E&OE

BILL SHORTEN, MINISTER FOR THE NDIS AND GOVERNMENT SERVICES: Good afternoon, everybody. Today I am pleased and excited to announce that the Albanese Government is appointing Mr. Kurt Fearnley as the new Chair of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Board.

Along with Kurt Fearnley, I'm really pleased that we're announcing Mr. Graeme Innes, Ms Maryanne Diamond, and Dr Denis Napthine as Board Members of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Also, I'm very pleased to announce that after an open recruitment process, Ms. Rebecca Falkingham PSM has been selected as the new CEO of the National Disability Insurance Agency.

Kurt Fearnley needs little introduction to Australians. They've watched him on their televisions as a marvellous Paralympian but he’s also a disability advocate of the highest capability.

I first met Kurt at the Beijing Paralympics when he was competing in the T54 marathon event. But I have to say that I got to meet him again in 2009 when he was due to attend an event when I was a Junior Minister out in Canberra. Unfortunately, Jetstar wouldn't let him take his own wheelchair on the plane.

Kurt was a formidable advocate on that day, and he stands up for Australians for many occasions. His contributions in the disability sector, the sporting sector with many positions and accomplishments and his general leadership and advocacy in our community, makes him an exceptionally qualified new Chair of the National Disability Insurance Agency.

I might add that this is the first time that a person with disability has actually been appointed for Chair of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

I'm also pleased to announce that with Graeme Innes, who was a former Human Rights Commissioner, Chancellor of CQU, and Ms. Maryanne Diamond, who amongst her many accomplishments, has been the President of the World Blind Union, we now have five of the directors and Chair who are people with disability, which is the highest number that the Scheme has ever had.

I'm also pleased that Denis Napthine, after I asked him to step down as Chair, so I could then put in Kurt Fearnley, I did feel that Denis Napthine still had much to contribute. I'm pleased that he's accepted my invitation to come back on the board as a director.

I'd also acknowledge in all of this, that work of the Acting Chair Jim Minto. It's been excellent work and we have been very busy in the time since getting elected, and therefore I acknowledge his work and that of the Acting CEO, Dr Lisa Studdert. I’m grateful for the both of them.

Also as a result of a recruitment process and a selection process run by the Board with the assistance of the Australian Public Service Commission and Department of Social Services, I'm pleased to say that Ms Rebecca Falkingham was the standout candidate in the process.

She is currently the Secretary of the Department of Justice in Victoria. The new positions will take effect from around about the 17th of October.

This is an opportunity for the National Disability Insurance Scheme to have reinvigorated leadership following the change of government in May. This process to get such qualified and competent leadership coming into the Scheme is very exciting and I think that we will see the results in terms of better rebuilding of trust between people on the Scheme and the Scheme itself.

But Australian taxpayers will also be confident that the Scheme will be returning to its original objectives of providing greater choice of control and value for money for the Scheme’s commitments.

I might just now briefly ask Kurt to say some words, and then we're happy to take questions. Over to you Kurt.

KURT FEARNLEY AO: I'm really excited to take on this role. I think that it's important that the participants get to see themselves in this organisation and trust with the organisation itself, so it's a visceral thing.

You know, the Scheme cannot be a success with trust, and that is built over a period of time. It's been eight years since I was an Independent Advisor throughout the rollout and being a part of the conversation of lobbying to get the NDIS, the hope within the community of what it would mean to people with disabilities is still there. It's felt.

That's one thing that I do know about the community of people with disabilities, they are filled with hope. The scheme itself… I can't wait to get to know the people within the organisation, to get to know those that are building the NDIA.

It's an honour that the Minister would see me fit to take on this role, and I can't wait to join the Board with two other voices behind me of people with disabilities, who have another fresh take on what this organisation can be.

I started in governance roles in 2006. I got a phone call from the Dean of my university who took a risk on a young teacher, just leaving university to introducing me to the privilege and also the responsibility when you enter into these roles.

It's been 16 years of working in various capacities of director roles, advisory committees, that the single greatest role that I have ever even considered is the one that is right here today. To potentially see people with disabilities look at the Scheme and see themselves as Chair, as a chunk of the Board, I think that's an exciting time.

I look forward to working with the executive, with Rebecca, and the Board already and with the Minister to make sure that the NDIA continues to be what we lobbied for all along. A purveyor of disability rights, which are human rights, and also to have that conversation that it is more than a single line item about how much good that this can do for the country. And it's not, it's not a matter of if this isn't a success, we need the NDIA to be a success for the country to be what we believe it is.

