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NDIS Minister Bill Shorten will step down from his position on Monday, nine days ahead of schedule.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced Amanda Rishworth will take over as NDIS Minister.
Minister Rishworth is the member for Kingston in South Australia. She has been the Minister for the Department of Social Services (DSS) since 2022. She will continue in that role in addition to the NDIS Ministry.
Minister Anne Aly will serve as Assistant NDIS Minister. Minister Aly is the Member for Cowan in Western Australia. She has been the Minister for Early Childhood and will continue in that role.
DSS has been leading many of the current NDIS policy changes. Therefore, the change in leadership might not single a new direction for the NDIS.
The Ministers for DSS and Early Childhood will both be instrumental in developing and implementing foundational supports for people with disability outside the NDIS. So, these Ministers also being responsible for the NDIS might signal the government’s desire to prioritise building a disability support ecosystem. Or it might not. If I could read the Prime Minister’s mind, I’d be a lot richer.
Minister Shorten’s profile of Government Services, which includes Centrelink, will be picked up by Finance Minister and Minister for Public Services Katy Gallagher.
There’s going to be a lot of commentary about Bill Shorten’s legacy over coming days. But we’re going to leave that in the capable hands of pundits and the forces of social media.
