The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is an ambitious Australian welfare program, with the goal of supporting 460,000 people living with a disability. To promote individual choices, the NDIS allocates personalised budgets based on the goals of Participants (or their nominated Carers). This paper examines (a) the heterogeneity of personal preferences for support services in the disability sector, (b) whether the program is subject to dissonance in the evaluation of supports for allowing different decision makers as plan managers and (c) how the central role of personal goals impacts the choice outcomes of eligible NDIS Participants (and their nominated Carers). Our findings reveal the adoption of two distinct mindsets: (i) one that favours immediacy and disability-specific services and (ii) one that pursues higher-quality services and general life skills. Although being a Participant or Carer in itself did not influence the adoption of either mindset, the goals they pursued did. To ensure the NDIS delivers on its intended Participant-focused outcomes, our findings suggest the need to understand the goals pursued by NDIS decision makers. Our study contributes to the body of research that promotes customer-centric approaches in policymaking and develops a methodology that produces insights for policy makers, service providers, advocacy groups and other NDIS stakeholders.

国家残障保险计划 (NDIS) 是一项雄心勃勃的澳大利亚福利计划，目标是支持 460,000 名残障人士。为促进个人选择，NDIS 根据参与者（或其指定的照顾者）的目标分配个性化预算。本文研究了 (a) 残疾人部门对支持服务的个人偏好的异质性，(b) 该计划是否在评估支持以允许不同的决策者作为计划管理者时出现不一致，以及 (c) 中心作用如何个人目标影响符合条件的 NDIS 参与者（及其指定的照顾者）的选择结果。我们的发现揭示了两种截然不同的思维方式的采用：(i) 一种有利于即时和残疾特定服务的服务，以及 (ii) 一种追求更高质量服务和一般生活技能的服务。尽管作为参与者或照顾者本身并不影响采用任何一种心态，但他们追求的目标却影响了。为确保 NDIS 实现其预期的以参与者为中心的结果，我们的调查结果表明需要了解 NDIS 决策者追求的目标。我们的研究有助于促进以客户为中心的政策制定方法的研究，并开发一种方法，为政策制定者、服务提供商、倡导团体和其他 NDIS 利益相关者提供见解。为确保 NDIS 实现其预期的以参与者为中心的结果，我们的调查结果表明需要了解 NDIS 决策者追求的目标。我们的研究有助于促进以客户为中心的政策制定方法的研究，并开发一种方法，为政策制定者、服务提供商、倡导团体和其他 NDIS 利益相关者提供见解。为确保 NDIS 实现其预期的以参与者为中心的结果，我们的调查结果表明需要了解 NDIS 决策者追求的目标。我们的研究有助于促进以客户为中心的政策制定方法的研究，并开发一种方法，为政策制定者、服务提供商、倡导团体和其他 NDIS 利益相关者提供见解。