The Australian Financial Review last week reported that the Federal Government has flagged abolishing or scaling back the agency established to administer the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
Treasurer Joe Hockey said he did not want another “massive new bureaucracy” set up to administer it and suggested handing the role to Medibank Private as part of its push to streamline government service delivery and cut costs.
Although the government has plans to privatise Medibank Private, Mr Hockey said it would be capable of administering the NDIS, and suggested one option could be to sell off its private insurance arm and keep the entity.
Mr Hockey emphasised it was “just an idea” at the moment but wanted the Commission of Audit to consider the issue as part of its remit to reduce the cost and improve the efficiency of government service delivery.
Assistant Minister for Social Services, Senator Mitch Fifield who has responsibility for the scheme said that the Commission of Audit will look at all areas of government activity to see that taxpayers get maximum value for each of their dollars.
“The Coalition has said it will deliver the announced NDIS spending, but all Commonwealth departments and agencies should be open to advice on best administrative practice to ensure services are delivered efficiently and well,” Senator Fifield said.
“Separate to this, there may be some administrative functions of the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) that the NDIA Board may determine in the future, in the light of launch site experience, could be contracted out through a competitive process.
“Businesses and not-for-profits could tender for such business if it was offered,” he said.
Currently, Medibank runs a number of government contracts, including operating Healthdirect Australia, a national telephone triage, health advice and referral line. It runs an after-hours GP help line and medical checks for foreigners in Australia applying for Australian visas.
It also provides health services for uniformed personnel of the Australian Defence Force, and counselling services and a support line for victims of child sexual abuse as part of the Royal Commission into child sexual abuse.