Under strain, Australia's world-leading disability support faces major restructure

"Disability can affect any of us, from when you're born to a child's development, through the blink of an eye on a country road, through your genetic lottery as you age," Bill Shorten, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Canberra told the BBC. Shorten was instrumental in setting up the NDIS as then Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities."What really makes disability hard is a lack of money and a lack of power," he explained, adding that the NDIS has enjoyed support from across the political spectrum.GettyBill Shorten played a key role in setting up the NDISWhen the NDIS started, it was estimated it would cost about $22bn a year, with about 475,000 participants. But this financial year it has ballooned to $54bn and the scheme now supports more than 700,000 people. Those figures are expected to keep growing, which is why the government is proposing a massive reset."It has grown too big too fast," says Hannah Orban, Senior Associate at the Grattan Institute and co-author of a report Saving the NDIS. According to her research, each of the participants receives an average of approximately A$65,000 ($44,800) of funding per year. Some, such as those with complex needs, receive considerably more; others receive far less."It costs a lot of money to run it and the government really does need to introduce good reforms to make it more sustainable so that it is here for generations to come," Orban says.Before the NDIS, disability services differed across states. There was criticism that they were underfunded and inefficient. The NDIS brought in a game-changing new system but in doing so, all the other services that previously provided support fell away."Once we created the NDIS, there was a retreat from other disability services, so hospitals, schools - you name it - everything became an NDIS matter," says Shorten.