\u201c(The NDIS) is out of control and the system will not last long unless we start reining it in,\u201d she told SkyNews.com.au earlier this month.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got people on it who are quite well-to-do … someone\u2019s got to pull it back in.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
She criticised the comparison made between the NDIS and Australia’s free health system – which has been used to argue against means testing.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe NDIS is totally different … if you means test the aged care pension, why not this?\u201d she argued.<\/p>\n
![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/62b40e71d0577e6c9a654a5ae8d77677.jpeg\")
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When explaining why Labor was opposed to means testing the NDIS, Mr Albanese argued for the program being universal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe support the universality of the system,\u201d the Prime Minister told The Australian Financial Review<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cEligibility should be about people\u2019s disability and enabling them to fully participate in society.\u201d<\/p>\n Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Monday said cuts to the scheme will be \u201ceasily the most important part of the savings package that we will present on budget night\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe NDIS is growing too fast for Australians to afford,\u201d Mr Chalmers told reporters.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about $49 billion this year. By the end of the forward estimates \u2013 not that far away \u2013 it\u2019s about $62 billion.\u201d<\/p>\n Labor has attempted to rein in costs by launching a separate scheme called Thriving Kids with state governments to limit the number of children on the NDIS.<\/p>\n Children with autism or who experience developmental delays make up about 44 per cent of the scheme\u2019s participants.<\/p>\n The Thriving Kids program dedicates $4b over five years to support children aged eight and under with developmental delays or who have autism but have low-to-moderate support needs.<\/p>\n This program will take them off the NDIS and is a return to community-based services that were more common before the scheme.<\/p>\n Labor was urged to means-test the NDIS by the OECD in its 2026 Australian economic survey.<\/p>\n It called for the government to cap spending growth at 5 per cent annually, while urging Labor to reconsider means testing.<\/p>\n \u201cUnlike cash benefits, where Australia has a good record of cost control and efficiency, the NDIS and other in-kind benefit programs are not means-tested,\u201d the\u00a0OECD said in its January report<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cConsideration could be given to revisiting that approach, given the scale of cost pressures in the NDIS and the potential for the cost of other in-kind benefit programs to balloon.\u201d<\/p>\n