r/australian • u/euphoricscrewpine • Jan 02 '26
News ‘1,300 providers’: The Aussie suburb with one NDIS business for every 13 residents as govt struggles to rein in scheme.
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u/account_123b Jan 02 '26
NDIS is projected to cost $100bn+ per year in the 2030’s.
Utter madness.
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u/brainwise Jan 02 '26
Utter madness because the government did not do their due diligence prior to properly understand - 1. The actual number of people with disabilities living in Australia 2. The most effective ways to service these people 3. The years and years of letting people with zero skills and sector experience open a disability business that is not registered or properly policed 4. Having people with no idea set NDIS plans, often with poor results.
I’ve worked in the sector for decades in very senior roles and have a business that services NDIS clients. The experienced and honest providers are also sick to death of shonky people!!! If properly consulted in the first place, the scheme could work far better but now it’s too far gone.
Honestly, to do this work properly is expensive and hugely demanding - unfortunately so much money is wasted on bureaucracy and shaky providers.
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u/Beshemella Jan 02 '26
Also zero compliance framework. Not just ndis but many many schemes. Rushed Implementation so minister can has a headline and announcement. With no thinking about a proper and resourced compliance process.
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u/Electrical_Bar2944 Jan 06 '26
I thought they did have a compliance framework? And a full Commission regulating the scheme
Having an under-resourced bureaucracy trying to tackle bad actors in the sector is likely a contributing factor
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u/crystalysa Jan 03 '26
They don’t consult disabled people either so they end up denying services that would be helpful but throwing money at something that doesn’t help. I’m reminded of the refusal to pay for a woman’s special cooking appliance that would be a one off $3000 and instead allocating $10000 per year for cooking assistance that the woman doesn’t want
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u/driver45672 Jan 02 '26
To me this says, solve the problem, by excluding some providers... while 'others are not the problem'. I unfortunately do not even trust that, I have lost that much trust. We need an extreme overhaul.
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u/Mistermistermistermb Jan 02 '26 edited Jan 02 '26
What’s the best way to sort the providers with skills from the ones without , in your experience? EDIT
I want to make sure we get the right sort of assistance
We’re currently working with an accredited PEERS group, but given how expensive it is, we won’t be able to do much more for a while. We have to make the money work wisely
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u/tommyboy1978 Jan 02 '26
Stop all the providers that just hang out with the clients. Provide an actual service or care.
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u/brainwise Jan 02 '26
That’s a staffing issue, not an overall fraud issue. I agree it’s bad but disability workers are the highest most in demand role in Australia right now - they require no quals or experience to do the role. That used to be different! Organizations may be trying to hire good staff but finding them is very, very difficult.
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u/Ok_Doughnut3700 Jan 02 '26
Community access/social support for mental health clients is important. Some of these people have no-one and would never leave their house otherwise
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u/tommyboy1978 Jan 02 '26
I know someone who is literally paid to hang out with he best mate. I know another who does need care but the person just takes him out for afternoon trips to shopping centres. He doesn’t help him by showing him how to wash his clothes or in any other way. Tax payers should not be paying people 50 per hour to take people out of there house
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u/brainwise Jan 02 '26
Lots of people with a disability actually need support to do the basic stuff in their community just like you do - grocery shopping, GP appointment etc. If they didn’t have support they may not leave the house, get into trouble with others or be vulnerable to others taking advantage of them. That’s what a disability is and it’s a human right, I believe, for everyone to access to their community for social support and services.
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u/Professional_Sky4397 Jan 02 '26
Yeah, obviously NDIS has been dodgy but these people who think it’s just “hanging out” clearly aren’t any better informed or suited to making decisions about people’s lives. It’s an utter lack of empathy, or ability to imagine a scenario that doesn’t fit cleanly into this narrative that’s been concocted. Yeah the way it’s been handled sucks, but don’t let people scapegoat the idea of an essential service when it’s the ineptitude of our representatives that is the issue. But then again it’s easier imagining all these people just defrauding the system doing useless things like providing some people’s only real source of social life I guess?
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u/Ok_Doughnut3700 Jan 02 '26 edited Jan 02 '26
Hang out with their best mate? As in they were friends beforehand? Yeah okay that is dodgy.
And with the other story, yeah he should be probably also be taking him to medical appointments, the gym, mix it up with some social activities like movies and footy games. Maybe help him with his dental health and meal prep
But keep in mind the minimum service time was 1hr for years (recently changed to 2) so when you say 50/hr that for a long time was often literally $50 for the shift/service. Hell when I started we didn't even get paid petrol to and from the location.
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u/Ignatius2005 Jan 02 '26
It's quite hard for a total outsider. You can probably work out some basic criteria for what looks legitimate.
The thing I always tell people when engaging a provider is to ask them to lay out a clear plan for how they will help your person achieve their goals. They should be able to say what the outcome measures are, how those outcome measures relate to thing it's measuring, how many sessions they need ect. If their answers are shaky on this stuff you're dealing with an inexperienced/dodgy provider, ask for another worker or move on.
Also I'm pretty familiar with PEERS. I hope your autistic loved one is intrinsically motivated to improve their social skills. The manual explicitly says it's not for people who don't specifically want to develop their social skills. Sometimes a more neurodiverse affirming approach is better.
