NDIS to spend $50m to fight people appealing cuts

[bear]

NDIS agency to spend $50m on lawyers to fight people with disability who appealed funding cuts

Critics argue national disability insurance scheme participants are increasingly being pitted against solicitors from top firms

The agency running the national disability insurance scheme is on track to rack up nearly $50m in fees to private law firms this financial year, as it defends itself against people with a disability and their advocates appealing cuts to support packages.

New figures published in response to Senate estimates questions on notice show the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) spent $41.4m in the 10 months to 30 April 2022, a 140% increase on the previous 12 months.

With the agency spending an average of about $4m a month on fees to external firms, including $5.6m last month, it could be expected its total legal bill may hit $50m for the 12-month period.

By comparison, the agency spent only $17m in 2020-21 and $13.4m in 2019-20.

It comes after a significant increase in the number of NDIS participants appealing cuts to their funding packages and the denial of supports.

The NDIA has already come under fire for the frequency with which it engages private firms to defend appeals cases brought by people with disability and their families. These include people appealing reductions to funding packages.

Critics argue this sets up a situation where people with disability and their advocates, often not lawyers, are pitted against solicitors from some of the country’s top firms.

The $41m paid to private lawyers to defend the NDIA at the administrative appeals tribunal (AAT) also pales in comparison to the funding provided to advocates and legal aid to assist people with disability in their appeals.

Mary Mallett, the chief executive at Disability Advocacy Network Australia, said legal aid commissions and advocacy organisations had received about $13.5m from the Department of Social Services for 12 months’ work assisting NDIS participants at the AAT and in the earlier internal review process.

www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jun/01/ndis-agency-to-spend-50m-on-lawyers-to-fight-people-with-disability-who-appealed-funding-cuts

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[nomadic]

More money is spent on paying lawyers to stop the disabled from getting help than it would cost to actually help them. Defies all human logic and decency. SURELY the ALP will end this total Hillsong based madness. GGGGGRRRRROOOOOWWWWWLLLLL.

[bear]

"The agency running the national disability insurance scheme is on track to rack up nearly $50m in fees to private law firms this financial year" and considering they "spent $41.4m in the 10 months to 30 April 2022", it wouldn't surprise me.

Hopefully after the end of the financial year; whenever that might be for government, we might see positive changes to policy in this regard. I'm not quite ready to give up on Labor until at least next year sometime, and I'm sure there'll be commercial in confidence clauses, exit strategies and contract end dates for the new government to be considering and working through. Can't have silks being tossed out like tradies and hopeful owners from a failed ponzi scheme; that just wouldn't be cricket!!

How long ago was the election.....six months or two weeks?? Cheers 🐻

[nomadic]

I heard Shorten say the first thing they would do is fix this total mess of a backlog of appeals and then end it. Time only will tell.