Senator Nita Green calls for rethink of NDIS funding, support

Workforce and funding woes are hitting National Disability Insurance Scheme providers hard, with Senator Nita Green demanding the federal government come up with a solution to ensure people with a disability receive the support they need.

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WORKFORCE and funding woes are hitting National Disability Insurance Scheme providers hard, with Senator Nita Green demanding the federal government come up with a solution to ensure people with a disability receive the support they need.

The federal government yesterday said it would not go ahead with outsourcing work to deliver independent assessments for NDIS clients.

The government Commonwealth had hatched a plan to use government-contracted professionals to test participant’s functional capacity.

The proposal, which had not been formally ratified in the parliament, was rejected by the Queensland government, and other states, earlier this week, leaving the contracts dead in the water.

Now Labor is calling for the federal government to put forward a solution to help NDIS providers who may leave the industry without more support.

Abba Care Townsville and Cairns Chief Executive Officer Nicholas Mazorodze said providers were often putting in more work just to help clients than what was in their NDIS plan and organisations were operating with profit margins as low as 2 per cent.

“As a not-for-profit organisation, I’m not sure how long we would last in this industry if they don’t address the issue of price guides,” Mr Mazorodze said.

He said the “squeeze” on profit margins often affected the level of support given because they were forced to cut on time.

“We end up not going above and beyond, we need (to be doing) the best we can to cater for the people who are in need,” Mr Mazorodze said.

Nicholas Mazorodze.

Senator Nita Green. Picture: Stewart McLean

He said some clients needed capacity building to help them live independently and often providers did not have the time to properly provide that support.

“Since the NDIS came into play, that was one of the objectives to obviously build capacity to participate, so we are short changing them in a way,” Mr Mazorodze said.

He said the key for helping NDIS providers operate properly was adequate funding, workforce shortages and the award addressed.

“Since the NDIS started in Townsville … there is quite a few big players who came into the NDIS space and they’ve jumped ship because they realised the longevity and profitability was not feasible,” Mr Mazorodze said.

Cairns-based Senator Green said the government had tried to address the workforce shortages in the industry with the independent assessments instead of employing more people.

“The plan at the moment is that we need 31 per cent more NDIS workers over the next couple of years, it’s about 83,000 people,” Ms Green said.

“The government needs to come up with a solution to deliver the NDIS in a way that is sustainable, but also delivers the support that people need.”

NDIS Minister Linda Reynolds. Photo: Sam Mooy/Getty Images

Federal Herbert MP Phillip Thompson said NDIS Minister Linda Reynolds had ruled out the independent assessments, and he took her word on it.

He said there was always room for the government to do better, and could always strive to do better.

“If there are people who have slipped through or there is genuine concern, I’m 100 per cent happy to take it to Minister Reynolds,” Mr Thompson said.

“We need to always ensure that services are provided, and we’re not going to exclude people or move people out of the market, and if that becomes a risk factor, then I will go in and support them 100 per cent.”

Mr Thompson said he would also support Senator Green on increasing the workforce if it was what needed to be done.

He said it was a high target, but he would like to work with the Labor Party to try to achieve the goal. 

Originally published as Senator Nita Green calls for rethink of NDIS funding, support