A new report on the expansion found that the All-Australia Disability Insurance Program (NDIS) has failed many of the most vulnerable in Australia, and as many as one-fifth said they felt the project made their lives more bitter.
Researchers at Flinders University (Flinders University) found that about half of NDIS participants received fewer support services or had no improvement in new projects, the Australian newspaper reported.
The longest and most comprehensive study in the first four years of NDIS's implementation also found that the full roll-out of the project was unlikely to be completed on time because it was grappling with the huge workload.
Now, Financial Secretary Morrison (Scott Morrison) is preparing to disclose details of NDIS's money in next week's federal budget, after government last week lifted the proposed Medicare tax increase to raise funds for the project.
The report said the NDIS worked "very well" at the top, but also said it had left a "large minority" behind, with about 1/3 of participants feeling the level of support they received had not changed.
It also found that a small group of people, 10% to 20%, felt worse under the project.
This includes many aborigines.
"these ratios appear over and over again in the assessment results," the report said. "for most of the new policies, it would be enough to cause concern if it led to an apparent minority feeling that their situation was deteriorating."
The report also found that four years after the launch of the NDIS, there are many practical problems that have not been resolved.
"in hindsight, the implementation of NDIS was so fast that more thought was needed about the practical aspects of introducing NDIS." The report says. "some practical problems seem to have been resolved over the course of the four-year review, but some have remained essentially the same and some seem to be getting worse and worse."
The report also highlights the enormous pressure faced by project staff and the fact that many experienced disabled workers leave the industry.
The staff of the National Disability Insurance Agency, (NDIA), reported that "there is growing concern about workload and stress," and that "the turnover rate within the agency is considerable."
"work stress is associated with high resignation rates and, in some cases, adverse health effects on employees," the report said.
It also highlighted issues related to the "ability to pay staff a reasonable salary within the NDIS pricing level".
According to the coalition government, once the project is fully launched in 2020, the number of employees to which the NIA can hire is 3000, which is much lower than the 10,000 people estimated by the Productivity Commission.