Bill Shorten, the minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), has defended the agency’s funding despite the revelation that the scheme has spent hundreds of thousands on high-risk sex offenders.
Speaking on April 8, Mr. Shorten argued the government had an obligation to provide disability support for people in need, including “a very tiny group” of people who “have served time in jail.”
“There are some people, when they come out of jail, we have an obligation to provide disability supports for,” he told reporters at Hearing Australia Belconnen.
“I think the vast majority of people on the Scheme are not sex offenders.”
Serious Sex Offenders Receive Hefty NDIS Grants
The comment came after media reports revealed that the NDIS had provided substantial support packages for repeated sexual offenders, rapists, and paedophiles after they were released from detention.In one case, a 40-year-old Victorian man convicted of indecent acts with a child under 16, making and possessing child abuse material and stalking, rape and sexual assault, received $1.4 million to live in accommodation in a regional Victorian town under 24/7 supervision, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.
In another instance, a convicted pedophile was eligible for $500,000 of NDIS funding after being diagnosed with a mild intellectual disability, antisocial personality disorder, and psychopathic traits.
A judge, however, said the 44-year-old Queensland man, had “probably lied to occupational therapists” to get access to the NDIS grant.
Another case featured a 63-year-old man from New South Wales (NSW) who was convicted of incest involving sexual assault and sexual violence during marriage. The man received a support package worth $100,000 from NDIS as he was diagnosed with below-average intelligence, major depressive disorder, sexual sadism disorder, and severe psychopathic personality.
This is not the first time serial sexual abusers were reported to be receiving NDIS funding. In 2021, it was revealed that the NDIS had granted funding to Stephen Neil White, who committed one of the worst sex crimes in the state’s history.
He was later sentenced to 17 years in prison but was considered eligible for over $20,000 in NDIS funding for intensive daily support after being diagnosed with a psychotic disorder.
Minister Says States Responsible for Criminals, Not NDIS
But Mr. Shorten on April 8 downplayed the scale of taxpayer funding allocated to convicted criminals, saying the implication that paedophiles are getting NDIS funding was “a bit over the top.”“I think it’s a little easy just to go to very extreme examples and try and discredit the whole Scheme,” he said.
The minister noted that the states were responsible for the justice system and for when people are released into the community. In contrast, the NDIS is to be provided to people “who have got severe and profound disabilities and need assistance with living.”
“A very tiny group of those people might include people who have served time in jail,” he said.
“I’m not going to sensationalise the issue. 646,000 people receive supports in the NDIS. I will always stand up for the NDIS and for the people on the Scheme who are eligible on the Scheme to receive support.”
“What happens when someone is convicted of crimes, they do the time.”
“We don’t run the prison system. We don’t run the police system in each state.”
In February, the Albanese government invested $83.9 million to the NDIS in an effort to boost fraud-detecting system, promising it would “make sure every dollar is going to participants who need it.”
