NDIS kids’ parents face debt-collector threats after glitch

Some parents of children with disabilities have been threatened with debt collectors because of computer failures.

Kate Walczak is practice manager at Headstart Early Intervention Services. Picture: Kelly Barnes

Some parents of children with disabilities have been threatened with debt collectors and service providers are being forced to take out loans to pay staff because the National Disability Insurance Agency’s computer system has repeatedly failed.

Adelaide mother Rebecca, who did not want her surname published to protect her family’s privacy, told The Australian claims for her two primary school-aged children and her high school-aged child, who have autism, had not been processed which meant she could not pay service provider bills.

“They basically said you haven’t paid your account, we’re putting it in the hands of a collection agency,” Rebecca said.

She has since been using the family savings to try to pay bills, but said the little reserves they had were dwindling.

“In the next couple of weeks we’re going to get some hefty invoices and I’m hoping this will be sorted by then,” she said.

Headstart Early Intervention Services practice manager Kate Walczak said her organisation had taken an overdraft because it was owed $58,000 by the NDIA, and it had struggled to have any claims approved since June 16, when the system was shut down for an upgrade.

“We’ve had a few clients ­cancel and we’ve had ­others ring and say they can’t afford to pay upfront but we’ve said we’ll cover their costs,” Ms Walczak said.

Instead of spending five hours a week on claims, Ms Walczak has been working full time on the processing system. The payment debacle has made it difficult to pay her 30 staff. The company has more than 100 clients and specialises in early autism diagnoses, offering psychological, speech therapy and occupational therapy services. “We’re owed a lot of money, the backlog is massive,” she said. “We’re getting bits and bobs through. The last seven weeks have been an absolute nightmare.”

Occupational therapist Alison Copley said her business was owed at least $45,000.

“Disability carers have been given a raw deal,” she said.

The escalating payment problems have come as South Australian upper house Dignity for Disability MP Kelly Vincent said children were missing out on equipment to help them move and keep them stable in bed at night because payments were not being processed.

“This is now the eighth week that the NDIS computer system has not been functional,” Ms Vincent said. “People with disabilities and our family carers have again been given a raw deal.”

Southern Adelaide mother Ellen, who did not want her surname used, has two children with autism aged seven and six, and their psychologist cannot afford to treat them and nine other children without being reimbursed by the NDIA.

The NDIA online processing system was shut down on June 16 to shift to the MyPlace system for the national services rollout on July 1. However, the $22 billion scheme has been beset by system malfunctions, providers not being registered, claims not being processed and funding not going into family accounts.

About 430,000 indiv­­idualised plans will be ­assessed nationally and approved over the next three years.

Ms Vincent said the Prime Minister and the public had “kicked up a fuss” about the malfunctioning Census system, but people with disabilities were putting up with worse.

The federal government would not comment last night on which company was running the embattled computer system.

NDIS chief executive David Bowen said case managers were trying to call affected providers and had made emergency funds available to ensure people could access services.

“This is a big scheme, it’s got to be rolled out very orderly and methodically, it certainly doesn’t need to be impacting any further than it does now,” Mr Bowen said.

Assistant Disability Services Minister Jane Prentice said the agency had paid $51m to providers and emergency payments were being made.