Serious flaws for NDIS support in North Queensland: Kismet

A report from Kismet’s Digital Care Index shows there are serious flaws in NDIS service, with participants in Kennedy, Dawson and Capricornia facing significant barriers to care.

Kismet Care Index has found NDIS service delivery shortfalls across North Queensland.

Millions of dollars in NDIS funding are going to waste in the state’s north, with a new report revealing that barriers to access vital services are crippling NDIS support across the region.

Data from digital health organisation Kismet shows only 66 per cent of NDIS participants in northern electorates, including Kennedy, Dawson and Capricornia, were utilising their allocated funding, leaving millions of dollars in support going unused.

CEO Mark Woodland said the data showed only 66 per cent of people were using their plans.

“So all that means is there’s funding that’s going unused, which by default means people aren’t able to find the services that they’re looking for,” he said.

“When someone actually finds a service, they usually have a choice between one or two and there’s no actual choice sitting there.”

The organisation uses transaction data for their reporting, asking questions such as what are people spending, what are they using their budgets on, where are they spending it geographically, and the providers they are using in that spending.

Kismet CEO Mark Woodland hopes to improve the outcomes of North Queenslanders struggling with NDIS services.

Kismet software engineer Daniel Lombard said the transaction level data helped them understand three key pieces of information.

“The first is utilisation, which is a real high topic in terms of how people are spending their support plans,” he said.

“Then the second part is service gap time, so how long are people waiting in general between different supports.

“And the last piece is supply concentration, so are people going to the same suppliers all the time or are they diversifying suppliers that they go to for the same supports.”

Mr Lombard said that an important part for Kismet is the privacy of the information, meaning no NDIS participants name, disability details or home addresses are in the numbers.

“It’s simply what are the dollar amounts moving for budgets in different areas, like where are folks based on a postcode basis,” he said.

Mr Woodland hopes to improve the outcomes of people struggling with NDIS services in North Queensland through Kismet’s Ready-Set-Connect events.

Kismet's Ready-Set-Connect events help connect people with NDIS services.

“So there people connecting with other people through the same challenges, they can share stories of how they solve those challenges,” he said.

“But also connect you with local providers that you might not have found, that might not be on Google search, all these different ways that you can connect and making sure that people don’t fall through the cracks.”

An NDIA spokesperson said that the number one priority is ensuring participants and their families receive disability supports they need, no matter where they live.

“We are working collaboratively with local communities to help ensure more people can access the services they need,” the spokesperson said.

“We are working with communities in remote areas and focusing on a range of market interventions to improve access to all elements of the NDIS including information and education, community connection and connection to service providers.”

Originally published as Serious flaws for NDIS support in North Queensland: Kismet