Young Aussie’s $27,000 debt ends in tragedy

A 27-year-old Aussie had been spending money she believed she was entitled to, until a letter came in the post and changed everything.

Ben Graham

@bengrahamjourno

6 min read

August 21, 2024 - 2:12PM

WARNING: DISTRESSING

The heartbroken parents of a young Aussie who owed $27,000 say she took her own life after the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) started chasing her for the money.

Hannah Friebel, 27, had grown up a happy kid in bayside Melbourne. Her parents John and Jennie said she loved dancing and lit up a room when she walked in.

However, as she grew older, her family noticed a stark change in her personality.

Hannah became extremely defiant, and “walking around the streets with a stick, telling us we had to do certain things”, her mum Ms Friebel told A Current Affair.

“She was admitted to hospital with psychosis and mania,” she said.

It was clear that something was wrong. Not long after the admission, Hannah was diagnosed with type 1 bipolar disorder.

The young Aussie — who worked as an adjunct professor at Melbourne’s Monash University — had lived for four years with the diagnosis before turning to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) for assistance.

Hannah Friebel, 27, who died by suicide earlier this year. Picture – Supplied

She had been diagnosed with type 1 bipolar disorder. Picture – Supplied

It was then that she was given financial help under a “plan-managed” scheme from the disability body.

The NDIS website states that, under this plan, “people can either choose to self-manage their support, ask the NDIA to pay on their behalf or ask a third party to manage payments for them”.

Ms Friebel said Hannah just had to submit her invoices to and money would be released, however she had concerns about the system.

“If she’s well, that’s fine,” her mother said. “But when she’s not well, one of the symptoms of mania is grandiosity, big ideas, and excessive spending. And I’m thinking, how’s this going to work out for her?”

Amounts ranged from as little to $4 up to $5991 for counselling services and buying a “therapy dog”, as well as $3700 spent on food, which Jennie said her daughter ordered when she was unable to cook.

Hannah with her mum, Jennie. Picture: A Current Affair

The spending came to the attention of the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), which sent her a letter in September last year.

It stated Hannah had accrued a “total noncompliance amount” of $27,963.98 — on items she considered to be legitimate costs.

“This debt is payable back to the Agency under Section 182(2) of the NDIS Act and we are required under law to recover the funds,” the letter said.

Hannah’s parents said she spiralled after receiving the letter.

“From our perspective, pursuing that debt was what triggered her depression which ultimately led to her death,” Mr Friebel told A Current Affair.

“For the first time ever after receiving the notification, Hannah became depressed.

“We’d never seen it, the notification came in September and by October she was on antidepressants.”

Hannah was juggling her health issues while working at a hospital but ultimately had to resign — leaving her with no means to pay back the debt.

Despite this, Ms Friebel claimed, the NDIS kept calling every week, asking what sort of payment plan was in place to repay the money.

Hannah told her mother in April that she was “going for a drive” but never came home, having “plummeted” into deep depression and making two previous attempts on her life.

Hannah was told she owed $27,000 Picture: Supplied

The NDIS was asking for a payment plan. Picture: Supplied

Two weeks before Hannah took her life, the NDIA contacted Ms Friebel to say they would stop pursuing the debt at “this time”. It did nothing to improve Hannah’s outlook.

Ms Friebel said she will never forget going to answer a knock at the door and finding a police officer “flushed and red in the face” after finding Hannah’s body.

“And they said we’re OK, are you OK?” Ms Friebel said.

“I said ‘I’m OK’ I just want to see my daughter, and they said ‘she’s dead’.”

The Friebels don’t hold the NDIA responsible for Hannah’s death but believe changes to the agency’s processes could prevent a similar tragedy from happening.

“Rather than managing their spend through audit many months and years later, I think they should be reviewing and approving transactions at the time they’re submitted, so that there is no risk of ever being in debt,” Mr Friebel said.

