NDIS ‘postcode lottery’ crisis as $14bn in crucial funding goes unspent for Australians with disabilities
Billions in taxpayer-funded disability support remains unused while remote Australians with disabilities struggle without basic services, creating devastating consequences for the nation's most vulnerable.
A lack of services in regional and remote areas means Australians with disabilities are not receiving the support they need, as billions of dollars in funding goes unspent each year.
Federal government figures show almost $14bn allocated to NDIS participants was unspent in 2024-25.
And the amount of unspent funds is now growing at 15 per cent a year.
Advocates warn vulnerable people are being subjected to a “postcode lottery” because the scheme’s market-based model means providers choose to operate in the most profitable areas.
They say it is catastrophically failing people in remote areas, but even city-based clients are collectively missing out on billions of dollars worth of services.
Among council areas across the nation, Brisbane had the most unspent funds in 2024-25 at $595m.
For NSW, the biggest unspent tally was for Central Coast at $201m. Greater Geelong had the biggest figure in Victoria ($230m) and for South Australia it was Onkaparinga in Adelaide’s outer south ($134m).
Overall, more than $4bn was unspent in NSW, $3.5bn in Victoria, $3.1bn in Queensland and $1.2bn in SA.
NDIS data also shows that nationally participants, on average, are receiving support worth 74 per cent of their funding allocation, down from 79 per cent three years ago.
Major city-based clients now use 79 per cent of their funding, on average, while those in very remote areas access just 55 per cent due to a lack of providers.
Children and Young People with Disability Australia CEO, Skye Kakoschke-Moore, said it was a “postcode lottery”.
“It is a real concern because any unspent money means there is unrealised potential in caring for a child who could benefit from a plan,” she said.
David Clarke, CEO of Geelong-based provider InLife, said his organisation worked with people with high-level needs who typically used most of their plans.
He said for that group, the issue was mainly finding a quality provider “and finding those providers is even harder in regional areas”.
“There’s also a real issue that people who can advocate for their needs are getting a better outcome, such as being more likely to access the scheme,” he said.
“The (National Disability Insurance) Agency is trying to fix that with standard assessments. “It’s not so much a postcode lottery – more that people in wealthier postcodes are more likely to be good advocates.”
One provider, who declined to be named, said NDIS service prices were not matching the “true cost of service delivery”.
“There is definitely more of a struggle to provide and receive services in regional and remote areas,” she said.
“This is due to shortage in labour markets, huge cost of living, shortage of accommodation for support workers, travel distances and time (taken).”
A spokesman for NDIS Minister Jenny McAllister said the scheme’s agency assessed all relevant information from participants and allied health teams when making decisions.
“It can take a long time and cost a lot of money for people to source supporting evidence to have a planning meeting,” the spokesman said.
“Thousands of pages of documents can be generated as a result of this process. We think there is a better way.
“This is why the NDIA has secured a world-leading support needs assessment tool to deliver new ways of planning that will be fairer, more consistent and easier to navigate for participants.”
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Originally published as NDIS ‘postcode lottery’ crisis as $14bn in crucial funding goes unspent for Australians with disabilities
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