One of the architects of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has candidly revealed how a key rule change triggered an explosion in autism claims, and why loopholes left the system exposed for years.
Rule Change Led to Autism Claim Surge
Former Labor leader Bill Shorten told Karl Stefanovic on his YouTube podcast that an internal decision made while the Coalition was in power dramatically changed who could access the scheme.
'In about 2017, some bright spark said, "listen, we're taking a long time diagnosing or getting these people into the scheme",' Shorten recalled. 'Let's just say, if you have Autism 2, you get into the scheme.'
'This will not surprise you Karl, but once that decision was made, Autism 1 practically ceased to exist in Australia, but Autism 2 blew out.'
'We can't just have diagnoses, you've got to look at people's needs.'
Research published earlier this year indicated the NDIS directly caused a 32 per cent increase in overall autism prevalence.
Loophole Allowed Automatic Payments After Hours
Shorten also revealed another major flaw, claiming that for a period, claims lodged between 5pm and 6pm were automatically transferred straight to bank accounts because staff responsible for processing them had gone home.
'We shut down that loophole,' he said.
The former Opposition Leader said the scheme's original purpose had been undermined by weak safeguards and poor oversight, allowing fraud and misuse to spread.
Crackdown on Fraud and Reforms
When Labor returned to power in 2022, Shorten said he established the Fraud Fusion Taskforce to crack down on rorting across the system.
He also introduced reforms aimed at slowing the growth of the scheme, with annual growth falling from 22 per cent to 10 per cent during his tenure as minister.
Shorten played a major role in creating the NDIS under the Julia Gillard government in 2013 and later served as minister in the Anthony Albanese government between 2022 and 2025 before leaving politics.
Major Overhaul Underway
The NDIS is now preparing for its biggest overhaul yet after federal minister Mark Butler announced 160,000 participants will be removed from the scheme, saving taxpayers $15 billion by 2030.
The sweeping reforms include tighter eligibility rules, lower spending growth, reduced third-party management costs and stricter provider standards, with new laws due to be introduced to Parliament this month.
Shorten Defends Scheme's Value
Despite its problems, Shorten insisted the scheme remained worth saving.
'The NDIS is helping a lot more people than it's causing harm,' he said. 'It's changing lives and it's a world leading scheme. But it's true that the money needs to get through to the people it was designed for and not be siphoned off.'
He also said states and territories needed to do more to provide disability services outside the scheme.
'The NDIS was never meant to be the whole story of disability, it was just a chapter,' he said.
