Last night Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made what I think is the most significant announcement in disabiility for many years.

The idea of a national disability insurance scheme was one of the recommendations of the 2020 Summit, and is an idea that has strong support amongst the disability community.

Last night the PM announced that the Productivity Commission will do a full and comprehensive study into how we fund disability, including the investigation of a disability insurance scheme.

The PC will report back to the Government in 2011, which will give them time to investigate all the options around who will be covered, how they're covered and how the scheme could be funded.

The PM made the announcement at the National Disability Awards and his speech recognised what anyone with a disabiltiy knows: that the current system is not good enough and needs major reform.

This inquiry will be welcomed by many people, I would like to thank the PM and my colleague Community Services Minister Jenny Macklin for their support and hard work in making this happen