the interaction between the NDIS and other support services;
• complexity and delays in internal merits reviews; and
• the failure to implement systemic changes following AAT and Federal Court decisions.