The National Disability Insurance Scheme is on track to be one of the federal budget’s biggest expenses, with projections showing it will cost more than $50 billion by 2025/26 — overtaking the annual cost of Medicare. 

National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and Government Services minister Bill Shorten will address the National Press Club on Tuesday to outline his plan to secure the future of the landmark disability scheme. 

He will say it “gouges on prices” while simultaneously making it difficult for participants to get care they truly need, as it “throws up Kafkaesque barriers to access”.

“As a consequence, people with disability often feel they are caught between some predatory providers on one hand and an impersonal government agency on the other.