A former unnamed NDIS staffer told the program that the number of people of self-managed plans “has gotten out of hand”.

The NDIA extended its deepest condolences to Hannah’s family and acknowledges the “incredibly difficult time they have faced”.

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There are calls for changes to the NDIS. Picture: Supplied

“The agency continues to meet and work with Hannah’s family to support how we can strengthen the way we support participants, such as improvements recently put in place and proposed legislative changes in the Getting the NDIS Back on Track Bill,” a statement read.

“The NDIA is aware of the challenges associated with the claiming process and has already implemented changes to improve this.

“Since January 2024, the NDIA has been implementing significant improvements to ‘make it easier for people to get it right’ and thus minimise risk of misuse or risks of debt.”

NDIS minister Bill Shorten described Hannah’s death as a terrible tragedy. He said the previous payment system shouldn’t have allowed this to happen.

“It is important to acknowledge the agency was not pursuing Hannah’s debt before her death, and I’m advised they had informed her and her family of this fact beforehand,” he said.

“I know the agency is speaking directly with John and Jenny about reforming the NDIS payment systems, and many of the changes contained in the law that we hope to pass in the next day will strengthen the payments system to avoid accrual of claims.”

SANE CEO Rachel Green said Hannah’s case was a “tragedy”.

“All NDIS participants should have the right to exercise informed choice and control over their package but we also need to recognise that the current NDIS system is complicated even for those in professional roles,” she said.

“This tragedy emphasises the need for urgent improvements in the way people are assisted to both access and navigate the NDIS and in particular, the need for more frequent review and earlier intervention of expenditure before major debt is incurred.

SANE CEO Rachel Green.

“As highlighted in the recent NDIS Review, improvements to the delivery of foundational and navigation supports will make a huge difference if these are well designed and based on lived experience.

“Most importantly, the types of NDIS support provided must be easily accessible and delivered by trusted organisations who have the interests of that individual at heart.”

Major breakthrough on NDIS funding

The Albanese government has finally struck a deal with the states that should result in the stalled Bill to overhaul the National Disability Insurance Scheme pass parliament.

NDIS Minister Bill Shorten on Wednesday announced the state and territory governments, who will be responsible for providing more services, had agreed to amendments, which will help significantly lower the ballooning cost of the scheme by $14.4bn over four years.

The states had been pushing back over the federal government’s plan to shift some of the NDIS functions back to the states.

Amendments to the Bill will focus on introducing faster time frames to approving NDIS rules, and changes which will mean disputes will be escalated to premiers or chief ministers.

NDIS Minister Bill Shorten has announced a breakthrough on the Bill to overhaul funding for the scheme. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

New rules that affect people with disability and governments will also now require only a majority of support from first ministers, instead of a unanimous support.

“There has been a lot of anxiety first and foremost, I just say to people with disability and participants the message is that the states and the federal government are getting their act together and people with disability and participants are not a political football,” Mr Shorten said.

“The federal government wanted to make sure the states played their part, and we are satisfied the undertakings from the states in the proposals also do that.”

The Bill had been held up in the Senate, but now with the approval of the Coalition and the states, it will likely be passed once it goes to a vote on Thursday.

The NDIS Bill to overhaul the service should now pass through parliament. Picture: NewsWire / Brenton Edwards

Mr Shorten said the legislation would create the scaffolding for a reformed NDIS, which will create significant changes to who can access the scheme, and create tighter controls as to what services can be accessed.

He flagged participants will get a “clear steer” of the changes, including plans to scrap automatic budget top up, and instances where plans are exhausted early.

“The passing of this legislation is basically the construction of the scaffolding which will allow us to co-design unique assessment tools, new budget tools,” Mr Shorten said.

“It will allow us to resolve our consultation with people with disability about a list of what you can spend money on and what you cannot spend money on.

“This will always be a work in progress but as we have seen, we are committed to making sure the scheme is here for the future. It is going at an unsustainable rate.”