New fund 'necessary' for future of NDIS

The federal government has suggested the national disability insurance scheme will be put at risk if a bill to establish a special savings fund is not passed.

The failure to pass laws creating a special savings account will put at risk the future of the national disability insurance scheme, the government has warned parliament.

Social Services Minister Christian Porter on Thursday said the fund would allow the Commonwealth to accumulate clearly-identified savings, and protect that money to exclusively pay for the future of the NDIS.

"A failure to support the bill is a failure to support a process that is absolutely necessary for the NDIS," he told MPs.

"It is absolutely necessary to give certainty and peace of mind to what will eventually be the 460,000 estimated participants in the NDIS."

Every Australian citizen also needed to be assured that the shortfall, which arises in 2019/20, will not be funded by further taxes or borrowings, he said.

Mr Porter blames Labor's "financial failure" for the need for the account, criticising the claim they had fully-funded the scheme.

The opposition roundly rejects that suggestion and believes the special fund is only being established for political purposes.

More than $900 million has already been set aside for the account and about $3 billion more has been promised from welfare savings.

The government used its numbers in the lower house to pass the bill, which will next head to the Senate.


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Source: AAP



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