New laws to hit dodge NDIS shonks with $16.5m fines, two-year jail sentences
New laws are set to bring in severe penalties for NDIS shonks who seriously injure or kill a participant.
NDIS providers who seriously injure or whose actions result in the death of a participant will be liable to fines of up to $16.5m or two years jail time, in new laws designed to crack down on dodgy services.
Labor will introduce the amendments to the NDIS Scheme Act on Wednesday, which will exponentially increase penalties for serious breaches of the Code of Conduct, currently set at a paltry figure of $400,000.
Dodgy providers who operate while unregistered will also be liable to the maximum penalties.
The Bill also introduces criminal penalties for failing to comply with a banning order which will carry a maximum five-year jail sentence.
The NDIS Commissioner, currently Louise Glanville, will also have the power to prohibit a person or business from promoting products like false ads which claim participants can use government funding for holidays and cruises.
Not complying with the order carries a fine of to about $400,000.
NDIS Minister Jenny McAllister said the “shonks and criminals” who abuse the system will be “held to account,” and ensure the NDIS doesn’t become a “get rich quick scheme”.
“Where we see fraud, too often we see violence, abuse and neglect,” she said.
“This isn’t just about cracking down on the bad actors in the system, it’s also about keeping NDIS participants safe.
“These are common sense measures that are ready to go. We also know there’s more work to do.”
The new laws come as the Labor is trying to crack down on the exponential cost blowouts of the $52bn-a-year scheme.
Currently the growth of the NDIS is tipped to rise to more than $100bn by 2035-36, despite the Labor reducing growth of the scheme from 22 per cent in 2022, to current levels of 10 per cent, with aims to lower that even further to 8.4 per cent by the end of the financial year.
The government is also amid tense negotiations with state governments to shift children with mild autism and other developmental delays to the Thriving Kids program slated to begin in tranches starting from July 1 next year.
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Originally published as New laws to hit dodge NDIS shonks with $16.5m fines, two-year jail sentences
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