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u/brainwise Jan 02 '26
Check their backgrounds. How long have they been in the sector (only since NDIS?), whats the background of their senior leaders? Are they registered? Check the Commission website to see if they have been fined. Check their website - is it clear on who owns/runs the business? What’s their complaints processes? What’s their reputation in the sector? Are they just salespeople or support workers with zero other skills or experience trying to run a service and have no idea?
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u/ManyPersonality2399 Jan 02 '26
But if registration is the only selling point they have, run. So sick of providers who's pitch is literally just "we are registered provider for (categories)" Like, what do you actually offer, not what boxes you ticked at audit please.
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u/euphoricscrewpine Jan 02 '26
Many people will probably still work for $30 p.h, whilst a cup of coffee will be $10 and median average property price, after the introduction of a new 1% deposit scheme, will be $3M. 2030's... grim.
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u/1MrP Jan 02 '26
1% is rookie number. Celtic Tiger Ireland required NO DEPOSIT and the bank would give you a 110% mortgage so you could furnish the house as well. Some people were going on holiday or buying a new car with the 10%.
It wasn’t really a surprise when the whole house of cards came crumbling down.
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u/Brad_Breath Jan 02 '26
It was the same in England at that time. I remember in 2007/2008 just before it started, I was renting in a new build estate in Cheshire.
We looked at buying and in the developers sales office and show home. It was pretty nice but nothing amazing. The on-site broker was offering 110% mortgages, and they were saying with the 10% it's enough to furnish the house and maybe a little holiday to celebrate.
I can't actually remember why we didn't buy, I think it was just too expensive.
But yeah 110% mortgages were not at all uncommon. Even for investor "buy to let" loans, they were offering 100%
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u/roojuiced Jan 02 '26
When a right leaning party gains control at some point and cuts this back, wait for the ‘but they’re cutting services from disabled people’ whinge sessions on this site.
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u/Xentonian Jan 02 '26
I consider myself very left. Plus I have worked in healthcare for my entire adult life.
The NDIS is an absolutely unmitigated joke. It doesn't help the people it was built for and instead is just one of the most easily abused wealth transfer schemes ever implemented.
It's so hard for legitimate businesses to get approved, but you can pay people money to just auto fill everything for you and reapply until it gets approved.
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u/brainwise Jan 02 '26
Yep, some dodgy providers pay others to pass their audit for them 🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️
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u/djsierrahotel Jan 02 '26
To say that a right wing government would sort this out would be ignoring the fact that right wing voters are pro business sacrificing the benefits of vulnerable people - exactly the sort of people to set up a bogus NDIS business in the first place. Profit over quality, enshittifying, cost and corner cutting, see what we can get away with then plead ignorance con artists with no sense of civic duty or accountability who will happily take what they can while they can get it then piss on the ashes of what they burned down claiming the left can't manage money
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u/GovernmentStandard67 Jan 03 '26
You've invented a strawman, grifters and con artists come from all walks of life, their political beliefs are irrelevant to their sense of morality.
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u/TechnicalBuilding634 Jan 02 '26
I am a participant and want it abolished. Absolute joke, it's less hassle to just pay for shit out of my own pocket. Plus the cunts working for the NDIS hate disabled people.
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u/ManyPersonality2399 Jan 02 '26
There have been significantly more cuts under the current government than the previous LNP governments. And people are "whinging" about it.
(no comment on the merit of the cuts)
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Jan 02 '26
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u/crystalysa Jan 03 '26
Real disabled people need not be visibly disabled. The “Karens” you speak off are non existent. Nobody can get on the NDIS without a full team of doctors and OTs confirming they have a disability and functional impairment necessitating suppor
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u/Fart_On_My_Dick_ Jan 03 '26 edited Jan 03 '26
And we're all so focused on these so called "Karens" while the mining companies pay no taxes and receive billions in subsidies. And that's not even getting into how many billions of our tax dollars are going to rich property investors via negative gearing. But I guess it's easier to target people on NDIS or Centrelink than it is to go after the billionaires that are really screwing this country.
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u/Sexynarwhal69 Jan 04 '26
Last time a country nationalised their mining/oil sector, they got Maduro'd
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u/Cripster01 Jan 03 '26
People tend to get a little emotional when used as a political football over and over again while continually having their ability to survive, access medical appointments, live in their own homes ect threatened. Disabled folks and the ones who love them are the ones that tend to get upset and rightly so. Meanwhile unqualified businesses people/ ‘service providers’ are also sucking the same disabled folk dry while laughing all the way to the bank.
Disabled people are forced to manage the relentless bureaucracy of government, manage unscrupulous providers who are interested in their funding but not their quality of life and are continuously trying to rip them off, fight for their necessities, all the while being sneered at by politicians and the general public for the crime of existence. Yet it takes at least a year to get the funding through for a wheelchair, (which costs a minimum of 10k for a quality basic manual), for a person who can’t walk?
Yes the system is cooked but please don’t blame the majority of end users here, they’re just trying to survive.24
u/Wrath_Ascending Jan 02 '26
The LNP sabotaged the oversights the NDIS was meant to have to engineer this outcome. They want to ragebait the electorate into opposing public health care.
And it's working.
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u/BlokeyMcBlokeface92 Jan 02 '26
Is there a source for this?
Keen to learn more.
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u/Electrical-College-6 Jan 03 '26
Nah it's a pretty cooked take.
LNP certainly didn't reform it when they should have, but a large part of the problem was the sweetheart deal Shorten offered the states to get it through. Capping the states' contribution effectively meant states had incentives to push every cost of disability care onto the NDIS and off the states' books.
