NDIS funds millions in cruises, safaris, trips as invoices go unchecked

The National Disability Insurance Scheme spent millions of dollars sending clients on African safaris, international cruises and other overseas holidays as invoices went unchecked and the program’s multibillion-dollar costs ballooned.

Documents from the agency that runs the NDIS show that in 2023, nine companies charged the government $7 million for short-term accommodation.

A company offered trips to Kruger National Park in South Africa. Credit: iStock

The data, released under freedom of information, reveals details of the travel providers who were eligible to use the scheme because people with disabilities people could claim travelling would help build their life skills.

NDIS Minister Bill Shorten announced last week that a range of items such as travel, sex therapy and drug services would be banned in an attempt to reduce yearly growth in NDIS spending from 20 per cent to 8 per cent.

ClubMates Travel owner Peter Negri said there was a post-COVID-19 explosion in firms offering travel plans as NDIS recipients searched for ways to use government funding they were unable to spend during lockdowns.

“There would have been billions pissed down the toilet because they were not doing checks [on invoices]. There were companies popping up everywhere, competitors to us, using short-term travel for everything,” Negri said.

Bill Shorten (centre) was key to the conception of the NDIS during the Rudd government.Credit: Chris Hopkins

ClubMates’ website advertises holidays including a $14,000 trip to South Africa’s Kruger National Park. “Check how much you can claim on your NDIS plan with our calculator,” it states.

The ClubMates website, like others, informs recipients how to justify their travel so it is consistent with NDIS rules.

The trips, according to the website, allow people with disabilities to engage in “social activities, manage their travel budget and meet new people [to] help to reduce social isolation and improve overall wellbeing”.

Gary Elliot’s firm, Leisure Options, received $800,000 in 2023 to fund getaways for people with disabilities and their carers, a form of travel called “respite”.

He, like Negri, said Shorten’s crackdown had created an invoice-checking system, a major achievement before the minister leaves government in February next year.

“There’s no doubt this has been an area that has been abused and used incorrectly. I am aware of other organisations that have been doing this. They provide other services but they have added holiday and travel to their services,” Elliott said.

Other firms that received money for short-term accommodation are Fun Cruise Autism, Discover Holidays, Freedom 4U Supported Holidays and Care 2 Cruise.

The opposition MP tasked with finding wasteful government spending, James Stevens, said taxpayers would be rightly appalled. “The NDIS is meant to be supporting people with a disability, not funding safaris to Kruger National Park in South Africa,” said Stevens, who submitted the freedom of information request.

Liberal MP James Stevens says the NDIS should not be used for gratuitous spending.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Shorten said the NDIS would ramp up its compliance checks in coming weeks. The agency in charge of the scheme has sent “cease-and-desist” orders to firms advertising holidays.

“The old Liberal system was so bad, astonishing things like cruises, cars, phones, rent and major household items were being falsely claimed because there was simply no checks and balances in place,” Shorten said in a statement.

“No invoices or ABNs needed. Just put in exorbitant claims and no one would even check.

“Shock horror, the Liberal MP discovered former Coalition ministers could not stop the rorts. There will be tougher oversight on ABNs, invoices and explanations for any NDIS plan spending. None of this existed under the Liberals.”

Peter Thomlinson, of Care 2 Cruise, defended the spending.

“Although it would appear a cruise ship is a holiday, for people with severe mental ill health and anxiety it might be one of the few times in their life they can interact with the public in a safe environment,” he said.

The NDIS has changed the lives of many Australians with disabilities and their families, but the decade-old $49 billion scheme costs more per year than Medicare and aged care. The age pension still costs more than the NDIS.

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