NDIA Accountability Project

Trauma-informed NDIS funding restores dignity and life after years of systemic failure

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Submission 2331

This submission outlines the transformative impact of adequate, trauma-informed NDIS funding on my life, contrasted against years of systemic failure within the health and disability sectors. It highlights how the current administrative focus on “sustainability” often ignores the massive cost-offset provided by community care and identifies provider accountability, rather than participant eligibility, as the primary area requiring urgent reform.

In 2024, after a lifelong struggle, I finally received funding and support that were adequate for my disability and trauma-informed. The results have been life-changing:

  • After a history of near-daily self-harm, I am now over 290 days self-harm free, the longest period since my early adolescence.
  • I have moved from being a “revolving door” patient to a contributing member of society. I have founded a Not-for-Profit organisation and am engaged in both volunteer and paid employment.
  • Before adequate funding, I experienced over 500 documented admissions. A single acute admission involving police, ambulance, emergency physicians, surgical teams, nurses, etc., which costs the state significantly more than a proportional share of my yearly NDIS budget.

Investing in NDIS community care is a direct cost-saving measure for the healthcare and justice systems. Removing participants does not save money; it simply transfers a larger bill to more expensive government services. Community care gives participants quality of life, hope and dignity.

My experience demonstrates that the greatest threat to NDIS sustainability is not the participants but the lack of oversight regarding providers. For example, I have lived with four different SIL providers, experiencing:

  • Providers placing me in a vulnerable position living in environments where co-residents used illicit drugs (methamphetamine), stole significant amounts of

Submission 2331

  • money, without explaining prior the risks, impacts to my support and possibilities of this arrangement.
  • Where a provider has committed fraud across NDIS, Veteran Affairs, and Medicare before fleeing the country.
  • Being left without hot water for four months and a working stove for over a year, while living in a cockroach and flea infestation.
  • Experiencing emotional, physical, and sexual violations by staff.
  • Being forced into 2:1 ratios, I did not require, did not approve, and they were counterproductive to my well-being, while also being subjected to unauthorized restrictive practices. Even having a provider try to obtain guardianship.
  • When providing reviews & comments on providers’ profiles, they turned into defamation letters in my inbox.

In one instance, provider negligence led to a mental health crisis, resulting in my arrest and three days in corrections. Despite being billed for 2:1 support during this time, I received zero support while in custody.

My Recommendations & Beliefs:

Based on my lived experience, I urge the Committee & Government to consider the following:

  • Participants are not the cause of its “unsustainability.” Participants need to be protected, and providers need to be held to a higher account; if that means for providers having more rigorous auditing systems to prevent fraud and abuse, then do so.
  • The current complexity makes it impossible for participants to know their rights or escalate concerns effectively. Complexity breeds exploitation. Additionally, the current complaints commission is dehumanising to participants, often meaning we give up because our complaint is not adequately handled and heard.
  • The success of my current plan is due to the quality of funding and the nature of the support. Person-centered care is the only way to achieve long-term participant independence and system sustainability.

Submission 2331

No one is immune from getting a disability; it’s the one minority group you will most likely enter in life. I ask that the Government and Mr. Butler to consider what they would want for themselves or their families in this situation.

Adequate funding gave me my dignity and my life back. For the first time, I have a life worth living. We must ensure the NDIS continues to provide this hope by fixing the providers and the processes, rather than penalizing the participants.

Sincerely,