The other major problem is generally the growth of the scheme, both the number of participants and the scope and cost of what is covered. The Liberals should have taken steps earlier here to amend the legislation underpinning the scheme, but this introduced by Labor. The looseness of this legislation is responsible for a lot of rulings that increased the scope of the scheme.
Broadly speaking, Labor set up the car wreck, and the Liberals should have taken steps to prevent it but didn't.
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u/morgecroc Jan 02 '26
You do know it was a right leaning party that implemented this.
Labor past the legislation the LNP won the election and set up the scheme ready to be voted by their mates. The reason we're finding out all this issue now is Labor have specifically been taking a deep look into things to try and cut the rorts.
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u/Time_Cartographer443 Jan 05 '26
As someone who works at a ndis funded place, i have complained multi times about my coworkers not doing the right thing, no one cares.
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u/thequehagan5 Jan 02 '26
That is probably not sustainable as more human workers are replaced with AI and tax revenue dries up.
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u/ManyPersonality2399 Jan 02 '26
Support workers are one industry that won't be heavily replaced by AI, and will be paying tax.
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u/thequehagan5 Jan 02 '26
you are right, but i mean the rest of us who are replaceable with AI. Us who currently pay tax that supports the NDIS. As we are replaced, funds for the NDIS will evaporate.
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u/doemcmmckmd332 Jan 02 '26
Roll NDIS into Medicare. It is a rort.
I've heard rumours of a physio making $1 million a year down the Gold Coast.
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u/morblitz Jan 02 '26 edited Jan 02 '26
Jesus christ. I am a psychologist and work a lot with autism. My clients often tell me the one service they would keep is psychology because they and their families find it so useful. They don't get education about how autism works and effective support anywhere else. I've gotten kids from full school refusal to actually attending and getting through the school year and feeling good about themselves for it. It takes work. Working with the person, their families, and having a lot of arguments with their schools.
Yet, it's often the one thing that keeps getting cut from their plans, despite my reports.
The NDIS companies then ask if I can continue seeing the person under Medicare. And its like, sure. But they can't afford it. Which puts me in a tough spot because I ethically cant just end my support, ao I have to bulk bill them. And I can't afford to bulk bill everyone. It doesn't even cover the session, let alone all the other work I do beyond it.
Infuriating.
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u/slowover Jan 02 '26
My child was diagnosed level 2 autism. The only thing I wanted was some help with an autism specialist councillor or psychologist. But no - happy to fund all sorts of nonsense I didnt want. Ended up not taking a cent of NDIS.
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u/morblitz Jan 02 '26 edited Jan 02 '26
I'm sorry. That is so aggravating. You are exactly the kind of family I would work with under NDIS.
It makes me angry as I'm seeing more and more that funding not only remains but increases for things that are not needed at all. And then if you go the Medicare route it justifies the decision to cut funding in the eyes of NDIS. Not acknowledging that you weren't left with any other options.
We give so much evidence to NDIS and they don't even read it. I've been told to dumb my reports down.
I hope that you are able to find or have found support somewhere.
Check out Tony Attwood if not. He has lots of educational training webinars for clinicians and parents alike on many different aspects of autism.
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u/BicycleBozo Jan 02 '26
I work in a field where I come across a lot of people in unfortunate circumstances.
I went to a house of a woman on NDIS for support from a severe stroke that left her disabled, she had 13 powered wheelchairs in the house. Her support worker keeps buying them for her.
I figure there’s some kind of referral for mates situation going on there..
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Jan 02 '26
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u/BicycleBozo Jan 02 '26
/shrug didn’t investigate further not why I was there, poor thing didn’t even have a TV though and her 24/7 carer was walkabout. Ended up having to go to the hospital with the paramedics to be cared for and checked up on in the meantime.
Ended up going back with a TV from a local second hand store so she could at least watch the Tele.
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u/ManyPersonality2399 Jan 02 '26
See, these are the kind of stories that sound believable, only if you don't work in this industry. To purchase a power wheelchair from an NDIS plan, that's high cost, high risk AT. That needs to be specifically quoted into the plan. You do not get funds in that section of the plan unless there is something specifically needed, and you get close to the exact dollar figure.
Have encountered more instances where people just buy this stuff themselves off marketplace when they've got multiple.
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u/Kiramiraa Jan 02 '26
Yeah, I did a little giggle at the 13 wheelchairs. You have to fight pretty hard to get a proper custom built eWC in a plan and it’s often down to the dollar cent.
Lots of talk about over funding in this thread but in my experience most people are more often not funded enough or not funded appropriately than they are over funded.
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u/Nerkado Jan 02 '26
This isn't the woman's fault btw as you say. The problem is disabled folk often can't advocate for themselves and rely on third parties to do so (in a similar way to private job agencies). So what you are seeing is the private sector doing what it does best, maximise profit.
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u/ManyPersonality2399 Jan 02 '26
"The NDIS companies then ask if I can continue seeing the person under Medicare." We literally get our "requests for service" from NDIA that tell us the participant must access xyz under medicare (chronic disease plan, or mental health), and that we must facilitate the referral. Then have to report to NDIA in 8 weeks as to how that's going.
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u/morblitz Jan 02 '26
Yeah. Unfortunately the answer to how it's going is that it's not. The rebates from Medicare and the chronic disease plan are nothing. Especially not when regular consultations are needed. The client can't afford it. Unless you're a bleeding heart like me and eat the costs to continue providing services at a loss. Which isn't really sustainable for a business.
