Dr George Taleporos

Dr. George Taleporos, Independent Chair, Every Australian Counts

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Dr George Taleporos is physically disabled public policy professional and the independent chair of Every Australian Counts. He is a non-executive director and the host of Reasonable & Necessary, Australia’s leading podcast on the NDIS.

On Friday, Minister Mark Butler opened the door to means testing the NDIS by refusing to rule it out and describing it as one of the options being raised in the debate about sustainability. 

As a person with a severe disability who has spent years working, contributing to the Australian economy and trying to build my financial independence, I find that deeply troubling. People with disability and our families should not be penalised for working, and disability should not force a person to live in poverty.

The employment gap between people with and without disability in Australia remains stark. According to ABS data, only 56.1% of working-age people with disability were employed, compared with 81.4% of people without disability. Labour force participation was also much lower, 60.5% compared with 84.9%. This is not surprising considering the significant barriers to employment that we face.

The NDIS is intended to address this stark gap and improve our social and economic participation. A government program designed to increase economic participation should not punish us for achieving its objectives.

We already face penalties through the reduction or loss of the Disability Support Pension as we find work and our income increases. Adding means testing to the NDIS would further disincentivise  joining the workforce.

Means testing would create a deeply perverse incentives. It would tell people with disability: Do not take the job. Do not work more hours.  Do not accept the promotion. Do not save. Do not plan for the future. Do not become financially independent. Instead of rewarding work, ambition and financial responsibility, it would punish us for paying taxes and incentivise welfare dependency.

It would leave people with disability with little choice but to limit work and remain financially insecure. It would create a system where you would be better off sitting on the couch watching Netflix than getting a job, and better off wasting your money at the pokies than saving for a rainy day. Because if you work your way out of poverty, the supports that made that possible, and that you need to stay alive, could be taken away.

The NDIS Review dealt with the question of means testing and rejected the idea. It said means testing and co-payments would not address scheme sustainability, and outlined an array of smarter options.

The Review reminded us that the purpose of the NDIS is to support both the independence and the socio-economic participation of people with disability: “Through means testing or co-payment arrangements the NDIS would instead be disincentivising economic participation for NDIS participants” (NDIS Review supporting analysis, p 1158).

The Review also made the practical point that NDIS spending is already well targeted towards low-income individuals and households. Almost 78 per cent of participants over 16 are on some form of government support payment, including over 70 per cent on the Disability Support Pension. Because most participants already qualify for means-tested social security payments, the review said means testing or co-payments were unlikely to significantly reduce scheme costs.

The Review also pointed out that means testing would increase the administrative burden of running the scheme, increase bureaucratic red tape and make the participant experience worse.

Means testing is a poor answer to the sustainability challenge. It would undermine the purpose of the NDIS, discourage employment, encourage welfare dependency, whilst delivering little in savings.

It is an idea that would punish people with disability for doing exactly what the scheme is meant to support.

We need to remember why Australia created the NDIS in the first place. Disability can happen to anyone, at any time. When it does, Australians want insurance that provides security, dignity and support. That is the promise of the NDIS. Means testing would break it.