States tell Albanese government that NDIS changes could mean people with disabilities are shifted into hospitals

‘There is a significant risk that people with disability will end up in hospitals or other settings that are inappropriate,’ states say in submission on NDIS reform. Photograph: Tracey Nearmy/AAP View image in fullscreen ‘There is a significant risk that people with disability will end up in hospitals or other settings that are inappropriate,’ states say in submission on NDIS reform. Photograph: Tracey Nearmy/AAP States tell Albanese government that NDIS changes could mean people with disabilities are shifted into hospitals Plan to move 240,000 people off scheme leads states and territories to jointly warn they can’t ‘deliver like-for-like services to people who are exited from the NDIS’ Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast State and territory disability ministers have rung alarm bells over the Albanese government’s proposed overhaul of the NDIS, warning they can’t deliver “like-for-like services” for more than 200,000 participants expected to be shifted off the scheme by 2031. The Albanese government’s national disability insurance scheme bill is designed to dramatically curb the growth of the $50bn-a-year scheme by first reducing budgets and then the number of people who can access it from 2028. The legislation is being scrutinised by a Labor-led Senate committee, which is due to deliver recommendations next week. In a joint submission uploaded to the NDIS inquiry on Thursday, states and territories agreed that curbing the scheme’s growth was important, but warned that goal should not be prioritised over participant safety, wellbeing and life outcomes. Angus Taylor rejects One Nation seat sharing deal as cracks appear in Liberal ranks over Pauline Hanson threat Read more Disability ministers said they were not “meaningfully consulted” on the proposed change and were concerned about unilateral powers given to the federal NDIS minister “signalling a broader shift away” from shared governance. More than 240,000 participants are expected to be shifted off the NDIS in the four years after new eligibility rules are introduced in 2028, department modelling shows. Disability ministers criticised a lack of “clearly defined alternative supports” which it said created the “risk of unmet need and cost-shifting to state and territory systems (including health, education and justice), which are not equipped for increased demand and cannot deliver like-for-like services with the NDIS”. “Without a careful, coordinated approach that aligns these changes with broader improvements across the disability support system, there is a significant risk that people with disability will end up in hospitals or other settings that are inappropriate and unable to meet their needs, or have no access to services at all,” the submission said. “States and territories are not in a position, and have made no agreement, to deliver like-for-like services to people who are exited from the NDIS.” The Senate