IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0321377.html

Exploring the impact of a personalised disability reform on people with disability and their primary carers: Evidence from the Australian national disability insurance scheme

Author

Listed:
  • Bernice Hua Ma
  • Samia Badji
  • Gang Chen
  • Dennis Petrie

Abstract

Australia introduced the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) in 2013 to provide personalised formal care to individuals under 65 with significant and likely permanent disability. However, many ineligible individuals now face challenges accessing care. Against the backdrop of the introduction of NDIS funding and the simultaneous defunding of other disability services due to the NDIS, this research investigates the short-term impacts of NDIS on the formal service utilisation and carer outcomes for people with profound or severe disability, irrespective of their NDIS status. Using the staggered NDIS rollout, we analyse data from the 2015 and 2018 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers. We compare outcomes between primary carers and care recipients in NDIS-available areas (n = 736) and NDIS-not-yet-available areas (n = 318). Results show no short-term impact of NDIS availability on formal service utilisation or frequency, or primary carer outcomes. While some individuals benefit from the NDIS, others may lose access to care. Policymakers should address NDIS equity concerns and consider targeted measures to improve carer outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Bernice Hua Ma & Samia Badji & Gang Chen & Dennis Petrie, 2025. "Exploring the impact of a personalised disability reform on people with disability and their primary carers: Evidence from the Australian national disability insurance scheme," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 20(5), pages 1-18, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0321377
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0321377
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0321377
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0321377&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0321377?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bauer, Jan Michael & Sousa-Poza, Alfonso, 2015. "Impacts of Informal Caregiving on Caregiver Employment, Health, and Family," IZA Discussion Papers 8851, IZA Network @ LISER.
    2. Joan Costa-Font, 2023. "How to support adult caregivers?," World of Labour, LISER, pages 510-510, June.
    3. Costa-font, Joan, 2023. "How to support adult caregivers?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 119474, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Heger, Dörte & Korfhage, Thorben, 2017. "Does the negative effect of caregiving on work persist over time?," Ruhr Economic Papers 703, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    2. Yemisi Okikiade Oyegbile & Petra Brysiewicz, 2017. "Family caregiver's experiences of providing care to patients with End‐Stage Renal Disease in South‐West Nigeria," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(17-18), pages 2624-2632, September.
    3. Kolodziej, Ingo & Coe, Norma B. & Van Houtven, Courtney Harold, 2023. "Intensive informal care and impairments in work productivity and activity," Ruhr Economic Papers 1010, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    4. Kamila Hynek & Aslaug Gotehus & Fredrik Methi & Ragnhild Bang Nes & Vegard Skirbekk & Thomas Hansen, 2023. "Caregiving + Migrant Background = Double Jeopardy? Associations between Caregiving and Physical and Psychological Health According to Migrant Backgrounds in Norway," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(10), pages 1-13, May.
    5. Mazzotta, Fernanda & Bettio, Francesca & Zigante, Valentina, 2018. "And Thou Shalt Honor: children’s caregiving, work and religion," GLO Discussion Paper Series 202, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    6. Longobardo, Luz María Peña & Rodríguez-Sánchez, Beatriz & Oliva, Juan, 2023. "Does becoming an informal caregiver make your health worse? A longitudinal analysis across Europe," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    7. Bom, Judith & Stöckel, Jannis, 2021. "Is the grass greener on the other side? The health impact of providing informal care in the UK and the Netherlands," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    8. Yoko Niimi, 2016. "The “Costs” of informal care: an analysis of the impact of elderly care on caregivers’ subjective well-being in Japan," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 779-810, December.
    9. Vilaplana-Prieto C & Oliva-Moreno J, 2025. "Time value of informal care of people with alzheimer’s disease in Spain: a population-based analysis," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 26(3), pages 377-402, April.
    10. Reemal Shahbaz & Allison Williams & Bharati Sethi & Olive Wahoush, 2023. "Commonalities and Differences in the Experiences of Visible Minority Transnational Carer–Employees: A Qualitative Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(18), pages 1-19, September.
    11. Takashi Oshio & Emiko Usui, 2017. "Informal parental care and female labour supply in Japan," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(9), pages 635-638, May.
    12. Costa-Font, Joan & Vilaplana-Prieto, Cristina, 2023. "Caregiving subsidies and spousal early retirement intentions," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(4), pages 550-589, October.
    13. Eline E. Vos & Simone R. de Bruin & Allard J. van der Beek & Karin I. Proper, 2021. "“ It’s Like Juggling, Constantly Trying to Keep All Balls in the Air ”: A Qualitative Study of the Support Needs of Working Caregivers Taking Care of Older Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-18, May.
    14. Neha Bairoliya & Ray Miller & Zhixiu Yu, 2026. "Insurance Through Marriage: Case of Parental Health Shocks and Social Security Claiming," Working Papers 2026-003, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    15. Giorgio Di Gessa & Baowen Xue & Rebecca Lacey & Anne McMunn, 2022. "Young Adult Carers in the UK—New Evidence from the UK Household Longitudinal Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-13, October.
    16. Marie Blaise & Laetitia Dillenseger, 2023. "Informal Caregivers and Life Satisfaction: Empirical Evidence from the Netherlands," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(6), pages 1883-1930, August.
    17. Aviad Tur-Sinai & Dafna Halperin & Nissim Ben David & Ariela Lowenstein & Ruth Katz, 2022. "Cessation of Care for Frail Older Adults: Physical, Psychological and Economic Outcomes for Family Carers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-17, March.
    18. Minamo MIKOSHIBA, 2025. "Universal Insurance with In-kind Transfers: The welfare effects of long-term care insurance in Japan," Discussion papers 25030, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    19. Manee Arpanantikul, 2018. "Women's perspectives on home‐based care for family members with chronic illness: An Interpretive phenomenology study," Nursing & Health Sciences, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(4), pages 494-501, December.
    20. Sean Urwin & Yiu‐Shing Lau & Gunn Grande & Matt Sutton, 2023. "Informal caregiving, time use and experienced wellbeing," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(2), pages 356-374, February.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0321377. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.