“But what we need to do is make sure that if you are an Australian living with a disability which is not that serious or that profound,that there’s still support for you.”

Shorten singled out the school and mental health systems as areas where improved support was needed.

“Parents of kids with learning delays and special needs shouldn’t be made to feel like bullies or outcasts in the school system,” he said.

Similarly,people in the community mental health system might not have such a severe impairment that they needed to be on the NDIS,but they might need more than just a chat with a psychologist,he said.

However,the minister said there was not a “crisis of cost” and that money would not be diverted from elsewhere in the budget to fund the scheme,nor would it be means-tested to curb spending.

“What I am saying is I think that there are pressures on the scheme,which we should tackle,” he said.

That included some service providers charging excessive prices and treating people like cash cows,while year-by-year reviews of participants created unnecessary anxiety.

“When the NDIS works well,it is changing lives … but when it’s bad,it’s working really badly,” he said.

“Our focus is to make sure every dollar gets through to the people for whom the scheme was designed … When we reform the scheme and make it better for participants,then I think we’re going to see benefits to everyone.”

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