I'm excited and this is not even day one. This is the first 20 days until it starts. But I can't wait for day one and like I said, I just I'm really, really looking forward to getting to know the organisation again. It's so different than when I left it. But the hope, I think that I had while we were lobbying for it, the hope that I had as an Independent Advisor is still there. It hasn't changed. The country needs an NDIS that is trusted, that is deficient. That is effective. And I hope that I can play a part in that.

SHORTEN: Are there any questions for Kurt, myself or any of the other members?

JOURNALIST: Do you mind if I ask, are you an NDIS participant yourself? And if so, what's your experience with the Scheme?

FEARNLEY: It’s a complicated answer. I am not a participant myself. I remember having conversations with the late Stella Young and we went back and forth about the life that I live is a great one, and the need for services that the NDIS provided, I wanted to be able to advocate for it from the other side of the Scheme. I actually regret that choice now. And I wish that I was a member of the Scheme.

I do have family within the Scheme that I won't elaborate on too much because that's their story. But as of today, no I'm not a member of the Scheme. But that's the thing about disability, there are so many so many stories around disability that will not be members of the Scheme, will not be participants of the Scheme.

We aren't a cover for all disabilities. Disability is complex and disability is varied. And disability has many, many stories to tell. I have worked in the organisation on the Independent Advisory Council and I have worked on the governing board of a service provider for the last two years as well.

JOURNALIST: Kurt, you use the phrase trust, and I think the Minister used it as well. There was a sense that under the previous government, the disability community had lost trust and faith in the NDIA. In your new position, how do you go about rebuilding that trust? And do you think that that trust broke under the previous administration?

FEARNLEY: I won’t make comments on the previous administration. I will make comment that trust is critical for the Scheme to succeed. Trust allows people to take risks, and risks is where there is opportunity.

But also, the relationship between a participant in the Scheme is something that is so important. It is allowing them to be them. I'll do everything within my power to engage with the people who I have fought alongside, who I have engaged with over the last decade when it came to the advocacy of the Scheme.

As you can see behind me, we're also bringing voice, not just my voice of people with disabilities, we're also bringing Maryanne and Graeme’s who bring another depth of wealth, of experience to the organisation on the Board level. Whether it be their advocacy role or Maryanne, her experience of working inside the NDIA itself.

Look, over the last couple of years, I've always missed, I always wanted to hear one thing, and that is hearing people from this position, talk to people with disabilities and say you're worth it. That everything, that this, all the bumps and bruises and all the fights and all the hard yards that they are doing as advocates for themselves and their families, but also this, this organisation can be what we believe it to be.

For now, I just need to take a breath, get to know the organisation and to, I guess, with the guys behind me and also Rebecca, to sit down and really understand where we're at and bring with us our hopes of where it can go to.

JOURNALIST: Minister Shorten, Mitry Lawyers is proposing a class action against the Commonwealth challenging the exclusion of applicants aged 65 and over from the NDIS. Could I please ask you to respond to the suggestion that the age bar is discriminatory? And for Mr. Innes, do you think more needs to be done to lift the quality of disability supports for seniors to this NDIS standard?

SHORTEN: We haven't seen the details of post class action so I can't comment specifically on that. But in terms of the issue that we have the NDIS for people up to 65 and then a different scheme, aged care for those over 65. There are people in the community who say that the quality of disability care after the age of 65 is inferior to the quality of disability care before 65. I think they have a point.

The NDIS was originally set up between 2010 and 2013 to fill what was the gap at that time. As we were campaigning to create the NDIS from 2007 onwards, we saw there were aspects of aged care back then, which was superior to the disability care, which is fragmented in all the states.

Problem is of course, there's been nine years of coalition government since then and almost despite the challenges of the NDIS, the tables have turned a bit and aged care has sort of in parts of its operations fallen in a rut. The NDIS, despite all of the challenges, it is still a scheme which looks better for people in aged care than what they have.

The Act was very clear when we put it in, that it was designed for up to 65. I think there is a challenge for disability care for people over 65, whether or not the solution is within the NDIS, which would be very expensive, or an improvement in the quality of disability care in aged care will be a matter for the Whole of the Government to through.

DR GRAEME INNES AM: Well, I haven't had too much to do with the design. So in legal terms, I don't think there is discrimination because the law specifically provided for that in the NDIA Act and the various discrimination acts. But the Minister has commented on what the situation is for people as of now. And there’s various causes of that, and I will be pleased to have conversations with my colleagues on the Board and for the Government to address it.

