Mr Pike is Shadow Assistant Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme and Shadow Assistant Minister to Mental Health.
Each week, the Bowman electorate office is inundated with NDIS casework.
Families who should clearly be receiving support are instead subjected to bureaucratic runarounds. Some participants have more funding than they know what to do with, while others struggle to access basic assistance. There are dodgy operators gaming the system and too often getting away with it, alongside honest providers who go above and beyond for their clients only to be punished by a system that treats them as the problem.
There is also an extraordinary level of red tape, costing participants, providers and taxpayers far too much.
In short, the scheme is a mess.
For a program approaching its thirteenth year, it should be operating with far greater discipline, predictability and maturity.
When Opposition Leader Angus Taylor asked Mr Pike what portfolio he would like to tackle, Henry did not hesitate. He asked for the NDIS.
The NDIS is one of Australia’s great reforms. But it is now at a crossroads. It risks sliding into an unsustainable free-for-all or hardening into a rigid bureaucracy that crushes dignity under paperwork and delay. It must instead mature into what it was always meant to be: a sustainable, rules-based insurance scheme that delivers real outcomes and restores trust.
Mental health is the other national crisis we cannot ignore. Too many Australians are stuck on waiting lists, priced out of care, or falling through the cracks between Commonwealth and state systems, only getting help once they reach breaking point. Australians deserve a system built around access and outcomes, not endless bureaucracy.
Vulnerable Australians and taxpayers both deserve better.
Anyone who has experience navigating the NDIS or the mental health system is encouraged to share their story. Real experiences and real evidence are what drive change in Canberra. Henry is committed to fight every single day for serious reform. To share your story please email [email protected]