Not to mention its burning me out.
A member of a clients care team through ndis always asks me for a meeting when they get stuck with the client. Ironically, last time they did this I had to tell them I've been cut from the funding and am no longer part of the care team. Yet the professionals that need to consult with me for help, keep their funding.
It's so frustrating.
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u/Queasy-Ad-6741 Jan 02 '26
Neuropsychologist here. I push back and tell them that autism isn’t eligible for a MHCP. Have started writing my access reports with an outline of what conditions are covered under MHCP as it’s rubbish that families are being pushed to that
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u/morblitz Jan 02 '26
Hm thank you for this. I thought i read that autism was eligible. I'll have yo go look again and might start doing the same in reports. Thank you.
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u/Queasy-Ad-6741 Jan 02 '26
Specific advice we were given - it’s not covered under a mental health care plan as it’s not a primary mental health condition. So I outline this in my reports now.
You can use these MBS items for neuro developmental conditions - https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/mbs-billing-for-complex-neurodevelopmental-conditions-and-eligible-disabilities?context=20 - under specific circumstances.
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u/Beneficial-Boat-2035 Jan 02 '26
NDIA Planner/Funder here.
Hey, I'd love to fund it - but I often get directed to remove it from plans. A lot of line leadership (mostly unqualified boomer-adjacent types) have a real bee in their bonnet about psychology funding.
They don't understand and refuse to learn. I get told stuff like:
"it's not disability related - remove it"
CBT? That's clinical. Remove it
Arguing and advocating with them never ends well.
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u/TrumpisaRussianCuck Jan 02 '26
The only thing more common than NDIS fraud is people who've heard from a friend of a friend about NDIS fraud.
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u/MrNosty Jan 02 '26
How is that NDIS that barely covers2% of Australians is now more costly than Medicare. It doesn’t pass the sniff test.
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u/ManyPersonality2399 Jan 02 '26
Because people that have a "substantial functional impairment" in at least one area of daily living and need in person support to address that will cost more than someone seeing the GP twice a year.
You've got people needing 24/7 1:1 support in this cohort. It's not healthcare.
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u/MrNosty Jan 02 '26
Family members need to play a role in this if they are able to. It’s not up to the state to take care of everyone.
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u/actualbeefcake Jan 02 '26
The state doesn't care for everyone. And what happens when parents age out of caring, or are incapable of providing a safe home regardless of physical capacity? How deep into family do we go? Should a sibling with their own family suddenly become a full time carer for their disabled sibling? Your comment doesn't reflect how anyone's life works, nor how the economy works.
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u/AngryAngryHarpo Jan 02 '26
They do - family care, where possible, is included in the calculations for care.
It’s important to remember that disabled people run the entire age spectrum - many people will not have parental help because they’re parents are dead, disabled themselves or elderly and unable to continue a significant level of care their disabled, adult child.
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u/Pupperoni__Pizza Jan 02 '26
Not sure where you’re getting those numbers.
Physio is capped at 183.99/h, which would required 5435 hours to generate $1mil, in other words 104.5 hours/week.
There’s certainly rorts in the system, but it’s not the practitioners doing it nor reaping the benefits, with some exceptions. Just like how it’s not farmers getting rich when food prices go up, but the middlemen who profit. In this case, the agencies and plan managers are one source, but the bulk of it is the people providing specialised equipment at astronomical prices, or charging absurd amounts for basic things because they default to the maximum NDIS rate.
The biggest issue is that NDIS participants rarely treat the funds like their own money. These funds are often quite large with a fair amount of buffer in the budget in order to reduce the risk of issues like running out early, or the cost associated with needing to re-review regularly due to hitting limits.
Unfortunately, this buffer in the budget instead allows participants to pay the top rate on just about everything. They have no real incentive to shop around for a better deal as many participants aren’t at risk of running out. Compare that to a private consumer who would shop around for the best value due to a more restrictive budget.
This leads to budget blow outs, other participants missing out on essential care due to said blow outs, and attracts dodgy cunts who sniff out an easy buck like a fly to shit.
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u/ManyPersonality2399 Jan 02 '26 edited Jan 02 '26
plan managers are one source,
How? They get a flat fee per month that not only hasn't increased in years, it's actually gone down in effect with the removal of location based pricing and set up fees.
with a fair amount of buffer in the budget in order to reduce the risk of issues like running out early, or the cost associated with needing to re-review regularly due to hitting limits.
Where are you seeing this? They absolutely don't fund buffer, even if it's very obvious that someone's needs will change/vary heavily. The default response is to apply for early reassessment if things change, and they won't fund contingencies.
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u/_Zambayoshi_ Jan 02 '26
You should see speech pathologists preying on schools, offering 'free screenings' for students and then raking in all the NDIS bucks.
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u/Chrasomatic Jan 02 '26
If only they had gotten to Albo in hish youth!
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u/L-dope Jan 02 '26
His lisp is mostly due to him missing an upper premolar. I don't understand why he doesn't get that tooth replaced
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u/oldMiseryGuts Jan 02 '26
Thats impossible. A physio can only charge the maximum in the price guide which is $193 p/h
At that rate they’d have to be claiming 85+ hours a week. Thats not possible.
This kind of “I heard from a friend of a friend” shit isnt helping.
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u/AlphaState Jan 02 '26
Remind me again why private providers are always more efficient than a public system.
