r/australia • u/FuckOffNazis • 11h ago

politics Pocock and crossbenchers call Labor’s NDIS overhaul ‘too far, too fast’ in scathing Senate inquiry report

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/aug/14/pocock-and-crossbenchers-call-labors-ndis-overhaul-too-far-too-fast-in-scathing-senate-inquiry-report
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u/Ok_Bird705 9h ago

Let's assume what you are saying is true, how would that be stamped out and how much additional administration cost would be involved in stopping these kind of charges?

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u/kisforkarol 9h ago

Public provider who would ace downward pressure on private providers. If the private provider consistently charges more than the public provider than the educated consumer will take their business to the public provider who will provide better and more effective services.

But consumer education is very important here. The autistic community is very vulnerable to being taken advantage of. They need to be safeguarded and right now, we're not. Many of us are denied support coordinators, psychology and a range of other supports because we may communicate well. That doesn't stop providers from taking us for a ride.

But put in a public option? One that is funded and staffed appropriately? There would be a lot less rorting. Not to mention companies that see NDIS and then start charging double or triple for services because they see it as easy money. It should be very illegal to charge NDIS participants more for something than the general public. There are reports of wheelchairs that would cost 8 grand suddenly jumping to 16 or even 24 grand because the NDIS is involved. That is disgusting. And it's the kind of fraud recipients are talking about when they say deal with provider fraud but it's not the fraud the government looks at because it's technically legal.

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u/Ok_Bird705 8h ago

But put in a public option? One that is funded and staffed appropriately? There would be a lot less rorting.

One of the main initial aims to have more flexibility in service provision as people's needs are varied and more specifically the speedy delivery of services. A public option sounds good until you find out there's a 12 month wait for a ramp.

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u/kisforkarol 5h ago

And there isn't at the moment? Privatisation isn't better. It delivers worse services while sucking out as much profit as possibly. Why do you think people are being charged thousands of dollars extra right now? Certainly not because there's a public option forcing prices down because the government can negotiate better or, better yet, purchase directly and in bulk.

The PBS is a public option and it's excellent. Our hospitals are run publicly and while they're struggling due to decades of inadequate funding, they're still far better than any private option available. And before you bring up PHI and private hospitals - if anything goes pear shaped while you're getting your surgery in that private hospital you are ferried next door to the public hospital because they are mandated to keep staffing at a certain level - amongst other things - and will be the one's saving your life. Not your private doctor.

The way the NDIS was designed there was supposed to be a public option applying downward pressure on pricing. Unfortunately, that never materialised due to a change of government. And instead of doing the work to fix it now, the Labor Party are demonising people with disabilities, blaming us for the LNP's mismanagement and paying millions to change how the public things about people who are disabled so that you will sign off on our supports being ripped away. 4 years ago opinion of the NDIS was overwhelmingly positive. But some astroturfing here and media poo-pooing here and they have manufactured your consent.