Hoffman said it had been “an absolute privilege to have served in this role for the last three years” and wished NDIS participants,families,carers and providers “all the very best for the future”.
The chief executive’s departure was widely anticipated after Shorten said during the election campaign:“I haven’t spoken to anyone in the disability sector who has a good word to say about Mr Hoffman.”
NDIS Minister Bill Shorten has announced the NDIA chief he criticised before the election is stepping down.Credit:James Brickwood
“You have to question the whole leadership of the NDIS in the last few years,” Shorten said in April,specifically naming Hoffman and the agency’s former chair Helen Nugent.
“They presided over the independent assessments rollout,which would have been a disaster and breached any remaining trust that people with disability had with the government,” he said.
Independent assessments were proposed as a new way of determining the functional level of an individual with disability,which would be used to inform what level of funding that person would receive,instead of relying on evidence from their own specialists.
Former NDIS Minister Linda Reynolds put the reform on hold after widespread backlash.
Every Australian Counts campaign manager Jean Cotchin said Hoffman had led the NDIA “during its darkest days” and pursued reforms that “would have completed destroyed the NDIS as we know it”.
“We’re hopeful that the combination of new leadership and a new government will mean the scheme can start delivering for people with disability again,” she said.
Loading
Labor has promised to establish a new appeals process outside the Administrative Appeals Tribunal,which is facing protracted delays after the number of appeals quadrupled as NDIS recipients complained their packages had been cut through plan reviews. The agency said for participants who were in the scheme over the full 2021 calendar year,there was an increase in the average budget from $51,900 to $57,800.
Shorten also pledged during the election campaign to hire another 380 agency staff and crack down on rorting providers and the agency’s use of consultants and private law firms,which cost $32 million over eight months.
The minister said Hoffman’s replacement would be appointed “in a timely fashion in the coming months” and Lisa Studdert,deputy chief executive in the agency’s markets,government and engagement section,will serve as acting chief executive in the interim.
NDIA Board chair Dr Denis Napthine,a former Liberal premier of Victoria,said the agency “has accepted,with regret” Hoffman’s resignation and commended him “for his stewardship of the scheme through such an important stage of its evolution”.
Cut through the noise of federal politics with news,views and expert analysis from Jacqueline Maley. Subscribers can sign up to our weeklyInside Politics newsletter here.