NDIS overhaul is the biggest government cut this century. It had better work

April 22, 2026 — 7:41pm

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Labor is making the biggest cut to a single government program this century.

Health Minister Mark Butler will slash projected spending on the NDIS by $35 billion over the four-year forward estimates, and up to $150 billion over the coming decade.

These are big numbers – bigger than most people expected – and they require bold reforms. Behind those numbers are thousands of disabled Australians whose lives will be changed.

The government is promising this is for the better, both because it improves the budget bottom line and cements an essential piece of Australia’s social infrastructure into the future.

But after years campaigning against Coalition cuts to social services, Labor’s plans dwarf in dollar terms even former treasurer Joe Hockey’s infamous efforts to slow health and education spending. (They would have cut $50 billion and $30 billion in the long term.)

Time may be running out to ‘save the NDIS’. How did it spiral into a $50b problem?

The line, as always, is that these programs still grow. But Butler didn’t say that with too much gusto as he unveiled his plans for a total NDIS reset at the National Press Club on........

© Brisbane Times