Inquiry into the administration of the National Disability Insurance Scheme

Submission 56

Committee Secretary Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit PO Box 6021 Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600

Submission regarding NDIS participant reduction targets and fraud recovery

I wish to express concern about the proposal to reduce the number of NDIS participants by a fixed target, such as 160,000 people, before the full extent of fraud recovery, savings, and financial disgorgement within the scheme has been properly assessed.

It is fundamentally flawed to determine participant cuts in advance of understanding how much funding may be recovered through anti-fraud measures, compliance action, and the recovery of improperly obtained funds. Public reporting and investigations suggest there may be substantial amounts capable of being recovered from fraudulent operators and misuse within the system.

If fraud prevention, savings measures, and disgorgement processes are effective, it may be the case that there are sufficient funds available to meet legitimate participant demand without removing vulnerable people from the scheme or reducing necessary supports.

Only once the true financial position of the NDIS is known - including the outcome of fraud investigations and recovery actions - should any assessment be made about whether participant numbers or supports need to be reduced.

I also recommend that all recovered funds, savings from fraud prevention, and disgorgement outcomes be publicly reported in a transparent and accessible manner. This would allow the public to properly assess whether the otherwise-proposed need for participant reductions is justified and would improve confidence in the integrity and administration of the scheme.

The priority should be protecting legitimate participants and ensuring the integrity of the scheme, rather than setting arbitrary reduction targets before all financial recovery options have been exhausted.

James AyliƯe BA, BJSt (Hons)