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Bill Shorten was, simply, Minister for the NDIS. Mark Butler, however, is now both Minister for the NDIS and Minister for Disability. Why the difference and does the change mean disability and the NDIS are now two different things?

A question like this might seem arcane, even meaningless, but in government words matter. Fit a definition correctly, and you qualify for money; fail and there’s none or it’s delivered differently. That’s why people are fascinated with Butler’s new title, which distinguishes between his role as Minister for Disability and Minister for the NDIS.

And while this might seem like a pointless debate, it actually carries real-world consequences. Particularly for people with disability.

At first glance the change appears semantic. Isn’t the NDIS just how the government supports people with disability? Well, no - and that’s the point. By giving Butler two separate titles, the government is subtly, but importantly, acknowledging “disability” and “the NDIS” are not the same thing. One is a whole-of-society issue. The other is a funding mechanism.

The first requires general programs provided and available to anyone. The second delivers specific services only for those who qualify.

Re-define disability like this, and you can see why the government might do it. There’s no need, for example, to test and deliver individualised programs to every young boy who might now qualify for the NDIS (currently 12.7 percent of boys between the ages of five and seven).

Instead government can establish other ways of coping with large cohorts of people with similar needs. Doing this might be a better way of dealing with a problem that shouldn’t necessarily be treated through programs created for each individual.

Dealing with the issues this way would also (and purely incidentally, of course) offer a much cheaper way of solving a huge and growing problem. How much better (and cheaper) to instead deal with these individuals as a group.

Quiz: What percentage of Australians reported having a disability in the most recent ABS data (2022)?

(a) 8%  (b) 17%  (c) 24%

Answer – About 17% of Australians identified as having a disability in 2022