澳大利亚政府正在推进一项引发争议的国家残疾保险计划（NDIS）改革，计划在四年内削减37.8亿澳元支出[1]，并将160,000名参与者移除出该计划[1]。这意味着平均每名参与者的年度资金将减少约5,000澳元[1]。NDIS部长詹妮·麦卡利斯特表示："我们真的很有希望，我甚至可以说有信心能达成协议"，并预计改革将在议会获得批准[1]。
改革计划包括多个实施节点，其中儿童项目定于2025年10月推出[1]，整体改革将在2028年完成[1]。然而，这些举措遭到了包括12个残疾人权益组织的联合反对[1]。反对者要求政府承诺不会在替代支持措施到位前撤销现有支持。昆士兰州也对改革表示抵触，已拒绝签署相关的Thriving Kids项目[1]。尽管存在这些反对意见，政府声称已接近与反对党达成协议[1]。
The Australian government is pressing ahead with contentious reforms to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) that would reduce expenditure by AUD $37.8 billion over four years and remove approximately 160,000 participants from the program [1]. The proposed changes would result in an average annual funding reduction of around AUD $5,000 per participant [1]. NDIS Minister Jenny McAllister expressed confidence in advancing the reforms, stating "We're really hopeful and I'd go as far as saying confident that we can reach an agreement" with the opposition [1]. The government anticipates the reforms will pass through parliament, with implementation timelines including January 1, 2025, and October 2025 for a new children's program, culminating by 2028 [1].
The reforms have faced significant resistance from disability advocacy groups and state governments. Twelve disability rights organizations have jointly opposed the changes [1], while Queensland has refused to sign onto the Thriving Kids program component [1]. Opponents have called on the government to guarantee that support will not be withdrawn before replacement services are in place [1].