JOURNALIST: So you agree that the quality of disability support for in aged care and has fallen behind the NDIS in some respects?

INNES: There are aspects of aged care which have, but I need to get much more across both areas again. And it’s eight years since I’ve worked in the discrimination field and specifically on the Scheme and aged care.

SHORTEN: Are there any other questions?

JOURNALIST: Yes Minister, Em Rusciano recently gave a passionate speech, at the National Press Club about her ADHD diagnosis and her struggle to access treatment. She wants ADHD to be on the list of primary conditions supported by the NDIS. Are going to look at potentially expanding the list of conditions that are on that list?

SHORTEN: Yeah I saw Em’s contribution and it was powerful. I’ve asked the Agency to give me more advice about diagnosis of ADHD in terms of eligibility for the NDIS. There are tens of thousands of people who are on the Scheme who are diagnosed with autism as their primary condition. Neurodivergence is an area where the eligibility requirements are not always clear and they depend on individual circumstances.

JOURNALIST: Minister Shorten, onto Paul's question. You mentioned that it would be very expensive to include over 65s on the NDIS. Have you been briefed or have an idea of what the exact cost would be?

SHORTEN: No. That’s just me using my common sense.

JOURNALIST: And on a separate note, you previously described Denis Napthine’s appointment as Chair of the NDIS a disgrace but now he's being appointed to the Board. I was just wondering for a bit more information about your change of heart?

SHORTEN: I think the previous government rushed the appointment of the Chair. He came on four days before the writs were issued. I think when you've got senior positions in the dying days of the previous government, it would have been far more prudential of the previous government not to have put him in that invidious position. But also to have seen if it was possible to have found a way of waiting until the election, which was only a month later. Having said that, I also believe the Scheme requires bipartisan support. I think we've got an outstanding Chair of the Scheme now. I think you can tell even for you, who are seasoned members of the very tough Canberra press gallery, that you don't always get to hear someone like Kurt speak, here, and he is impressive.

So I don't think I think there'll be a single Australian who thinks it's a bad appointment. Having said that, I'm also keen to make sure that people who've got experience in government. For Denis, in his own case, he and his wife raised a son with disabilities and he was the Liberal Premier who helped negotiate the transfer of the NDIS agreement in 2013. The way I want to see the NDIS run is to be a broad church where people feel included, not excluded. So I think I'm grateful that he accepted my invitation to be a director.

JOURNALIST: Just on the Robodebt inquiry, do you know when the list of witnesses will be released? And do you anticipate that Scott Morrison, Alan Tudge and Christian Porter will be on that list and called up?

SHORTEN: The first hearing of the Robodebt Royal Commission is tomorrow in Brisbane. I imagine Royal Commissioner, Justice Catherine Holmes will make statements and outline and counsel assisting will outline some of the approach.

In terms of whether or not former Coalition ministers should give evidence, that'll be a matter for the Royal Commission to determine. But let's never forget, this scheme went for four and a half years. It cost $1.9 billion in unlawfully raised debts. It was the government of Australia attacking its own citizens, nearly 400,000 of them unlawfully.

It really strains credulity to think that no Coalition minister noticed the alarm sirens going for four and a half years. So we'll see what happens shortly.

JOURNALIST: I just wanted to ask what are you hoping that the Parliamentary Inquiry into the NDIA’s Capability and Culture will achieve?

SHORTEN: There's a joint parliamentary committee, a Joint Standing Committee, it's a permanent committee of Parliament. It's chaired by my colleague, the Member for Corangamite. It has 12 members of Parliament and they look at how the NDIS is going.

I look forward to the new leadership with the NDIS talking with the joint parliamentary committee. They've already said that's what they want to do pretty early on, in terms of their parliamentary inquiry into the culture of the NDIA. I think they do want to see what's working and what isn't working.

I think any organisation that doesn't take those temperature checks and those moments to self-reflect on what they're doing right and what they're doing wrong. I think this as an asset for the Agency to have this inquiry.

JOURNALIST: Minister there was a proposal for Senator Jordon Steele John, as I understand it to chair, that committee. You've just spoken how important here today about how important it is, for people with lived experience to hold these positions. Why didn't you support him being the chair?

SHORTEN: You're a very experienced journalist and you understand that the Greens had the chance. They don't have the numbers in the Parliament. But they had the opportunity to pick a committee which they could chair, they chose another Green senator for another committee. So perhaps you should ask them why they didn't choose this one for this purpose, rather than choosing another Green senator to chair another committee?

