There has been “sustained achievement” in several areas across the NDIS, according to the scheme’s latest quarterly report.
The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) says there have been increases in community participation, educational achievements, employment and daily living, among other things.
The report covers the performance of the scheme from April to June this year, and landed just days before Disability and NDIS Minister Mark Butler announced that children with mild to moderate developmental delays or autism would be shuffled off the NDIS and funnelled into a new scheme called Thriving Kids, in a speech at the National Press Club last month.
Thriving Kids is yet to be designed and many in the autism sector have expressed apprehension or dismay about the decision.
What are the key statistics from the report?
Close to 800,000 people are now on the NDIS, which is now growing at just over 10 per cent.
The report shows that across all age groups of participants who have been in the NDIS for at least two years, there was an increase in their community and social participation.
The biggest increase was for participants aged between 25 and 34 years old. The number of participants of working age (15-64 years) who have been in the scheme for between two and five years who are in paid work also increased around two to three per cent, however some smaller age brackets saw decreases in participation in paid work.
In addition, there has been a 33 per cent increase in the number of NDIS participants who are receiving capacity-building employment support as part of their plan.
A crucial question about the NDIS’ success is whether participants feel that the scheme has given them more choice and control over their lives.
In response to this, 13 per cent of those aged over 15 agreed the NDIS had helped them have more choice and control. Participants or their families and carers pointed to improvements in development, access to services, communication, independence, relationships, and social participation as ways that the scheme has helped them.
Seventy-eight per cent of participants said the NDIS was transparent in its interactions with them, and 90 per cent said they were treated with respect in their dealings with the scheme. Sixty-eight per cent said they felt empowered by their interactions.
Elsewhere, the report notes that its performance against the participant service guarantee has improved in this quarter. Plan approvals after access decisions within 56 days increased to 94 per cent for non-early-childhood-approach participants, according to the data. Plan variations within 28 days increased to 45 per cent.
The report also notes that the volume of complaints received from participants in the June quarter was down on the previous quarter, in line with a consistent decrease since June 2024.
To read the full report, visit the NDIS website.