An overhaul of the way the government funds disability services could require wealthier Australians to pay more for their care, in a bid to save billions of dollars on the federal budget.
Health Minister Mark Butler says "significant reform" to the National Disability Insurance Scheme is likely needed to reduce the program's growth rate from more than 10 per cent a year, to the government's target of between five and six per cent.
Expectations are mounting that the changes will be included in Labor's next federal budget, due to be delivered on May 12.
"There's a shared sense of purpose that we want to secure the sustainability of this important program for the future," Mr Butler told reporters in Adelaide on Friday.
"It is under pressure. Some of its spending is out of control, and it needs to be managed."
Labor senator Helen Polley urged colleagues to consider means testing the scheme, suggesting recipients who can afford it should be required to pay a co-contribution.
A similar approach has been introduced for aged care providers.
"As you now pay for aged care, there's a question on if that needs to be applied to other things," she told The Australian.
Asked about the policy suggestion, Mr Butler said means testing had never been a feature of the NDIS, but he wouldn't rule anything in or out.
"I'm not going to comment particularly on that idea or the many other ideas that have been raised by colleagues at the moment, I just welcome the debate," he said.
To manage the growth in the NDIS, Mr Butler said the government would either need to restrict eligibility for the scheme or the cost of individual plans.
"That's really the work that we're undertaking right now," he said.
Other Labor MPs have previously called for a clampdown on eligibility for the NDIS, arguing the scheme risks losing its social licence without a wholesale redesign.
Disability advocates say they're open to the scheme being made more financially sustainable, but the overhaul shouldn't come at the expense of critical services for vulnerable Australians.
