Labor says it will work to fix a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) loophole that allows providers to claim for vague activities under the “other professional” category, which pays up to $194 an hour.
The government told media some providers had been charging the maximum amount for activities such as decluttering, horse therapy, personal training sessions and games of golf.
It comes after the government’s recent ban on certain services including animal therapy and wellness services.
Federal NDIS Minister Jenny McAllister said wellness supports and alternative therapies were not suitable uses for the scheme.
“We want every dollar to go to quality supports that genuinely improve the lives of NDIS participants,” she told ABC Radio National.
“Every dollar that goes somewhere else is one-dollar wasted, and we don’t want to see that continuing.
“The kinds of concerns we have is that people have continued to use a loophole to claim, in one example, golf lessons. This is totally inappropriate.”
Hourly Rate to Be Cut
The government is set to respond by changing the price guide so that the maximum hourly rate in the “other professional” category comes down to $156, while also increasing “analytic capability” and pursuing new powers through parliament to continue investigating dodgy providers.
McAllister said the government did not have an estimate on how much taxpayer money had been spent on superfluous services, but noted “a significant number of problems” with claiming in that particular category.
“We found that 40 percent of providers claiming under this category in the sample that we examined were incorrectly claiming from an NDIS support,” she told ABC Radio National.
Total NDIS participant support paid in 2024–25 came to $45.9 billion, but detailed information on the how funding is used in the “other professional” category—which has been around since 2019—remains unclear.
The government will not, however, remove the “other professional” category from claims, saying it is “necessary”.
“There are some kinds of supports that are delivered by qualified (people) with master’s levels degrees in education, where an ‘other professionals’ claim is appropriate, but we are now able, as a consequence of our investments, to digitally scrutinise the claims that are being made under this category,” McAllister said.
The government will seek new powers through parliament that would give the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) the capability to issue warrants and bring people in for questioning without having to rely on police to do so.
Claims of Fraud, Deception
The announcement comes just days after a woman in Darwin became the second person charged for allegedly using her position as a public servant to make around $18 million in fraudulent NDIS claims.
It is alleged a woman and man co-owned an NDIS business and the woman used her position within the Department of Children and Families to funnel vulnerable clients to her business.
While the pair had claimed more than $28 million since 2019, the Australian Federal Police allege $18 million of that amount is suspicious.
A Senate inquiry examining the government’s reforms has also found a “breathtaking” rate of exploitation of NDIS services in Northern Territory communities, AAP reported on July 30.
Darwin Community Legal Service CEO Rachael Bowker said there was little safeguarding from oversight bodies and a raft of predatory practices occurred, including “phoenixing”, where dodgy providers re-emerge under new business names.
“We have Aboriginal people being taken advantage of, their plans drained, and there is no one to stop that,” said Tania McInnes, head of Integrated DisAbility Action.
“There are people moving people from one community to another without their permission.
The Epoch Times contacted shadow NDIS spokesman Henry Pike for comment.
