Dodgy NDIS providers ‘ripping off’ workers, pocketing $9 an hour: Union

Frontline NDIS workers will protest in Sydney to put companies who underpay workers and keep the difference under the microscope as their union heads to Fair Work to ban the practice.

Australian Services Union Secretary Angus McFarland says there are too many NDIS rorts and workers being ripped off. Pictures: Supplied

NDIS providers are pocketing $9 of taxpayer dollars per worker per hour, while the governing body sits on its hands despite knowing 10 per cent of companies are doing the wrong thing.

Frontline workers will hold a protest outside the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) offices in Surry Hills on Wednesday, with the support of their union, to draw attention to the lack of action.

“We can no longer sustain a ‘whack-a-mole’ approach to deal with dodgy providers in the NDIS. There are too many rorts and workers being ripped off so we are taking action in Fair Work to ban this practice once and for all,” Australian Services Union Secretary Angus McFarland exclusively told The Daily Telegraph.

“All employers in the NDIS are funded by the Government to pay their workers properly and the correct Award rates but we estimate up to 10 per cent are ripping off workers, paying them up to $9 less an hour, despite receiving money from the taxpayer to pay them properly,” he said.

“Where is this money going? Simply into the pockets of dodgy providers. It’s got to end.

It’s unacceptable that the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) has its head in the sand on this issue.”

Angus McFarland says an estimated 10 per cent of providers are ripping off workers. Picture: Supplied

The union claims the NDIA has been sitting on an independent internal review of wage issues in the NDIS that it received in January this year.

That report said that the agency should play a more active role in stamping out wage theft in the sector by requiring NDIS providers to “attest” that they pay their workers properly.

“Their own internal report told them to act, and they’ve done nothing about this since January,” Mr McFarland said.

“We can’t get the NDIS back on track if dodgy providers are free to rip off workers and the taxpayer. We are protesting the NDIA to call on them to not break out hearts and instead to back our case and back action to end wage theft in the NDIS.”

Some of the workers say they have been ripped off by a service provide in western Sydney.

In November 2023, one company advised its disability support workers that they were unilaterally dropping their casual pay rates $32.73 – $8 less than the minimum Award casual rate.

The union claims this was done without any consultation with impacted workers. And it was done despite there being no change in their work or in the funding they were claiming from the NDIS for their clients.

An NDIA spokesperson said: “The NDIS provides participants funding through their plans to procure support services that best suit their needs. Providers have obligations to ensure they are compliant with industrial laws which are overseen by regulators including the Fair Work Ombudsman.

“The Agency has no formal powers to intervene in the employment conditions of workers employed by providers as these relate to industrial laws. This has been explained to the Australian Services Union on several occasions.

“The NDIA welcomes tip-offs about providers who are defrauding their staff and may also be complicit in defrauding participants and their families.

“The NDIA is working closely with over 20 other agencies in the Fraud Fusion Taskforce (FFT) to identify and remove fraudulent providers from the NDIS.

“This work includes short-term investigative activity as well as longer term interventions to help prevent fraudulent providers from defrauding anyone, including their own workers.”

PAY DROPPED OVERNIGHT

Workers who raised their concerns with management subsequently had their rostered hours reduced and some ended up with no hours at all and had to find work elsewhere.

The union has stepped in and referred the company to the Fair Work Ombudsman for investigation.

One of the workers, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal, said his pay was dropped overnight.

“When we raised this they cut our shifts and eventually gave us no shifts at all. Because of cost of living and needing to support my family I had to find other work.”

The man said he is “really glad” his union is “taking a stand to try and stop this happening”. “The NDIS is really important and so is the work we do. Workers should not be ripped off like this. We need the government and Fair Work to fix this problem now.”

It is understood that NDIS Minister Bill Shorten has been working with disability support workers, unions, employers and NDIS participants as part of his plan to shut the door on wage theft in the sector.

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Originally published as Dodgy NDIS providers ‘ripping off’ workers, pocketing $9 an hour: Union