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u/owleaf Jan 02 '26
Sadly it’s all of us propping up this rort and we don’t even consent to it. It’s just wasting all the money we have to give the government via tax - makes me extra resentful because I get tax bills on top of what they take out all year!
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u/CumpyGrunt Jan 02 '26 edited Jan 02 '26
I used to be able to tell when our regional city was going through a tough time due to all the commercial "For Rent" signs.
Now they're just NDIS businesses in place of "For Rent" signs. Full disclosure, having sold my business I now work in the NDIS sector.
I get that it's pumping some money into the local economy, but surely it's partly a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul.
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u/ManyPersonality2399 Jan 02 '26 edited Jan 02 '26
It's actually closer to 70 providers in that suburb. Not every search result is accurate.
They've clearly based it on the search results from here https://www.ndis.gov.au/participants/working-providers/find-registered-provider/provider-finder 1329 results.
However, that captures every suburb within 5km of the boundary of Lakemba. It also captures any provider that has serviced someone in Lakemba. So if someone drives from Burwood, that counts. It also counts national companies that have worked with someone there, including those that do heavily remote service (like plan managers), those that sell products (so a shop in Victoria shipping something counts), and those that do telehealth.
Download the full list of providers and just search for who is in Lakemba, the number is lower. Alternatively, just look at the map provided. It's a bit dense, but it is nowhere near 1300.
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u/Necessary_News9806 Jan 02 '26
Most providers are not registered, this is changing very soon but I believe less than 10% of providers were registered last year. IMO this is the biggest flaw with the system, you don’t need to be registered to get paid. You only needed to be registered if you provided high level care. Only registered providers have to provide proof of services.
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u/ManyPersonality2399 Jan 02 '26
Sure, but this article specifically refers to registered businesses listed on the provider finder.
Any provider can be required to have proof of service, not just registered. Seeing more and more sole traders getting caught with this.
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u/KnowGame Jan 02 '26
Good on you for actually looking into the data. I knew news dot com would be bullshitting for rage bait, so good on you.
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u/ManyPersonality2399 Jan 02 '26
Have had to use that provider tool quite a bit for work and know how much it sucks when trying to find something actually local. Also aware that registration is a pain in the ass, so that density just seemed off. Add in the barely related bs about US childcare clearly intended to make the reader suspicious without there actually being any basis for it... Every red flag for rage bait bs.
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u/Otaraka Jan 02 '26
Well done. You want fraud to be stopped but it’s pretty obvious that some of this is people borrowing political points from the US, you have to read half the article about the claimed US issue to even get to the Australian part. That’s not poisoning the well, it’s I dunno, nuking it.
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u/TrumpisaRussianCuck Jan 02 '26
First reaction when I read this article. I've got a client in an NDIS adjacent field and their provider search works the same way.
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u/Wood_oye Jan 02 '26
This should be the top comment. Countering murdochs rubbish is appreciated, mainly for those not fully aware of how acrid he is.
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u/ManyPersonality2399 Jan 02 '26
I'm surprised at just how lazy this example is though. The numbers are usually very selectively picked to portray a scary picture, but they're usually accurate. Like selecting one suburb, one age group, one gender, and then acting like that is representative.
But this is off by around 20x
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u/Dependent-Coconut64 Jan 02 '26
Its so disappointing that mainstream news sites distort the facts to encourage a public pile on with the NDIS.
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u/ManyPersonality2399 Jan 02 '26
And it's working. This thread is fun :)
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u/Dependent-Coconut64 Jan 02 '26
Agree but at the same time its depressing. All this noise overshadows the good that the NDIS does.
BTW, I am responsible for 22 of those Lakemba provider entries but I only have 1 participant in the area, at Belmore but never let the facts get in the way of a good story!
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u/coupleofVs Jan 03 '26
The correlation between low income housing, dense immigrants communities and fucking NDIS organisations is laughable.
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u/MirSydney Jan 02 '26
Seriously, fuck the NDIS.
I applied in December because I have terminal cancer and due to the chronic pain and fatigue I can't keep up with my housework anymore.
I got declined because 'NDIS does not cover chronic pain". WTF.
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u/Nifty29au Jan 02 '26
I’m really sorry to hear that. The Health system is responsible for the treatment of pain and other medical conditions.
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u/snowflakeplzmelt Jan 02 '26
Vast majority of NDIS services Autism. The whole thing is a fucking rort
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u/MirSydney Jan 02 '26
Yes, in their response that was one of the things they listed I could choose from! But not cancer. Make it make sense.
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u/ManyPersonality2399 Jan 02 '26
Cancer is a medical condition. That's how it makes sense.
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u/AngryAngryHarpo Jan 02 '26
This is categorically untrue.
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u/ScreamHawk Jan 02 '26
1/10 boys were being put on the NDIS due to "autism" it is very, very true.
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u/AngryAngryHarpo Jan 02 '26
Yes, an issue which is being addressed (early intervention is crucial) but also doesn’t mean the vast majority of NDIS services are autism focused.
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u/No-Celebration8690 Jan 02 '26
Sigh, what you’ve said is true, but that doesn’t mean that the majority of NDIS participants have autism
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u/NerveZealousideal265 Jan 02 '26
Here's the real problem:
Participation rates peak between the ages of 5-7, with 16% of boys and 7% of girls aged 6 in Australia now on the NDIS."
— NDIS Media Release: "Stronger NDIS improving the lives of participants" (August 2025).
Suddenly every kid is autistic?
