Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on the National

                     Disability Insurance Scheme

Submitted by: DGB Group Pty Ltd T/A HomeCare Australia. ABN: 12 151 267 319 Prepared by: Gaynor Lowndes, CEO

P.O. Box 724, Terrigal NSW 2260 Date: 17 May 2026

Registration Number: 4-3LLK-694

Executive Summary

HomeCare Australia has provided NDIS services since the Newcastle trial site commenced in 2013. As a frontline provider, we have observed significant changes within the Scheme, including growing concerns regarding participant safety, inconsistent regulation, fraud risk, workforce pressures, and the increasing number of participants exhausting their budgets before the end of their plans.

This submission strongly supports mandatory registration for all individuals and organisations delivering NDIS-funded supports. The current system allows unregistered providers to operate without the same level of oversight, compliance obligations, auditing, safeguarding requirements, or accountability as registered providers. In our view, this creates unacceptable risks for vulnerable participants and contributes to inconsistencies in service quality and oversight across the sector.

This submission also raises concerns regarding the current operation of plan management arrangements. Since the introduction of plan managers, HomeCare Australia has increasingly observed participants exhausting their budgets mid-plan, particularly where there is no Coordinator of Supports involved and providers have limited visibility over remaining participant funding. This creates significant risks for vulnerable people who may be left without essential supports before their plan period ends.

HomeCare Australia believes stronger regulation, improved financial oversight, greater transparency, and consistent national safeguards are essential to protecting participants and ensuring the long-term sustainability and integrity of the NDIS.

Introduction

HomeCare Australia appreciates the opportunity to provide a submission to the Joint Standing Committee on the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). As a frontline provider delivering in-home support services to vulnerable Australians, we have extensive experience supporting NDIS participants and witnessing both the strengths and shortcomings of the current system.

HomeCare Australia Submission

Primary Concern: Mandatory Registration of All NDIS Service Providers

HomeCare Australia strongly supports mandatory registration for all individuals and organisations providing services under the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

The current system allows unregistered providers to operate without the same level of oversight, compliance obligations, auditing requirements, or regulatory scrutiny required of registered providers. This creates inconsistency across the sector and exposes participants to significant risks.

The NDIS was established to protect and support vulnerable Australians. However, participant safety, service quality, and accountability cannot be adequately maintained when a large portion of the workforce operates outside the registered provider framework.

Why Mandatory Registration Matters

Participant Safety: Registered providers are subject to audits, worker screening obligations, incident management requirements, quality standards, and complaints oversight. These safeguards are essential for protecting vulnerable people.
Consistency of Care Standards: Participants deserve consistent minimum standards regardless of which provider they choose. The current two-tiered system creates confusion and uneven levels of accountability and, in my view, creates an environment where fraud is more likely to occur.
Protection Against Exploitation and Fraud: The absence of universal regulation increases the risk of financial abuse, neglect, poor-quality services, and exploitation of participants.
Workforce Professionalism: Mandatory registration would elevate professional standards across the sector and ensure workers understand their obligations regarding participant rights, safeguarding, and ethical care.
Fairness for Compliant Providers: Registered providers invest significant time and resources into compliance, audits, governance, training, and quality systems. Unregistered providers can operate with lower overheads while competing in the same market.

Concerns Regarding Plan Management Arrangements

HomeCare Australia also wishes to express serious concerns regarding the increasing reliance on plan managers within the NDIS and the unintended consequences this has created for participants and providers.

Operational Challenges Experiencing by Registered Providers

In our experience since the commencement of the Scheme, participants regularly began exhausting their budgets mid-plan only after the introduction of widespread plan management arrangements.

Under the current rules, where participants do not have a Coordinator of Supports (COS), providers frequently have little or no visibility over remaining participant budgets. This creates significant risks for participants who may unknowingly overspend early in their plan period and be left without essential supports later in the year.

While it is understood that plan management arrangements may have originally been introduced as a cost-saving measure and to provide participants with greater flexibility, the practical outcome has often been reduced oversight and fragmented accountability.

Providers delivering frontline supports are commonly placed in difficult situations where participants continue requesting services despite insufficient remaining funding. This creates stress for participants, families, and providers alike.

There is also growing concern regarding what will happen to vulnerable participants in the future when they run out of budgets mid-plan and are left without adequate supports for extended periods.

Operational Challenges Experienced by Registered Providers

While HomeCare Australia supports strong regulation and participant safeguards, the current regulatory burden placed on registered providers is substantial.

Providers face increasing administrative requirements, audit costs, reporting obligations, workforce shortages, and pricing pressures. Despite this, registered providers continue to carry the majority of compliance responsibilities while competing against unregistered operators who are not held to the same standards.

This imbalance risks discouraging ethical providers from remaining in the sector and may ultimately reduce participant choice.

Participant and Family Concerns

Participants and families often assume all NDIS providers are regulated equally. Many are unaware of the differences between registered and unregistered providers until issues arise.

Families regularly express concern regarding:

lack of transparency,
inconsistent worker qualifications,
inadequate complaints processes, 3

poor communication regarding budgets,
and difficulties seeking accountability when services fail.

Mandatory registration would improve public confidence in the Scheme and provide clearer protections for participants.

Recommendations

Introduce mandatory registration for all NDIS providers delivering funded supports.
Establish nationally consistent compliance and safeguarding standards across the entire sector.
Strengthen participant protections through improved monitoring, complaints handling, and incident oversight.
Review the role and accountability of plan managers within the NDIS.
Improve budget transparency for providers supporting participants who do not have a Coordinator of Supports.
Introduce earlier warning systems when participant budgets are approaching exhaustion.
Simplify and streamline registration processes for small and medium providers while maintaining strong safeguards.
Review NDIS pricing arrangements to ensure compliant providers remain financially sustainable.
Increase consultation with frontline providers when implementing major reforms affecting service delivery.

Conclusion HomeCare Australia supports a sustainable, participant-focused NDIS that prioritises safety, accountability, quality care, and ethical service delivery.

Mandatory registration for all providers is essential to restoring consistency, protecting vulnerable Australians, and ensuring public confidence in the Scheme.

Greater oversight and accountability surrounding plan management arrangements is also urgently required to prevent participants from exhausting budgets prematurely and being left without critical supports.

We thank the Committee for the opportunity to contribute to this important inquiry and welcome further consultation regarding the operational realities facing providers and participants across Australia.