JOURNALIST: Doesn't really answer the question, though.

SHORTEN: I think the question is, as you understand, the Greens have four members in the House of Reps. Labor has 77. The Coalition has I think, a number in the 50s. As much as Jordan would say that he should chair this committee… get more people elected, get more senators elected, get more house of reps members, and then they’d have bigger representation.

JOURNALIST: Why are those numbers issues more important than a person's lived experience in that position?

SHORTEN: You know parliamentary convention. And I think it's a good issue that you raised that, overall political parties generally need to do more to encourage more people with disability into positions of leadership. So you know, sure, that's a good point. But I think what I'm demonstrating here today and the patch that I can influence, I'm doing exactly what the questions seeking to talk about.

JOURNALIST: Just in terms of the process of selecting Mr Fearnley, he’s obviously a champion athlete and is a very high profile advocate. But the NDIS is a scheme that’s going to cost $30 billion this year and it's only going to go up. It’s a huge job. What specific qualifications do you think he has to be able to be the Chair of the agency looks over the enormous system?

SHORTEN: The Scheme in this financial year is probably going to cost, the one just past, $28.6 billion. Listen I've had the opportunity to know Kurt Fearnley for a very long time. So he, to be honest, that that he's an athlete, an elite athlete who happens to be disabled, was the least relevant of his qualifications, although that certainly does mean that many Australians know who he is.

And therefore that means that it gets him to rethink about disability differently. So I think that is a really crucial skill he brings. Well, I think he brings is his intellect. He's got a senior role, for example, which he’s held at Charles Sturt University. I think he brings his proven leadership capacity. I mean Kurt’s on just about every board going previously in the last 10 years. I also think that when you're the Chair of the board, you don't have to be the world's best accountant, the world's best auditor, the world's best everything. But I think there are very few boards in Australia and public life, corporate life, or even sporting organisations who could have one chairperson who actually bring so many skills assembled with one remarkable personality.

JOURNALIST: The Treasurer has named the NDIS as one of the biggest burdens on the budget, have you been asked to find any savings?

SHORTEN: I don't think the Treasurer's used the word burden. What he’s said is that there's five areas of costs where costs are increasing faster than standard costs across government. Defence, aged care, of course, we've got to pay the interest bill on what our predecessors left in terms of that loss, health care and NDIS.

With NDIS, I think we've got to change the way we view it to begin with.

See the language you used, burden. I don't share that view.

It's not that getting value for money isn't important. But I think that when you invest in people with disability, that's not a burden. That's not a line item. What I do think we need to do is look at and take an investment approach, that when we provide little children with the opportunity to get early childhood intervention, so their schooling experience can be more productive, when we give people support in adult life so they can go to work and participate. That's excellent.

Now do I think, though, that there's some money being wasted in the Scheme? Absolutely. Do I think that there are some fraudsters in the Scheme of siphoning off money between the taxpayer and people with disability? Absolutely. Do I think that we can improve agency processes and decision-making? Absolutely.

I am I sick to my back teeth of double pricing, where you say that you can go to a service provider, you say you have an NDIS package, the cost is up here, you don't have that, say you don't have an NDIS package, the cost is down here.

So there are plenty of improvements we can make. But we start from the view under a Labor government that the NDIS is, it's an investment in people.

We want to make sure that we get value for money but I actually think that we can improve the long-term growth trajectory of the Scheme by focusing on people with disability, the outcomes, looking for quality of investment. I think that we can do that also by going through those other matters to help reduce pressure.

I'll take one last question.

JOURNALIST: Just in regards to the cost. Are you still of the view that you do not need to add additional funding to the Scheme. that by making the savings you've promised in regards to cutting on legal fees that additional funding is not needed?

And you know, just in the argument you're making about the money puts back into the economy, why not then consider a levy to offer the scheme further security?

SHORTEN: First of all, there's enough money in the Commonwealth to pay for the scheme. Secondly, we already have a levy, which helps contribute to some of the cost of the scheme.

JOURNALIST: But why not increase it, as some called for?

SHORTEN: We said we're not going to increase taxes and charges on Australians so that would be a breach of that election promise. I'm more than confident that an operation the size of the Commonwealth of Australia, that we are smart enough and generous enough to be able to properly fund the Scheme to make sure that the money's getting to where it should, and the best way we do that is rebuild trust in the Scheme. We get the best quality leadership drawn from all sectors of Australian life and we are focused on the outcomes of people and that in the long term will make the NDIS marvellous world leading Australian institution. Thanks, everybody.