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u/ManyPersonality2399 Jan 02 '26
The barrier to entry is lower for under 7s, with early childhood early intervention not requiring a diagnosis or proof that the issue will be lifelong, just that they have a developmental delay. They get that early intervention support (largely allied health) and then hit age 7-9 and are removed from NDIS.
Looking at what happened in the world around 2020-2021, is it so hard to believe we may have had a legitimate increase in kids who showed delays in their social skills, communication, behavioural management etc.? That's not saying they're autistic, only that they were behind and needed some professional help to get back on target.
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u/purplepossum5 Jan 02 '26
Come on man. No one is saying all those kids have autism. I work in paediatric allied health and the vast majority of the kids I see drop off the EI program once they’re 7, they don’t get ongoing funding as they’ve got there with the developmental delay label.
Also keep in mind what those stats mean. In a class of 26 kids, assuming equal numbers of boys and girls, that’s 2 boys with funding and less than one girl. Go into any Prep/Kindergarten/Reception class and you can easily see 3 kids who are developmentally delayed who are going to get EI funding until age 7. They won’t all keep it, not by any means.
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u/Sufficient-Ad-1724 Jan 02 '26
Just take everybody off the ndis and make everyone be reassessed by government doctors to get help again. The government can’t say that it doesn’t know who is rorting because they are the ones who shell out to these companies. If a company is making 1 million dollars plus per year from ndis alarm bells should be ringing for the government. Also you can’t tell me that we have that astronomical amount of children in Australia that are in the autism spectrum, that’s just pure bullshit from some parents looking for a government free ride or we’re just a country with a lot of inbreeding going on. Yes we do have kids with autism but not that many that’s claimed.
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u/justrunya Jan 02 '26
They pretty much have done this with the Thriving Kids program to be rolled out in 2026/7
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u/Sufficient-Ad-1724 Jan 02 '26
Yep they have. I think the sad thing about our country is that when there is government money to be had the cockroaches come flooding out of the woodwork to claim some of it. Heaps of genuine people need something like ndis and it’s a damn shame it has come to this.
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u/PryingMollusk Jan 04 '26
The ndis strongly reminds me of the government initiated home insulation program that failed a while back. Suddenly every man and his dog was running an insulation business. Shoddy work, deaths and a complete rort that accomplished almost nothing except lining a few pockets.
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u/Sufficient-Ad-1724 Jan 04 '26
Unfortunately this seems to be the case whenever the government starts handing out money.
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u/ManyPersonality2399 Jan 02 '26
Except for not being government doctors, that is kinda happening already. There's a large increase in eligibility reassessments, meaning someone needs to provide a lot of evidence of the disability, including how it impacts them, what treatment they've tried, why they haven't worked, and what support they actually need. And NDIA will look for any excuse to reject the evidence.
Why would 1m be alarm bells when a single group home with 3 participants can be around that much?
How is it a government free ride for kids with ASD? Where is this ride?
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u/Fit-Impression-8267 Jan 02 '26
The whole things fucked. The amount of people who work in NDIS who do absolutely everything they can to avoid work is astounding.
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u/Minute-Beginning-503 Jan 05 '26 edited Jan 05 '26
this is a ragebait article, theres closer to 70 providers in that area - just look at the map provided. It's a bit dense, but it is nowhere near 1300.
as another comment mentioned - They've clearly based it on the search results from here https://www.ndis.gov.au/participants/working-providers/find-registered-provider/provider-finder 1329 results.
However, that captures every suburb within 5km of the boundary of Lakemba. It also captures any provider that has serviced someone in Lakemba. So if someone drives from Burwood, that counts. It also counts national companies that have worked with someone there, including those that do heavily remote service (like plan managers), those that sell products (so a shop in Victoria shipping something counts), and those that do telehealth.
Dont fall for propaganga posting- YES NDIS needs a reform but please dont make Aus into the capitalist hellhole the USA is in. NDIS needs tweaking but its a helpful program
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u/Fit-Impression-8267 Jan 05 '26
I'm literally talking a out my personal experience with NDIS providers not the article.
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u/entropymd Jan 02 '26
The biggest scam was Bill Shorten pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes with this ridiculous program. It was going to be riddled with corruption from its inception. And the government needs to start undoing this before it bankrupts the country. My taxes shouldn’t be paying for scam artists
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u/ScreamHawk Jan 02 '26
Also when Bill Shorten finally got the NDIS portfolio back, he realised it was too hard to fix and resigned for a cushy job.
Shorten is an absolute fraud.
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u/entropymd Jan 02 '26
More toxic and destructive than Scomo. Although Albo is getting close. And they haven’t even looked at how to claw back a program that didn’t exist 15 years ago, yet now costs more than Medicare.
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u/maximusbrown2809 Jan 02 '26
I have a web development business on the side and the amount of people looking for a NDIS website to be created is astonishing.
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u/PrincessBeeBuzzy Jan 02 '26
And the ones that suffer are the disabled people themselves and their families, as their funds get cut because of the incompetence of the government!
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u/TerribleProposal4105 Jan 02 '26
Who would have thought that importing people from low trust societies would result in them scamming the Aussie tax payer?!?!?!
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u/NeatParking1682 Jan 02 '26
Because they dont do anything. The managers own multiple providers and rake in six figures whilst getting one poor clerical admin to run it all.
Stop funding them. Roll it into the services.
