NDIS crackdown welcomed:Organised gangs infiltrate scheme
Jun 13, 2022 11:21:44 GMT 7
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Post by bear on Jun 13, 2022 11:21:44 GMT 7
NDIS crackdown welcomed by advocates as organised gangs infiltrate scheme
“There’s very few things more despicable in life than crooks taking money, which is due to go to disabled people,” he said.
Experts say scheme ‘not working well for everyone’ after Bill Shorten says Labor will target fraudsters
Providers and peak bodies have welcomed a planned crackdown on fraud and other criminal activity inside the national disability insurance scheme. They say organised gangs and dodgy services have for too long undermined the system and disadvantaged vulnerable people.
The new Labor government has also been urged to quickly engage with state governments on better integrating disability support into mainstream education, health and employment systems, with concerns over neglect of “tier 2” supports for people who can’t access the NDIS.
“The NDIS, when it works, is transformational. But it’s not working well for everyone,” said Mary Sayers, CEO of Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA).
“Disability is way bigger than the NDIS, and disability policy needs to be bigger than the NDIS.”
NDIS minister Bill Shorten said the new Labor government will crack down on fraud and rip-offs inside the scheme. The Herald Sun reported on Sunday that the Australian Crime and Intelligence Commission claimed as much as 5% of the $29bn scheme – or $1.45bn – was being stolen each year by fraudsters and organised crime gangs, including falsified bookings, inflated invoices, or invoices charged through stolen information.
Approached for comment, the ACIC’s CEO, Michael Phelan, would not speak directly on fraud in the NDIS, but said his organisation “has intelligence on serious and organised criminals targeting commonwealth-funded programs.”
“This is classified information and not available to the public,” Phelan said in a statement.
“Professional facilitators, including criminally complicit accountants and registered tax agents, are assisting serious and organised crime groups to defraud government programs and schemes … Serious and organised crime groups will continue to look for vulnerabilities in Commonwealth-funded programs in order to exploit the system.”
In an interview on the ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday, Shorten confirmed he was concerned by the “disturbing” trend, and that the incoming Labor government would take action.
“There’s very few things more despicable in life than crooks taking money, which is due to go to disabled people,” he said.
Shorten said Labor had “all options on the table to make sure we protect taxpayer money”, claiming the former Coalition government had not done enough to stop fraud or investigate criminals targeting the disability sector.
Laurie Leigh, CEO of National Disability Services, backed moves to address fraud in the system.
“Such criminal activities undermine the important role that genuine providers play in meeting the significant needs of people with disability, and divert resources from NDIS participants who rely on the scheme,” she said.
Mary Mallett, CEO of Disability Advocacy Network Australia, said the crackdown was overdue.
“Advocates around the country see some of the low level versions of what he’s talking about with fraud. We don’t necessarily see the organised crime, but we’ve heard of it,” she said.
Mallett said her organisation more commonly saw issues of people being overcharged for services, or not having services delivered at all. She was also concerned at some unscrupulous service providers not giving greater choice to people they work with.
“Providers have an incentive to hang on to the people worth the most amount of money. The incentive is problematic now, because the providers don’t want people with the highest packages to have choice and leave them,” Mallett said.
Shorten, on the ABC, decried a lack of “transparency” in NDIS pricing and said the scheme should have “a pricing system which makes sense”.
Mallett said greater transparency in pricing would help address fraud or scams, including instances of providers having a “twin rate” – one price for people without an NDIS package, and another higher price for those with government support.
“We’d welcome more work being done on fair pricing. People expect it to be reasonable, but some NDIS participants feel like they’re being ripped off at every turn,” she said.
“[Twin rates] happens and we hear about it a lot. That’s why some people prefer to book services without saying they’re an NDIS participant. It’s ridiculous they have to do it, to hide that the money is coming from the NDIS, but it’s what people have to do.”
Shorten described the NDIS – set up by the Gillard Labor government in 2013 – as “a bureaucratic nightmare” and “a maze of red tape”, hinting at changes to accreditation and registration requirements for service providers, and relaxing rules around assessment of disability claims.
“Providers have an incentive to hang on to the people worth the most amount of money. The incentive is problematic now, because the providers don’t want people with the highest packages to have choice and leave them,” Mallett said.
Shorten, on the ABC, decried a lack of “transparency” in NDIS pricing and said the scheme should have “a pricing system which makes sense”.
Mallett said greater transparency in pricing would help address fraud or scams, including instances of providers having a “twin rate” – one price for people without an NDIS package, and another higher price for those with government support.
“We’d welcome more work being done on fair pricing. People expect it to be reasonable, but some NDIS participants feel like they’re being ripped off at every turn,” she said.
“[Twin rates] happens and we hear about it a lot. That’s why some people prefer to book services without saying they’re an NDIS participant. It’s ridiculous they have to do it, to hide that the money is coming from the NDIS, but it’s what people have to do.”
Shorten described the NDIS – set up by the Gillard Labor government in 2013 – as “a bureaucratic nightmare” and “a maze of red tape”, hinting at changes to accreditation and registration requirements for service providers, and relaxing rules around assessment of disability claims.
