NDIS assessors ‘lack empathy, too bureaucratic’

NDIS workers aren’t sufficiently trained to interact with scheme participants in an empathetic way, a new report finds

The longitudinal study found 75 per cent of carers reported NDIS planners or local area co-­ordinators had ‘capability deficits’.

Employees of the nation’s dis­ability insurance scheme are too often “inward-facing, technical and ­bureaucratic” in their dealings with people with disabilities and their carers, a new report found.

The study also revealed those in administrative positions working for the National Disability ­Insurance Scheme often lacked empathy or emotional intelligence in interactions with people with disability and their carers.

The longitudinal study found 75 per cent of carers reported NDIS planners or local area co-­ordinators had “capability deficits”. These workers were making decisions on complex disability cases, including deciding on the veracity of health expert reports, often without formal qualifications themselves, the report said.

Carers, in most cases parents of people with disability, felt planners and co-ordinators were “taking a gatekeeper role” designed to limit access to services rather than ­address the needs of the client, the study, Carers’ experience of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Workforce, published in the Australian Journal of Social ­Issues said.

“A foundational finding was that those in a local area co-ordinator or planner role privileged rules and funding guidelines and were inward-facing, technical and bureaucratic, resulting in carers questioning their priorities,” the study said.

“While some parents reported satisfaction with (these workers), three-quarters of carers reported capability deficits and developmental opportunities,” it said.

Study author John Hurley from Southern Cross University said some of the 80 participants in the year-long qualitative study ending in November 2019 reported “amazing outcomes” for the NDIS participant and their carer, but too many were on the receiving end of decisions made by NDIS staff without either the technical or non-technical skills to effectively do their job.

“By technical, I mean they would be dismissing the evidence of qualified health professionals when they have no qualifications in the field, or in some cases no qualifications at all,” Professor Hurley said. “And by non-technical, I’m talking about empathy and emotional intelligence. There were numerous examples where carers felt they weren’t being ­listened to,” he said.

“There is training that can support these workers to improve empathy and emotional intelligence. It is just a question of resourcing, and the right training, which should be in an appropriate institutional setting rather than internally within the organisation.”

The study offers examples of how carers were treated by case workers. “‘You go there and talk about your children, they punch it into the computer,” one said. “She sat in front of a computer, questions popped up and she typed answers,” said another.

While the carers’ experience with those providing frontline care to the person with disability was generally more positive, there were cases where there was a lack of interest in the job or the client.

Professor Hurley said the study highlighted the need for better training of care staff in administrative and caring roles, and a need for higher qualifications.

A spokeswoman for the ­National Disability Insurance Agency said that in the June 2021 quarter 83 per cent of participants rated their planning experience “good” or “very good”.

“The NDIA has continued to develop its frontline employees’ capability, including building ­interpersonal and communications skills,” the spokeswoman said.

“The NDIA notes that the study was completed in 2019, and since then the NDIA has continued to strengthen and develop the capability of staff and partners.”