Budget Reply: People with disability missing in action, cuts to NDIS workforce on the table

People with disability were barely acknowledged in the Federal Budget – and in tonight’s Opposition Budget Reply, we weren’t mentioned at all. 

As we head into a Federal Election, People with Disability Australia (PWDA) is concerned this omission sends a clear and chilling message: people with disability are not front and centre in either major party’s vision for the election.  

However, being ignored won’t protect us.  

Cuts flagged to the public service by the Coalition tonight and NDIS workforce by both sides are deeply concerning. The NDIS is a frontline service and undermining its funding and workforce puts at risk the essential supports hundreds of thousands of people with disability rely on to survive and participate in their communities.  

The Coalition’s plans to slash 41,000 jobs from the public sector will also threaten the implementation of NDIS reforms and the rollout of foundational supports. Weakening the administrative state means weakening the systems people with disability depend on. 

“We remain concerned that cuts to the NDIS remain on the table under the Coalition. The NDIS needs guaranteed, long-term funding and must be recognised as an essential service. The constant political uncertainty undermines its ability to deliver the outcomes people with disability and our friends and family deserve,” said PWDA President Trinity Ford. 

Employment was also in the spotlight tonight. Workforce participation of people with disability has lifted in recent years. Progress will stall if the Coalition’s measures that reduce flexibility and remove protections for the casualised workforce are implemented. This will be compounded if they rollback the public sector’s leadership role as a model employer for accessibility and inclusion.  

“People with disability will not accept being sidelined, especially when what’s on the table threatens to pull apart the essential services we rely on to survive,” said Ms Ford. 

Despite the urgent need for reform, neither major party has mentioned funding for implementation of the Disability Royal Commission’s recommendation, produced a roadmap for change or national plan to ensure the rights and safety of people with disability are embedded across all policies and portfolios. 

The Federal Budget and Opposition’s Reply comes on the eve of an election where 5.5 million people with disability and millions of our friends, families and allies won’t just be watching but voting. PWDA is calling on all parties and candidates to make explicit commitments to people with disability’s rights, inclusion and futures through: 

• Guaranteed long-term funding for the NDIS and no cuts to participant’s supports or choice and control. 

• Securing a long-term co-funding agreement with states and territories to deliver nationally consistent Foundational Supports 

• Safeguarding diversity in the public sector and not cutting public sector jobs 

• Lifting income support payments above the poverty line 

• Ensuring people with disability are considered in every policy by creating a Federal Minister for Disability Inclusion and a Department of Disability Equality and Inclusion.