NDIS trial result mixed, feds hear

NATIONAL Disability Insurance Scheme trial site results have been “mixed”, admits Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews.
Mr Andrews told federal parliament the Abbott Government would learn from the results of the first two quarters.
Geelong’s trial site had its first anniversary this week, following complaints in the Independent last month about the scheme removing support services from clients with disabilities.
“We do not underestimate the difficulties involved in the rollout of this scheme. That is why the trial sites are so important to provide the learnings for us over the next few years as to how this can best work,” Mr Andrews told parliament.
“Already there are some results in from the first couple of quarters from various trial sites around the country. Some of those results have been mixed.
“What we have to learn from that is whether or not the results which are not as good as we might have thought are simply a product of the start-up of a new system.”
Mr Andrews said some of the issues could be “ironed out over time” or they could be “longer-term issues that need to be addressed in how the system is put into operation.
“We are in the throes of the implementation of it. It is going to take a number of years.”
Mr Andrews said the government remained committed to the NDIS.