WA NDIS “secret deal”

The Commonwealth and West Australian governments have finally signed a bilateral agreement for the state to run the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

West Australians with a disability will be able to access the NDIS from July this year.

The other states already have the NDIS under a centralised system, but the WA government wanted to run it locally and the federal government imposed 11 conditions it said would ensure the consistency and integrity of the scheme.

Labor’s spokeswoman for families and social services Jenny Macklin said it was a secret, last-minute deal created without consulting people with disability and their carers.

Macklin said the Barnett government had to explain how people in WA weren’t disadvantaged by being excluded from the national scheme, the cost of having a state model, and why results from two NDIS trials weren’t released.

The Greens are also calling for the state government to disclose details of the deal, with disability spokeswoman Rachel Siewert saying it was rushed through on the day WA goes into caretaker mode before the election.

“We have a national scheme … so WA having it’s own version will undermine that process,” she said.

“I would urge Labor to commit to reviewing the bilateral agreement and look at not upholding this deal.”