Every Australian Counts: The Birth of the Ndis

It is the most audacious and ambitious piece of social architecture since Medicare. With its beginnings in the shadows of the global financial crisis, the scheme succeeded against all odds. How? The NDIS came into being via a multi-pronged campaign that turned politics upside down. Instead of government making promises and persuading the people, the opposite occurred. Under the guiding hand of Bill Shorten and Jenny Macklin, Labor brought together warring disability groups and gave them a platform to tell their stories. The nation listened; Canberra listened. At the same time a team of the nation’s most acute economic minds designed the machinery. Their case persuaded the Productivity Commission, building momentum that became unstoppable. The creation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme is a political miracle, a victory in the most difficult economic times, where all previous efforts had failed. It is a restoration of rights to those Australians who had been denied their fair go. Every Australian Counts tells that story.

Anita Phillips was a public policy researcher, board director, and former member of Queensland Parliament. Michael Epis is a journalist, editor and author, living and working in Melbourne.