NDIS participants work more hours, earn more money and report greater levels of vitality than before they enrolled, new research by the e61 Institute has found.
Four years after first accessing the scheme, participants were working an average of 1.8 more hours per week, earning $76 more per fortnight, were 5.7 percentage points less likely to be receiving JobSeeker, and reported vitality scores 4.1 points higher than at the time of entry.
On the other hand, they were 7 percentage points more likely to be receiving Disability Support Pension, reflecting overlapping eligibility for the NDIS and the DSP.
The research note, Work, Welfare, and Wellbeing Around Entry into the NDIS, uses longitudinal data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey to track the same individuals over time.
"The data shows that people are typically entering the NDIS at a difficult point in their lives - after a sustained period of declining health, growing detachment from the labour force, and increasing reliance on income support," said Dr Pelin Akyol, research manager at the e61 Institute.
"After entering the scheme, physical and mental health measures remain low but people's self-reported vitality significantly increases each year.
"The trend away from working also begins to reverse as participants gradually transition back into employment or take up more hours after entering the scheme.
"While we cannot prove the NDIS is the cause of these improvements, it is likely to support participants' transition through the services it provides."
The research finds that the improvements across employment, income and wellbeing tend to build gradually over several years rather than appearing immediately at the point of entry.
"This suggests that participants and their families take time to adapt and reorganise around a permanent impairment," said Dr Akyol.
"Therefore, evaluations of the success of the NDIS should take a long view over several years."
