25 March 2025
Advocacy for Inclusion has released its initial reaction to the Federal Budget delivered earlier this evening by the Federal Treasurer.
Some highlights for Canberrans with disability
- There is money for the NDIS focused on fraud and compliance as well as money for appeals which is welcome
- There are welcome investments in bulk billing and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and some health infrastructure, like the Woden Care Clinic, which will benefit Canberrans on low incomes with disability
- There is a welcome injection of money to redesign the Information, Linkages and Capacity Building program though we are unclear about how this redesign will occur and build the new system of Foundational Supports
- There are welcome investments for people in some crisis situations including homelessness and violence
Disappointments
- There are minimal investments outside the NDIS and a small amount of accessibility funding to support objectives for the Australian Disability Strategy, broader reforms and demand pressures including money for disability advocacy, disability employment, responses to the Disability Royal Commission, housing for people with disability.
- Outside of fraud, there is no money to address other improvement areas identified by the NDIS Review or by the Disability Community in its submissions to the review including the quality of customer service.
- We also flag some emerging issues like responses to climate and emergencies and work to combat growing disinformation on disability employment coming out of online spaces which warranted investment.
- There is no increase to income support including JobSeeker and Disability Support Pension despite repeated evidence-based calls from advocates
Quotes from AFI Head of Policy Craig Wallace “while people with disability will benefit from measures in the budget, including relief for people with health costs or experiencing homelessness, there is a lack of intentional investment to deliver the recommendations of the Royal Commission or the objectives of various disability strategies at an ACT or national level. We would have liked to see the Australian government stepping up more on disability health, housing, inclusive education and in employment.
“As others have said, this is another lost opportunity to tackle the huge barrier to justice and fairness presented by income support rates that leave people mired in poverty.
“We are particularly keen to see more detail on how the new system of Foundational Supports will emerge out of the Information, Linkages and Capacity Building program which is widely seen as being unfit for purpose”, Mr. Wallace said.
We will be releasing a full response tomorrow in the lead up to our post Budget Day After Briefing for the ACT Disability Sector at 5pm. Join here
Media contact: Craig Wallace, Head of Policy on 0477 200 755