Policy implementation in action: The case of Australia's National Disability Insurance Scheme

Australia is currently part way into a process of rolling out the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). This AUD $22billion scheme has been described as the largest reform to social welfare services in a generation and... [ view full abstract ]

Australia is currently part way into a process of rolling out the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). This AUD $22billion scheme has been described as the largest reform to social welfare services in a generation and aims to significantly change outcomes for people with disabilities. The NDIS promises to bring about a different way of designing and delivering disability services, one that has notions of self-directed support and service user choice and control firmly at its centre. Australia is not the only country experimenting with this type of system. A number of other countries, most notably the UK, have sought to personalise services through mechanisms such as individual funding schemes, where people with disabilities are informed of their financial entitlement to care and individuals are able to design their own services and support within that entitlement to achieve agreed outcomes. Experience suggests it is challenging to design systems that facilitate true choice and control for people with disabilities.

This paper reports on research exploring consumer experience of the NDIS and the degree to which the promises of the scheme have been realised on the ground. Drawing on data from interviews with 42 early participants of the scheme, we identify that an implementation gap has emerged in the shift from block funding of disability services and support to a contestable, client-driven model. The paper explores the different gaps that have emerged between what has been promised about the transformation of disability services and lived experience of those who have taken part in the scheme. We conclude that realising self-directed support and inclusion of people with disabilities within Australian society calls for significant shifts in organisational and individual capacity and will require activity that goes beyond the scope of the current system.