SA families face scramble to find NDIS help after Adelaide business My Care Planner set to close

A mum with heart failure and another with lung cancer, who both have kids with disabilities, are among the hundreds of South Australians impacted by the closure of an NDIS business.

Tracy Davey, who has heart failure and three children with autism, now has the difficult task of finding a new NDIS provider for her kids after an Adelaide business was forced to close its doors.

She is one of hundreds of people in South Australia impacted by the closure of a well-respected business providing essential support for families like hers.

This week Gabby Hall, owner of My Care Planner, reluctantly announced she was shutting down her business at the end of August.

Most of the clients are local because unlike similar providers she has an office, so clients can meet their support co-ordinators and plan managers face-to-face.

The closure follows a decision by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) – which runs the scheme – to freeze pay for support co-ordinators and other services for the fifth year in a row, making the business unviable.

A number of NDIS businesses from across the country closed immediately after the pay freeze was announced at the end of June – with hundreds of others indicating they will pull out of the NDIS in the next six months.

Gabby Hall, Managing Director My Care Planner, her business is shutting down in August with 500 clients that will be impacted, pictured on July 10th, 2024, in front of her Adelaide office. Picture: Tom Huntley

A good support co-ordinator can save the taxpayer money, by making sure clients are matched with quality providers where they see better outcomes, or help troubleshoot.

People with complex cases are often given a limited number of hours a year for help from a support co-ordinator.

A support co-ordinator can claim a maximum hourly fee at $100.14. Out of that comes the cost of the business, as well as other employee benefits, meaning good quality providers are finding it harder to remain viable.

Ms Davey, a single parent to Katherine, 16, Noah, 14, and Maddison, 12, relies on My Care Planner’s support co-ordination service to manage their various therapies, and complicated schedule, in the most economical way for the family.

Noah, 14, Katherine, 16, Maddison, 12, and mum Tracy Davey, 47, from Adelaide. All three have autism. Mum Tracy has heart failure. SUPPLIED

She now fears she will struggle to find a support co-ordinator willing to take on all three of her children, because of their complex cases.

“Between the three of them there are multiple therapies and appointments,” Ms Davey said.

“It is hard to juggle all of that without help.

“Gabby and her team are absolutely amazing. They make you feel you are genuinely cared for. If there is ever an issue they sort it out.

“I am in heart failure and I need to reduce stress.”

Another client is Amber, 13, who has an intellectual disability.

Her mother Trish Van Oevelen, 58, from Hackham West, said this will be the fourth support co-ordinator she will have to find in 18 months.

“The first was absolutely terrible, the second was shonky and the third one, Gabby’s, was absolutely amazing, but now they’re closing because of the pay freeze,” Ms Van Oevelen, who has stage 4 lung cancer, said.

Ms Van Oevelen said before finding My Care Planner they had a support co-ordinator that ripped them off.

“Amber was being charged thousands and nothing was ever done,” Ms Van Oevelen said.

“The first one we had was just hopeless.”

She said she doesn’t have a clue about how to find the right support for Amber, which is why she is worried she won’t find another good one like her current one at My Care Planner.

“The shonky ones just put the fees through and you see the plan funds going down,” Ms Van Oevelen said.

Originally published as SA families face scramble to find NDIS help after Adelaide business My Care Planner set to close