The states and territories have agreed to continue supporting the Federal Government’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

Premiers and ministers attending a meeting of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) on Friday said changes should be spread over several years.

They also want more federal funding for the scheme, as the states and territories now fund 70% of disability care and support services.

“To develop a national scheme, it was recognised that the level and share of Commonwealth funding will need to increase,” the COAG communique says.

“The diversity within and between states and territories will need to be taken into account, with each state offering a mix of services as either government-provided services, funded services from the not-for-profit sector or self-managed funding.”

Broad principles have now been agreed and work will start on establishing eligibility criteria, portability of benefit entitlements and funding.

“COAG has asked its Select Council on Disability Reform to undertake further work on funding, governance and the scope of eligibility and support as a matter of priority, to enable consideration at the next meeting,” the communique says.

The Federal Government will create a transition agency in July to co-ordinate detailed design work for a launch of the scheme.

The Federal Government has allocated $10 million to the NDIS Practical Design Fund, which will develop projects this year to prepare the disability sector and its workforce for the scheme.

There was no decision about funding models, but officials are looking at ways to make the scheme affordable and viable in the long term.

The Select Council is looking at what business information infrastructure will be needed if an insurance approach to funding is used.

“An insurance approach requires a disciplined focus on managing the costs and operations of the scheme to make sure it remains affordable in the long term, while at the same time achieving good outcomes for people with disability,” the communique says.

“This means NDIS would need to be able to invest in early intervention and have a national research function to promote and share innovation and best practice across the whole scheme.”

This is seen as a key challenge in designing an NDIS that “will be delivering an affordable scheme which responds to the individual needs and aspirations of people with disability”.