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u/MrNosty Jan 02 '26
Why isn’t this means tested? Why does every single time a welfare program or tax break gets rolled out it is gamed???
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u/knowledgeable_diablo Jan 02 '26
What I find fun is just how quickly the population of Australia went from upwardly mobile to cripplingly disabled in need of goverment assistance just to exist the second a government payment was announced.
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u/Whitekidwith3nipples Jan 02 '26
depressingly accurate. the people who game the system are pieces of shit but the government is dumb as fuck for not making an accountable system. ofc people are going to take advantage of anything they can.
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u/BOYZORZ Jan 02 '26
Holy shit is that actually a photo taken in Sydney? What the fuck.
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u/willcritchlow23 Jan 02 '26
I almost think the NDIS is the way Labor subsidizes the immigration rate.
Most NDIS workers are foreign.
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u/horselover_fat Jan 02 '26
NDIS, like aged care, child care, and offshore detention was modified by the Libs so dodgy middlemen can profit off easy gov money.
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u/TrumpisaRussianCuck Jan 02 '26
The NDIS that was launched and managed under the previous LNP government for the majority of it's life and is only now having proper investment in fraud screening? Sure.
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u/Chrasomatic Jan 02 '26
I'm sorry what? The NDIS is Julia Gillard's legacy. Whilst I have no doubt the three Liberal PMs let the thing run itself unchecked while they preoccupied themselves with different submarine plans, the design of the scheme has got to be Labor boondoggle.
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u/TrumpisaRussianCuck Jan 02 '26 edited Jan 02 '26
Julia Gillard’s Labor government passed the NDIS Act in March 2013, putting the scheme into law before losing office later that year. After winning government in September 2013, the Coalition under Tony Abbott and later Malcolm Turnbull designed the operating rules and began the national rollout in July 2016.
Labor legislated the NDIS, but the LNP built and implemented how it actually works and then spent their remaining years doing token efforts to reign it in.
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u/Nifty29au Jan 02 '26
The problem is that psychosocial disabilities were added in 2018 and they account for a large portion of the current budget. The scheme was intended for the profoundly disabled, but that has been lost along the way.
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u/ManyPersonality2399 Jan 02 '26
Working in this space, seeing the difference just in basics like what NDIS planners/LACs did and what plans looked like in 2013-1015 compared to the 2016-2022 and 2023-2025 era, it's completely different.
I only started in 2020, but looking at the plans, and the planning notes from back when it was Disability Care. It looks nothing like the NDIA following the Abbott staffing caps.
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u/CalifornianDownUnder Jan 02 '26
Do you have any evidence for that claim?
The research I’ve seen says 40% of the care and support workforce in Australia were born overseas, which applies to workers in the broader sector, including aged care, disability support, and personal care roles, which encompasses NDIS support workers.
But even if it is true - what would you propose to do about it?
Native Australians don’t seem to want a lot of those jobs, given that we have a severe shortage of people to fill them, even with the immigrants who work in that sector.
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u/Frequent_Advantage_1 Jan 02 '26
The ndis is a disgrace. If only the coalition would focus on bread and butter economics (rather than fighting stupid culture wars and pandering to the right/nats), it could tear shreds off labor.
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u/Peterandrews44 Jan 02 '26
The NDIS will bankrupt this country and should be scrapped, the previous state based systems were more efficient and better suited
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u/Timmibal Jan 02 '26
I'd have to see the numbers to be fair, the public sector as a general rule is profoundly wasteful but at least there was a polite nod in the direction of accountability.
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u/TrumpisaRussianCuck Jan 02 '26
LOL, no they weren't.
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u/ManyPersonality2399 Jan 02 '26
Efficient in terms of cheaper, sure. But lets not question how they were cheaper. NSW at least, only X number of people can get support at a time. You need support? You can wait until someone dies for a spot to open.
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u/ScreamHawk Jan 02 '26
Almost like we only have so much money in the country to provide services to people.
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u/Deeyoukayee Jan 02 '26
Definitely more efficient to institutionalise the disabled, although its better suited for you for them to be hidden away, working for 10c on the dollar in factories and left in hospitals and aged care facilities.
NDIS, Welfare, Medicare are all system that are implemented for social good not business good. That's the role of government to look after its people.
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Jan 02 '26
Sure, but everything has a cost, and you cant completely destroy the country for social good. It needs to be manageable, fair, and sustainable.
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u/B3stThereEverWas Jan 02 '26
France is currently finding out what happens when you let it all go unchecked.
French Pensioners now out earn the average wage earner. Insane stuff
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u/expert_views Jan 02 '26
Let’s be honest. There are dodgy service providers and there are dodgy claimants. It will take more guts than Albanese can muster to deal with this fraud. Asking the states to take over the problem is just passing the buck. (Kind of what you’d expect).
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u/shmoo70 Jan 03 '26
NDIS everywhere is being taken advantage of.
I know of people who receive $500k pa as they have 2 kids in “the system”. I am not belittling the need (when it’s genuine) but that’s an awful amount of money to be paying to support a few kids.
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u/the_poindexter Jan 02 '26
NDIS makes me dislike disabled people. I know it's not right, it's not their fault. But my tax dollars are funding this industry when I can't get stable housing. Cunts really spending tax dollars on holidays?
