Social insurance schemes in Australasia have a long‐standing involvement in leading systemic change as well as funding services for eligible scheme participants. Establishing a long‐term disability care and support scheme for Australia provides opportunities to remove barriers to community access and improve the employment participation of all Australians with a disability, and to increase the use of evidence in policy development and in the delivery of disability supports. Using the examples of successful models in Australia and New Zealand, the authors will propose a model for the development and management of a long‐term disability care and support scheme that enables sector reform in employment participation, barriers to access and participation in all aspects of community life, and funding of disability research to benefit all Australians with a disability.

The use of contemporaneous evaluation in personal injury insurance enables schemes to maintain and enhance their viability through access to quality information on cost, liabilities and outcomes. Best practice in research programs in the sector requires data on client outcomes and financial performance to be collected. This article presents a case study of the research and evaluation program for the National Serious Injury Service of New Zealand's Accident Compensation Corporation.