The Australian Services Union has warned that for-profit providers are jeopardising the viability and integrity of the NDIS, and is urging the federal government to consider banning profiteering companies from the scheme.
The call comes after the ABC’s 7.30 program last night aired a story about hundreds of disability support workers being shortchanged their hard-earned pay, superannuation and other entitlements by a complex group of for-profit providers in the NDIS.
Over the last 18 months in NSW alone, the ASU has investigated 102 providers for underpaying workers and breaching the Fair Work Act, and all of these, bar two, have been for-profit providers.
“The NDIS is increasingly becoming a vehicle for profiteering providers to make a quick buck at the expense of the integrity of the scheme,” ASU NSW & ACT Secretary, and the union’s NDIS spokesperson Angus McFarland, said.
“As the union for NDIS workers, we see the raw data and hear from exploited workers every day. Our union is constantly playing whack-a-mole on dodgy providers who rip off workers. Virtually all of these bad players are for-profits.
“Many of these NDIS providers are ripping off workers then phoenixing or leaving the industry. But they don’t draw a line there - in our experience the same providers are also engaging in broader fraud of the system, ripping off NDIS participants and the taxpayer.
“Our union can’t point to a single for-profit provider where workers are happy, where participants’ goals and aspirations are met, and where there are no complaints or grievances to the regulators.
“When there is so much commentary about the sustainability of the NDIS, it’s time for a conversation about why we have providers with profit motives in the scheme at all. It’s time to scrutinise the motive and mix of providers in federally funded essential services from the NDIS through to aged care and childcare too.
“The proliferation of for-profit NDIS providers all began under the Coalition government where we witnessed a rise in rip offs, fraud and undermining of the promise of the NDIS largely driven by a marketised and deregulated system.
“To its credit, the federal government is cracking down on fraud in the NDIS but we need to have a bigger conversation about the clear patterns that are emerging.
“The NDIS was built on a promise to provide people with disability genuine choice, quality support, and the freedom to pursue their goals. That promise depends on properly paid workers who stay in the sector, and providers committed to quality supports not making a buck and gaming the system.”
Contact details:
Sofie: 0403 920 301
