ABSTRACT
Chapter 7 explores the conditions of constraint and enablement in which disability advocates mobilised in support of the NDIS. Drawing on Peck and Tickell’s theorisation of ‘roll-back’ and ‘roll-out’ neoliberalism, the chapter examines two key processes underpinning the neoliberal restructuring of disability services in Australia. I argue that while architects of the NDIS may have envisioned minimal government intervention in its operation, what has in fact emerged is a new institutional apparatus and regulatory regime dedicated to the optimal functioning of a ‘radically new disability marketplace’, based on principles of competition, economic efficiency and cost containment. At the same time, however, neoliberalism’s destructive tendencies are also evident, most notably in the dismantling of public service infrastructures and policy agencies. I examine how the withdrawal of government from disability services, under the guise of giving people greater choice of providers, is rolling-back the state’s role in the provision of services under the NDIS. I conclude this chapter with a discussion of how processes of roll-out and roll-back neoliberalisation shaped and constrained the way IF was sold to, and implemented by, the Australian government.
