NDIS Minister Linda Reynolds has launched a charm offensive about new "personalised budgets" for people with disability.
But Labor has seized on leaked documents it says show the Morrison government wants to dupe Australians about a plan to overhaul the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
Senator Reynolds is trying to get support from the disability community on replacing the way funding for support packages is decided, moving away from one-on-one assessments to more use of data about needs.
"We have staff who I think spend far too much time under the current processes going through the annual reviews line item by line item," Senator Reynolds told a Senate estimates hearing on Friday.
She said personalised budgets drawing on independent assessments will provide greater flexibility and freedom for the participant and also for staff responsible for the scheme.
New laws bringing in independent assessments were put on hold in April after a backlash from some state governments and the disability sector.
Labor's disability spokesman Bill Shorten has revealed a communications and engagement strategy from the National Disability Insurance Agency which outlines a plan to combat any further backlash through what he says is "an expensive multi-media spin campaign" ahead of legislation planned for August.
The strategy says people with disability have "demonstrated strong, orchestrated opposition" to the changes.
"The documents make it clear current consultation with NDIS participants and stakeholders is nothing but a sham," Mr Shorten said.
The NDIA told AAP the minister and agency acknowledge concern and fear in the disability community, particularly around independent assessments.
"There is absolutely no plan to run an 'expensive advertising campaign' or marketing campaign. This is wrong," the NDIA said.
"The government has not made any decision about the timing of the introduction of the legislation."
But there is a communications and engagement plan to support ongoing consultations with the sector about the changes.
"Far from being an expensive marketing or advertising campaign, 'We Did' is the final step in the NDIA's open public consultation process," the agency said.
Greens senator Jordon Steele-John said people need to know the weightings for each question in the assessment toolkit, how the scores of each function are weighted overall, and who has decided how it works.
"On those answers turn the question of whether any of the way this data is translated into funding outcomes can be trusted or not," he said.
But agency actuary Sarah Johnson said weightings are yet be finalised for determining a person's funding.
"We're also collecting additional information over and above the assessment tools in order to use all of that information to look at how we set the personalised budgets," she said.
Senator Steele-John remains unconvinced.
"You have no evidence these tools work when used together," he said.
"You have to prove something is safe.
"These are the lives of 500,000 people who've been knocked around from pillar to post by disability systems for decades."
Senator Reynolds dismissed Mr Shorten's claim that the outcome had already been decided.
"As a government we are doing what we can to get consensus on a way forward for the NDIS," she said.
"What I want to do is make sure that what we take forward, that ends up in any legislation, is something that will make the scheme better."
Australian Associated Press
