The RACGP says it broadly supports incoming measures to reduce overservicing and ensure the future viability of the NDIS.
GPs have been a “powerless witness” to the lack of patient and family-centred support in the NDIS for too long – it’s now vital to legislate that GP advice must be taken into account for all disability scheme applicants, the RACGP says.
In a submission to the joint standing committee on the National Disability Insurance Scheme, the college called for GPs to be formally recognised as medical specialists under the scheme.
The current settings, it said, under-represented the role of the GP in the care of a person with disability and missed formalised opportunities for GPs to provide clinical input and ensure NDIS funding was properly allocated.
“Specialist GPs have demonstrated through Medicare Benefits Schedule-funded GP Chronic Condition Management Plans that they are adept at utilising allied health resources efficiently and effectively to meet the greatest needs of their patients and respect service workloads,” the college wrote.
“Building collaborative partnerships between the health and disability sectors will enable people with disability to achieve and maintain optimal health and function, and therefore live better, more inclusive lives.
“Embedding a greater role for GPs in the NDIS via legislation will contribute to a more sustainable NDIS, ensuring people with disability get the support they need when they need it.”
Not everyone was on board with the college’s suggestion, however.
The CEO of Humanity Health Group, which represents a number of allied health service providers, said the “short” nature of general practice consults was not conducive to nuanced evaluations.
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“Embedding GPs more deeply into NDIS decision-making misunderstands how disability care actually works,” Humanity Health Group CEO Fred Cicchini said.
“While GPs play a critical role in primary care, the reality is they are not equipped to assess the complex functional impacts of disability.
“Most diagnostic and remediation is done by allied health staff in conjunction with a constellation of stake holders, including well-informed medical specialists.
“These are nuanced, multidisciplinary evaluations that rely on allied health expertise and specialist input, not short consultations in general practice.”
Speaking at the National Press Club last week, health and disability minister Mark Butler foreshadowed wide-ranging cuts to the NDIS.
The government aimed to reduce the scheme from 760,000 participants to 600,000 by the end of the decade by moving toward an assessment based on each individual person’s functionality, rather than their diagnosis.
“The bill I intend to introduce in the budget sittings will allow us to introduce standardised, evidence-based assessments of a person’s functional capacity to determine access to the scheme,” he said.
“In line with the scheme’s original intent, access will be based upon a significant reduction in a person’s functional capacity that impacts their day-to-day living.”
The 2026 federal budget will be handed down on Tuesday 12 May.
