Ability Homes Australia 21, 6-7 Seaside Parade North Shore, VIC, 3214 0472 906 922 www.ahau.com.au
Submission to the Inquiry into the Administration of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)
ATTN: Committee Secretary
Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit
PO Box 6021
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Phone: +61 2 6277 4405
jcpaa@aph.gov.au
Greetings Joint Committee of Public Account and Audit,
My name is Jarrad Hills, I am the founder and Director of Ability Homes Australia Ltd (AHA). I established AHA as a charity in 2016, inspired by my lived experience as the brother of a profoundly disabled sister, and her two friends, that were in need of assisted accommodation to prevent the need for placement in residential aged care. Ability Homes Australia is a fully registered ACNC charity and NDIS provider, designing, delivering and managing Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA), home modifications and accommodation services across Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, and South Australia. Over the last 10 years we have supported over 420 clients, been involved in over 210 home modifications and new build SDA’s, and are supported by a team that brings decades of combined experience in disability housing, project management, and lived disability advocacy.
Our mission is to provide high-quality, compliant, and person-centred housing for people with disabilities, underpinned by a deep understanding of the challenges faced by participants and their families. As a small but dedicated provider, we are acutely aware of the operational, financial, and emotional impacts of NDIS administration on both service providers and the people we support, and feel compelled to share our experiences and sector knowledge, as we don’t believe it is truly being reflected in the operational capacity, nor reported outcomes delivered to the publics eyes by the NDIA.
Submitted by: Jarrad Hills
In light of this, we would like to provide a response to your inquiry, highlighting our on-the-ground experience within the NDIS, and discuss the impact that it is having on businesses and charities just like ours.
My experience personally has been one of mixed emotions. On one hand I see the daily progress of my sister who is now a contributing member of society work wise, who is able to talk for the first time in 38 years through the use of a communication device she would have never had access to, and who is living independently in supported accommodation, loving life, all because of the opportunity the NDIS has provided.
On the other, as a charity founder and CEO of a business that is trying to operate in the NDIS, it is soul crushing, heartbreaking and insanely frustrating to say the least. I use this strong vernacular as I need you to understand what the impact of 10 years of working in the sector is like, and the mental strength and resilience it takes to continue under the current environment the NDIS has created.
Now don’t get me wrong, I love the sector, I love the people within it, and I love the community that has grown to support each other. I have experienced so many highs and tear-jerking moments of pure joy that I will never forget, and I will continue to advocate and innovate for those that need my help.
Let me be real for a minute though. The problem is, I am now a criminal. A fraudster. A thief. Not because any of this is true, but because the NDIA has lacked the structure and implementation planning to administer compliant, risk adverse practices for so long, that we are now all tarnished with the same brush. It has become so hard to distinguish between the right and wrong, because inevitably the perception is always directed towards the wrong, and public perception is so tainted, that we struggle to stand a chance.
In my opinion, it all comes down to one simple stat, only 6% of the NDIS workforce are registered. How is this possible? Under what regulatory framework was it decided that this sort of risk was acceptable? I am still baffled and will never understand how this has been allowed to occur, nor why this isn’t being more actively addressed as a first point of priority. The constant delays and retractions surrounding registrations only further allow those doing the wrong thing to continue to operate without proper oversight surrounding safe, compliant, regulated practices. Now I am not saying that unregistered providers are all doing the wrong thing, I am saying the NDIS has failed in it’s market stewardship in setting a framework that is regulated, overseen and safe for an already vulnerable cohort of individuals.
This, in itself, is the undoing of the sector. For three years now the NDIA have been scrambling to introduce measures and changes to fix the fraud, but this has done nothing but increase the administrative and compliance burden for everyone, and has resulted in delayed payments, businesses closing, poor performance, and a complete and utter
Submitted by: Jarrad Hills
disregard for the lives, health and safety of those that we are employed to protect and serve.
That all being said, I didn’t write this to dwell on what’s happened in the past, or to be completely negative. I would like to try and contribute toward the future by providing some insight into the administrative practices currently under review, and provide my feedback as to how I feel we can alleviate such issues. In order to do this, the below is reflective of the most recent Annual Report produced by the NDIA, the papers and audits listed in the Terms of Reference, and includes both my team, and my perspective from on the ground, in the heart of the NDIS.
Please find below our responses, including AHA’s feedback in italics:
Performance Measure 2.2 – Payments Made Within Agreed Timeframes
The NDIS Annual Report claims high compliance with timely payment measures. However, our experience—and that of many sector colleagues—contradicts this. Over the past four months alone, we have submitted more than a dozen payment requests for completed services, with over $55,000 now outstanding. Some of these claims have been pending for more than 120 days. Despite repeated follow-ups, provision of supplementary documentation, and compliance with all claim requirements, resolution has not been achieved.
These payment delays have forced us to issue legal notices and escalate matters to parliamentary complaints. The NDIA’s lack of responsiveness places immense financial strain on our organisation, threatening our ability to deliver essential housing and support, and forced us to trade insolvently due to high amount outstanding and time associated with escalating these matters. This is not an isolated incident: at NDIS business and sector collaboration meetings, delayed payments are consistently cited as the most pressing operational risk. Providers—large and small—are being forced to close their doors due to unsustainable cash flow, which ultimately harms participants and their families, and sector confidence, especially in the SDA housing sector, were consumer confidence has plummeted and private investment has all but dried up.
We urge the committee to heavily scrutinise the payment process and analyse the key performance indicators that have delivered these results. Particular focus needs to be directed at escalated matters beyond the front line call center, including reviewing the workflows, processes and procedures that look at triaging and resolving escalations and complaints.
