Join one of our 10 community online forums and tell the NDIS Review what you think about the NDIS. Plus some scary news from the federal government.

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There's been a lot of activity and discussion around our NDIS in recent weeks. Catch up with all the news and the best ways to defend the NDIS and make sure your voice is heard.

What do we know about the PM’s announcement on Friday?Have your voice heard by the NDIS ReviewJoin our one of online NDIS Review forumsBill Shorten’s speech and the scary bit that you might have missedThe budget is around the corner…What do we know about the PM’s announcement on Friday?

By Dr George Taleporos, Independent Chair of Every Australian Counts

Hi everyone

I know that many people in our community will be feeling nervous following the news on Friday. So I’m writing to explain what we know, what we don’t know, and what we need to do about it.

On Friday, without warning, after his meeting with national Cabinet, our Prime Minister announced that he would be taking action to cut the growth of the NDIS.

The current growth in the NDIS is around 14% every year, but the Prime Minister wants to get the growth under 8% by July 2026.

And after that he wants to reduce the growth in the NDIS even further.

The Prime Minister said, “We know that the trajectory of NDIS expenditure is just not sustainable into the future.”

What does this mean for us, people with disabilities and our families?

Will it make it harder for people to get onto the NDIS?

Will we miss out on essential support because our funding packages will no longer keep up with the growing costs of services?

The truth is, we don’t know. But we are concerned and we need the government to engage with us openly about what this means and how it will affect our lives.

This is what we do know…

Before the election, the Labor Party promised to stop the cuts, rebuild trust with our community, and put people with disabilities at the centre of the scheme.

Then Shadow Minister Shorten walked beside us as we marched the streets to Defend the NDIS.

In my podcast [[link removed]] before the election, he promised to restore trust.

He said, "We've got to take the anxiety out of the scheme.”

But now, once again, we are worried and afraid that cuts are heading our way.

I have written to the Minister for more information about how this will affect our lives.

I have asked him to meet me for a recorded interview to explain this announcement to our community.

I encourage you also to write to the Prime Minister [[link removed]] asking him how this announcement will affect people with disabilities and reminding him of the importance of the NDIS. I’m asking you to contact the Prime Minister because I’m not sure he gets it, while I do believe that our Minister does. Your personal story is very important.

Ten years ago, the NDIS became law and the government fulfilled its promise to deliver an uncapped and demand-driven lifetime support scheme for people with disabilities. I hope the announcement on Friday leads to a collaborative effort with the disability community to find sensible cost savings.

But if the government bulldozes ahead with cuts that hurt disabled people, that is a broken promise that we will call out and fight against.You can read my full response to the Prime Minister’s announcement that was published in The Guardian here [[link removed]].

Have your voice heard by the NDIS Review

With the NDIS Review well underway, this is probably the most important time ever for our community to have our voices heard.

So we are partnering with the NDIS Review to host a series of community forums where you can have your say on what’s working and what needs to change with the NDIS.

We want to hear both problems and solutions! And we know that people with disabilities and our families are the people who know what works best for us. We have proven this many times over the years.

As the new independent chair for Every Australian Counts, I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible at our forums, so please come along and have your say.

Join our one of online NDIS Review forums

Every Australian Counts will be hosting 10 online NDIS Review forums over the next few weeks (see list of sessions below) and we would love to hear your views. The online sessions will be recorded and the issues you raise fed into reports for the NDIS Review to consider. Click on any of the links to register for a session.

Forums for everyone

Tuesday 9 May, 11:30 am – 1 pm [[link removed]]

Thursday 11 May, 2 pm – 3:30 pm [[link removed]]

Saturday 13 May, 2 pm – 3:30 pm [[link removed]]

Tuesday 16 May, 11:30 am – 1 pm [[link removed]]

Wednesday 17 May, 11:30 am – 1 pm [[link removed]]

Wednesday 17 May, 7:30pm – 9 pm [[link removed]]

Forums for people living in regional and rural areas

Monday 22 May, 11:30 am – 1 pm [[link removed]]

Tuesday 23 May, 11:30 am – 1 pm [[link removed]]

Thursday 25 May, 2 pm – 3:30 pm [[link removed]]

Saturday 27 May, 11:30 am – 1 pm [[link removed]]

The sessions will focus on Home and Living, Housing, and Participant Safety and you will be able to raise problems and offer solutions.

If you are not able to attend a forum you can fill out our quick and easy form, and we’ll pass your feedback along to the NDIS Review team [[link removed]].

Or, you can find all the latest, including contact forms, on the NDIS Review website [[link removed]].

Bill Shorten’s speech and the scary bit that you might have missed

Last week, our NDIS Minister gave a really important speech. I watched it so you didn’t have to.

Check out my summary [[link removed]] and the scary bit that you might have missed.

As a community, we need to listen carefully to what our Minister has to say and make sure that any changes he wants to make are in our interests. We will fight against any changes that will take away our choice and control over our own lives. We will fight any changes that take away our right to reasonable and necessary support.

The budget is around the corner…

As we approach budget time there’s going to be a lot of talk about the cost of the NDIS. We know that the media loves to talk about “cost blowouts” and the “burden on the taxpayer”.

We need to remember that the NDIS is an investment in our lives and that before the NDIS, these costs were hidden because we were forced into nursing homes, we went without showers, and had to live with our parents until they died.

When the NDIS is working the way it is supposed to, it is worth every cent.

And that’s why we’re here, to make the NDIS work the way it was intended!

Choice and control, and reasonable and necessary support for people with disabilities to live good lives in the community!

But as I said at the beginning, Every Australian Counts is in a difficult financial position. If you or someone you know would like to make a tax-deductible contribution to our efforts please check out our donation [[link removed]] page.

Thanks for reading! And if you haven't already come across it, please check out my Reasonable & Necessary podcast [[link removed]], full of the latest info and insights into the NDIS.

Dr George Taleporos

Independent Chair, Every Australian Counts

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