Taskforce

Measures were put in place in March and April 2024 by the Ministry of Disabled People to limit ongoing acceleration of costs by clarifying purchasing guidelines.

In August 2024 the Minister for Disability Issues announced an Independent Review found the delivery of Disability Support Services (DSS) could not continue in its current state, with unsustainable spending and a lack of fairness and transparency around what support disabled people can access.

Cabinet agreed to transfer DSS from the Ministry of Disabled People to the Ministry of Social Development (separate to Work and Income). A DSS Taskforce was set up to action the Independent Review recommendations.

Over the previous 10 years DSS expenditure has not remained within the funding allocated at Budget and has required additional funding.

DSS provides services and supports to approximately 50,000 disabled people and approximately 100,000 people who need equipment modification services.

Funding for these services is higher than ever before. The Government made a significant investment of $1.1 billion more for DSS over five years in Budget 2024, taking the total budget to $2.6b this financial year.

Further measures were put in place in August and these included:

• reinstating indicative budgets for NASCs, and fixed budgets for EGL sites and Equipment and Modification Service (EMS) providers. Those in highest need are being prioritised within those budgets
• reporting and monitoring for NASCs, EGL sites and EMS providers

While a number of steps have been taken to urgently stabilise the disability support system, further work is needed.

The Taskforce is working to implement further recommendations from the Independent Review on the DSS system.

The challenges in stabilising disability support services are significant, particularly given the long-standing nature of some of the problems identified in the Independent Review. 

What’s next?

The next phase of the DSS Taskforce work is policy design to put DSS on a sustainable basis longer-term, better managing cost pressures and improving consistency, fairness and transparency. 

The Taskforce’s aim is to plan for the best disability support services it can.

Policy design will be centred on three recommendations of the Independent Review – reviewing contract and pricing models for residential care; updating the assessment and allocation settings for individuals based on level of need; and establishing criteria for access to flexible funding and reviewing the flexible funding guidelines to improve clarity and consistency. These are Recommendations Two, Five and Six.