Submitted by: Jarrad Hills
Performance Measure 2.4 – Resolution on First Call to National Contact Centre
The Annual Report’s assertion that most enquiries are resolved on the first call to the National Contact Centre is not borne out in practice. In the past four months, we have made over 60 calls regarding payment delays and claim escalations regarding 4 separate matters. On not a single occasion was a matter resolved on first contact. Contact centre staff are limited to providing general information, with no authority to resolve, escalate, or even provide meaningful updates on specific cases. Each call results in a new ticket, with no continuity or follow-through, and no accountability for resolution, and nothing but “we’ll add a note to your file and hopefully it is triaged to the right department soon”. Recent conversations have queried triage time frames with call center staff, and responses indicate that cases are not even being triaged within 60 days, let alone having any resolution being achieved.
We urge the Committee to request detailed analytics on the volume and outcome of escalations and payment-related enquiries. The lack of resolution capability at the front line creates a significant administrative burden for providers and delays access to vital services for participants, and necessary funding to allow businesses and charities to operate.
Performance Measure 2.3 – Participant Service Guarantee Timeframes
A result where an organisation as large and well-resourced as the NDIS achieves only 10% of its performance measures is fundamentally unacceptable. Such a low rate of target achievement not only reflects a systemic failure in governance and accountability but also has profound negative consequences for the broader disability sector. For small businesses and charities, which often operate on tight margins and with limited administrative capacity, the cascading effects of this underperformance are severe. Delayed payments, unresolved enquiries, and unmet service guarantees place immense financial and operational strain on these providers, threatening their sustainability and, by extension, the continuity of critical supports for participants. The disparity between the scale of the NDIS and the resources of smaller providers amplifies the impact of these failures, making it increasingly difficult for ethical, mission-driven organisations to survive and deliver quality services to those most in need.
We urge the Committee to explore and extrapolate these results, assessing why such delays have occurred, and provide recommendations on restructuring the processes and processes surrounding intake, assessment, and on-going consultation so that these measures are brought into a more acceptable result.
Submitted by: Jarrad Hills
Impact of Funding Reductions and WHS Contradictions
The sector is under increasing pressure from ongoing reductions in NDIS funding and contradictions between funding levels and work health and safety (WHS) requirements are on the increase. As funding is cut or capped, providers are forced to stretch resources, risking non-compliance with WHS laws and compromising the safety and wellbeing of both staff and participants. The continual reduction of funding has already resulted in the recent death of a participant, and if left unchecked, inevitably, will result in further harm to participants, carers, and families—either through reduced service quality, provider withdrawal from the market, or more death or serious hard to participants [sic].
WHS laws must hold precedence with respect to funding allocations. The expectation of providers to cover the cost of compliance is not acceptable. This will only further add to the demise of the scheme, and reduce the health and safety of all stakeholders within it. Measures need to be put in place that assess the WHS compliance for all stakeholders. We suggest an inter-departmental taskforce be created between delegates of the NDIS and Workcover so that a broaden understanding is implemented into the funding allocation process.
Lack of Procedural Options to Deal with Complaints & Financial Queries
One of the most significant barriers to effective business operation within the current NDIS framework is the absence of a regulated, transparent, and consistent pathway for addressing financial issues or lodging complaints. At present, there is no dedicated contact mechanism outside of the contact center, nor is there an escalation process that enables providers to directly communicate with an accounts or finance team empowered to resolve payment disputes or clarify outstanding financial matters. Instead, providers are forced to navigate a convoluted system of generic contact centres, where staff lack both the authority and the knowledge to meaningfully address financial concerns. This lack of process not only leads to prolonged delays and mounting frustration, but also undermines the operational capacity of businesses, as considerable time and resources are diverted away from service delivery towards chasing payments and seeking resolution. The inability to access a clear, regulated pathway for financial issues severely impacts cash flow, increases administrative burden, and ultimately jeopardises the sustainability of providers—particularly small charities and businesses already operating on tight margins. Without meaningful reform and the establishment of a direct, accountable contact mechanism for financial matters, the sector will continue to face unnecessary hardship and instability.
We urge the committee to systematically pull apart the current escalation and payment queries process to assess its effectiveness, and to measure the impact that the current process is having on businesses like ours. From this reform must be suggested and
Submitted by: Jarrad Hills
Systemic Sector Impact and Call for Reform
The challenges outlined above are not unique to our organisation. They are the subject of regular discussion among industry peers and are the primary reason why many businesses—regardless of size—are exiting the sector. The NDIA’s administrative performance, as reported in the Annual Report, does not reflect reality. The system’s inability to deliver timely payments, resolve enquiries, or meet service guarantees is undermining the intent and sustainability of the NDIS. Whilst the sector understands the importance of fraud prevention, and commercialising the scheme so that it is long term sustainable, it does not understand the method in which the NDIA is doing it.
We as a sector need transparency, more accurate on-time reporting, need honesty and good governance, and most importantly, need to reduce the heavy burden that unnecessary and wasted administrative time and task has on already lean operation businesses. Payment time frames, escalation and complaint handling needs to be addressed at minimum, and clear and concise reporting needs to be reflective of the true state of the sector.
On behalf of myself, AHA Ltd team and the disability sector, we respectfully call on the Committee to seek independent verification of the NDIA’s reported performance metrics and to prioritise urgent reforms. Addressing payment delays, improving contact centre processes, and ensuring adequate funding are essential to safeguarding the viability of the sector and the wellbeing of Australia’s most vulnerable citizens.
As previously discussed, please reach out if you have any further questions, or would like to discuss any matter in further details, as | keen to assist in reforming a much need section of the NDIS.