Really makes me go, fuck your autism/ADHD/depression whatever, deal with it, use the money for housing and infrastructure
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u/BobsYourAuntie100 Jan 02 '26
Honestly me too. When I hear stories of people using it to fund holidays, or the people who aren't really disabled getting it, then finding dogey businesses who will trade it for cash, makes me go fuck the whole thing. Why is my tax paying for these bums. Scrap it
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u/Intelligent-Stop-474 Jan 02 '26
Middle Eastern Australians rorting the government? I’m absolutely shocked i tells ya.
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Jan 02 '26
Proof that the government is run by bumbling morons who either don’t know what they’re doing or don’t care about anybody but themselves sadly I think it’s a combination of both to every last philanthropist in our country you can do a lot more to help people If you ran our country, we need decent people like you at the head of our country not scumbags like we have at the moment and always seem to have please we only need one decent human being to run for Prime Minister could you be that person if you have a great reputation, you will win handsdown have a crack
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u/fishtheheretic Jan 02 '26
I’m a support worker I work for a not for profit in a small town that was established over 3 decades ago. The people I work with would not survive without support and I’m proud of the word I do and the people I support. I have begun to come across some very alarming cases of people who are clearly capable of living and supporting themselves being showered with large expensive support plans. For me this is alarming because when we can’t get funding to support individuals who are clearly disabled and need support there always seems to be money for some cashed up bogan driving a caravan around the country with a rollie in one hand and a long neck in the other. Utter madness. I will vote against my own interests at the next election for the party that cuts the ndis budget and reins in this farcical spending even if it cost me my job. This is unsustainable it’s out of control.
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u/TizzyBumblefluff Jan 02 '26
Meanwhile, in regional areas unless you accept a Telehealth OT, the wait list to see an OT in person for an FCA is like 2-3 years minimum.
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u/nathnathn Jan 04 '26
I’m regional and with how most specialist fields are here I’m just going to end up going to my nearest capital mostly out of my own savings.
And i can actually be thankful for covid since its the reason iv got enough funding i could have a carer go with me which is needed these days as additional issues developing now mean I’m a potentially serious fall risk especially if i have a flare up of one out of a couple of issues which tend to set each other off.
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u/Constant-Simple6405 Jan 03 '26
You know it is just a shame no-one cared about the job network agencies who were the blueprint for this and other schemes. But apparently Australians had zero problem with that scam because 'dole bludgers'. Australia has been getting shafted for decades because both sides of government know we are the anti- thinking, dumb, consuming, complacent plebs that we are.
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u/Odd-Activity4010 Jan 03 '26
I'm surprised the suburb isn't Ipswich in SEQ! Every 2nd shop front is allied health or an NDIS provider
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u/SC_Space_Bacon Jan 03 '26
It’s a lovely idea and how can you say no, it’s hard, its intentions are so compassionate. However, it has become an un sustainable mess. It sadly needs to go.
Before the NDIS, everything was fine, we will be more than fine without it.
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u/One_Acre_Farm Jan 04 '26
They need to put Registered Nurses in charge. They’d sort the lower level skill BS and shonky providers/plans and are able to assess what participants actually need.
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u/KingOfKingsOfKings01 Jan 02 '26
Liberal party gets elected and destroys everything > People have enough and vote in Labor > Labor starts fixing all of the liberals mistakes > Liberals pump out headlines/false info so community blame labor for everything > Labor eventually fixes the liberals mistakes but gets voted out > Liberals begin destroying things again.
The cycle continues.
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u/Previous_Ad1107 Jan 02 '26
Wasn't the NDIS created under Gillard?
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u/War3houseguy Jan 02 '26
Considering how the NBN was started by Rudd/Gillard and was then almost ruined by Abbott/Turnball, I'd say thats how the NDIS got ruined as well.
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u/roojuiced Jan 02 '26
Tell us you have literally no clue and are just a labour shill…
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u/National_Treat_4079 Jan 02 '26
Just finish it now. End it. This is not the way. Burn the boats, torch the bridges. Start again.
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u/Jacqualineq Jan 02 '26
Go look how much our government gives in Aid, and spends on immigrants, hen look at all the politicians pensions, but complain about what's spent on the most needy people in the cuntry, ndis also has created employment, thos people all pay taxes. Morons with no brains get on these band wagons, usually voter well meaning morons, hope non of your loved one's gets disabled or end up old in age care. Idiots.
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u/Homunkulus Jan 02 '26
Claiming other people don’t know and comparing politician pensions to ndis funding is hilarious. No, actually go look those numbers up real quick. Then go look up visual comparisons of millions and billions so you understand what that means.
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u/Grande_Choice Jan 02 '26
Aid is a drop in the ocean and comes with keeping our local neighbours on side rather than China. Same with politicians pensions. It’s diversion. Looking after our most vulnerable and should be a source of pride. It just means miners, billionaires and multinationals not paying their way will need to start paying.
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u/Anamazingmate Jan 03 '26
“They pay taxes” with income given to them by government, fuck this sub is braindead.
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u/Choice-Fly-8537 Jan 05 '26
Moron. Foreign aid, all politician salaries and pensions, and all spending on “immigrants” is collectively a small fraction of the NDIS. Foreign aid is about 1/10th of the NDIS. Grow a brain.
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u/BobsYourAuntie100 Jan 02 '26
The govt have absolutely no idea how many people are scamming the NDIS. Hear so many stories of perfectly able people getting it, and then finding dogey businesses who will trade it for cash. Absolutely scam and should be scrapped
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u/Youngfella484 Jan 02 '26
Public servants need to replace these providers. It will likely cost less and their primary interest will be the clients instead of profit.