The pub test has been part of the Australian vernacular for… well, maybe since the Hope and Anchor opened in Hobart in 1807 and the first bloke to down a schooner regaled the room with his opinion.
And we all know that alcohol can have a loosening effect on people speaking their mind, so since then pubs have probably seen enough opinions to fill 1000 Sydney Harbours.
Today though, we use the “pub test” expression to mean what any reasonable person might think about a particular situation. What the average Australian may think is or isn’t a good idea.
It’s been the question many a politician has asked themselves if trying to gauge the temperature of their electorate on tricky issues.
Perhaps we could even update the term to be called the “hairdresser test”.
Recently there has been a lot of talk about whether the supports and programs funded by the ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Disability Insurance Scheme pass the pub test. I’ll be blunt. Some of them simply do not.
Most people would tell me I was dreaming if I told them that tarot cards, clairvoyance, wilderness therapy, and cuddle therapy are among the things we had to specify were definitely not being funded by the taxpayer. Can you imagine those things being discussed in the front bar?
And look, there are very few people on the scheme currently getting cuddle therapy, but we want to put certain therapies beyond all reasonable doubt.
That is why I have released lists of what NDIS participants can and cannot spend their funding on.
The lists, which came into effect from October 3, update current guidelines and practices and, importantly, provide much needed clarity and certainty to participants and providers.
So, no more guessing. Participants will be able to identify what is appropriately funded by the NDIS, and what NDIS funding can be used to purchase.
But I want to run through a few things the scheme has not and will not pay for.
It will not pay a participant’s rent, rental bond, home deposit or mortgage. It will not pay for donations, tithes, gifts or political contributions. It will not pay for fines, penalties or court ordered amounts. It will not pay for spa baths, saunas, steam rooms.
It will not pay for groceries in the ordinary course of events.
I can’t state it any more clearly that the lists are about putting the rorting and the exploitation of grey areas by some unscrupulous providers behind us.
This scheme is going to be run properly, transparently – and this is the most important part – in the best interests of participants.
I want every cent designed to get positive outcomes for participants to go to the participant. Not find its way into the pocket of a dodgy provider.
I want to stress that very few providers are directing NDIS funds towards iffy supports and services but there are some who think that a scientific or evidentiary basis for therapies is optional.
It’s not.
The lists are part of the amendments introduced under the Getting the NDIS Back on Track Bill No.1, which passed Parliament in August.
These changes are the next key step in returning the NDIS to its original intent and improving the scheme experience for every participant.
The lists were finalised after a significant month-long public consultation, with the Department of Social Services, which undertook the consultation, receiving 6180 survey responses, 919 email responses and 120 submissions from organisations and peak bodies.
Importantly, there will be a transition period for the first year of the new NDIS supports lists to ensure participants aren’t penalised for simple mistakes.
That transition period will not apply to things which are already unlawful to spend your NDIS money on now, including illicit drugs, sex workers and alcohol.
And there is also a substitution list which will allow participants to request a replacement support in cases where a standard household item might be able to provide better outcomes and value.
We know the NDIS is changing lives of participants and their loved ones.
The NDIS helps young people such as Ken in WA who has Down syndrome, to go to work at Coles. Or Karan from Melbourne, blind and partially deaf, who accesses NDIS supports for assistive technology to live and work independently. While Koen from Sydney uses his NDIS supports to play and coach wheelchair basketball.
The scheme also helps some short-statured people get modifications for their car so they can drive and live independently.
I want to acknowledge at this point that many participants are feeling uncertain about these change but the supports being accessed by the vast majority of people will not be impacted by the revised lists which are based on existing guidance.
The Australian people are fiercely protective of the NDIS, as they are of Medicare. But we must be mindful that we are using taxpayer’s money and we must use it as responsibly as possible.
Since the lists were announced, around 95 per cent of comments about the news and correspondence I’ve received are very supportive of the changes.
I hope our quest to make the NDIS fairer and more sustainable has passed the national pub test.
“This scheme is going to be run properly, transparently, in the best interests of participants.”
Originally published in The West Australian Monday 7 October 2024.
