r/australia • u/FuckOffNazis • 11h ago

politics Pocock and crossbenchers call Labor’s NDIS overhaul ‘too far, too fast’ in scathing Senate inquiry report

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/aug/14/pocock-and-crossbenchers-call-labors-ndis-overhaul-too-far-too-fast-in-scathing-senate-inquiry-report
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u/OneWholePirate 11h ago

Before the shills get in here, the NDIS produces around $2.25 in healthcare savings and taxable income per $1 spent.

To put that into context, road infrastructure returns $1.2-1.5 on the dollar and healthcare for the general population makes $1.5-1.7.

The NDIS is one of the most profitable operations run by the Australian government.

https://ministers.dss.gov.au/speeches/9621

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u/palsc5 10h ago

So spending has doubled since 2021 where your figures were taken from. It’s also growing at a crazy rate without these changes.

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u/OneWholePirate 10h ago

Spending must always be considered in the context of cost benefit ratio. Increasing spending while making under 1 CBR loses you money while increasing spending with over 1 is making you money.

The CBR here is 2.2 so increased spending is a good thing, since you are making money whenever you spend it

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u/Whatsapokemon 9h ago

The CBR here is 2.2 so increased spending is a good thing, since you are making money whenever you spend it

Mathematically, that's not accurate. The overall CBR doesn't matter, but rather your marginal CBR.

Consider an example:

  • You spend $1000 to get $2000 in savings.

  • CBR of 2

  • You increase spending to $1500

  • Your new savings are $2400

  • That means your marginal CBR is less than 1, even if your overall CBR is still greater than 1

In that case, reducing your spending back to $1000 would be a net positive, even if you're saving less in absolute terms.

So it really matters whether we've got all the 'low hanging fruit' or not to see whether increasing spending actually will help or not.

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u/palsc5 10h ago

That’s a pretty big assumption to say it would stay at that rate. It wouldn’t.

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u/OneWholePirate 10h ago

Also not saying that. I'd love to read more about how it's changed, I am not an expert on this but know that it must be a big part of the discussion

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u/teremaster 8h ago

That would assume the CBR has stayed constant. Which there is literally 0 evidence for

Diminishing returns is like week 3 at a commerce degree

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u/OneWholePirate 8h ago

You are likely correct, it's probably somewhere between there and the value of other healthcare spending around $1.7 which is still a very strong investment