Nearly 90 Percent of Small NDIS Plan Managers Show Signs of Non-Compliance

The National Disability Insurance Scheme NDIS logo is seen at the head office in Canberra, on June 22, 2022. AAP Image/Mick TsikasA high proportion of smaller National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) plan managers have “significant indicators” of non-compliance, a Senate inquiry into proposed government reforms has heard.Plan managers act as financial administrators for NDIS participants, processing provider invoices, submitting claims, tracking budgets, and ensuring spending complies with NDIS rules. They are paid by the scheme at no cost to the recipient.However, National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) Deputy CEO John Dardo told the Community Affairs Legislation Committee that smaller managers posed a high risk.Of those managing between 0 and 100 clients, “probably close to 90 percent had significant indicators of non-compliance,” Dardo said.Data matching with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) also revealed that 38 percent could not produce a compliant statement of tax records.Dardo explained that smaller plan managers often lack the revenue needed to maintain necessary oversight.“They’re unlikely to be able to invest in systems or scrutiny or governance that would give them confidence that they’re claiming appropriately and managing claiming appropriately,” he said.However, he noted that compliance issues were not restricted to smaller operators.“There are large plan managers that we have looked at. Some of them have gone into administration as a result of the activity that we’ve taken against them. Some of them are facing court,” he said.“We are targeting any plan manager where we’re detecting integrity risk, whether they’re micro, small, medium, or large. We have interventions that have been applied at all levels in that market.”Dardo told the committee there was no “silver bullet” to improving integrity.“You need lots of things to come together, and the overarching mantra that we’ve been using for the last two years, as we’ve been building or improving the systems, is that it should be much, much easier to get it right,” he said.He said the NDIA was working to make claiming easier for genuine providers while shutting out fraud.“For those that are doing genuine services as providers and genuine claiming as participants, it should be easier to get those services approved and funded,” he said.“For those that are non-genuine providers, and for non-genuine claiming, it should be harder for people to make those mistakes, whether it’s accidental, opportunistic, or deliberate.”In the 2024–25 financial year, the NDIS cost taxpayers about $49 billion.A peak body representing over 125,000 providers recently told the Senate that cost pressures were affecting their organisations and contributing to unsafe care for participants.Meanwhile, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) has expressed concern that organised crime groups, professional fraud syndicates, and scheme‑hopping networks have infiltrated the NDIS.