National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 648 SYDNEY NEWCASTLE ABN: 18 144 717 260 T (02) 9624 9310 T (02) 4927 8333 E sydney@iccare.com.au E newcastle@iccare.com.au PO BOX 8, Seven Hills NSW 1730 4 Sandringham Ave Thornton NSW 2322 iccare.com.au
29 May 2026
Committee Secretary Senate Standing Committees on Community Affairs Department of the Senate PO Box 6100 Parliament House CANBERRA ACT 2600
By email: community.affairs.sen@aph.gov.au
RE: NDIS Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
On behalf of Interactive Community Care Pty Ltd (IC Care), please accept our submission on the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026.
IC Care is an Australian multidisciplinary community care organisation delivering out-of-home care, disability support, crisis accommodation, and workforce solutions across New South Wales. The organisation supports children, young people, adults, and families with complex care needs through trauma-informed and person-centred services.
IC Care operates across the Hunter, Central Coast, Sydney, Mid-North Coast, and Western NSW regions, providing residential out-of-home care (OOHC), Individual Placement Arrangements (IPA), Short-Term Emergency Placements (STEP), disability services, and crisis intervention programs.
As a registered NDIS provider, IC Care delivers tailored supports that promote independence, wellbeing, and community participation for people living with disability. Its service model emphasises culturally responsive care, flexible service delivery, and strong community engagement, particularly for vulnerable and culturally diverse populations.
In addition to frontline care services, IC Care provides staffing and workforce support to non- government organisations, healthcare providers, and community agencies, including emergency staffing, recruitment, and specialist support workforce solutions.
Through its integrated and locally delivered model, IC Care plays an important role in supporting vulnerable Australians with responsive and holistic care services.
We commend the Government on its commitment through this Bill to “protect NDIS for people with permanent and significant disability and for future generations who will rely on it”.
We note the Bill’s broader policy purpose is to restore the NDIS to its original intent, stabilise unsustainable growth, strengthen market integrity, and improve safeguards for participants. We also note the agreement by the Prime Minister, Premiers and Chief Ministers in January
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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 648 SYDNEY NEWCASTLE ABN: 18 144 717 260 T (02) 9624 9310 T (02) 4927 8333 E sydney@iccare.com.au E newcastle@iccare.com.au PO BOX 8, Seven Hills NSW 1730 4 Sandringham Ave Thornton NSW 2322 iccare.com.au
2026 to reduce annual NDIS cost growth to 5% to 6% or lower, and that the Bill is intended to contribute to that objective.
As the Explanatory Notes for the Bill that the Government intends to be “a first step to securing the NDIS for future generations. While several of the measures introduced by the Bill will commence in the short term, many will be implemented over an extended period, allowing for further consultation with people with disability their families, carers, advocates and other key stakeholders”.
In that context, IC Care makes recommendations to the Committee that align closely to the Bill and apply the Bill’s principles of sustainability, integrity, transparency, information disclosure and provider accountability, particularly to the risk of NDIS provider insolvency.
While the Bill strengthens the regulatory architecture for provider registration, compliance, information gathering, record retention, plan management and governance, it does not establish a dedicated framework for distressed provider sale, restructure or transition processes.
These recommendations would operationalise the Bill by creating practical mechanisms to identify financially distressed providers earlier, improve market engagement, protect participants, scrutinise related-party restructures, test DOCA viability and reduce the risk that public NDIS funding continues to support unsustainable or poorly governed businesses.
This is fundamental to better ensuring continuity of support for NDIS participants, the ability of participants to exercise genuine choice and control, as well as workforce stability and broader NDIS stewardship.
The recommendations therefore seek to operationalise the Bill by creating practical mechanisms for managing distressed providers in a way that protects participants, employees, creditors and public funding.
- NDIS Insolvency Notification Register
The proposed register would operationalise the Bill’s emphasis on market visibility and provider oversight.
The Bill’s Schedule 2 updates the definition of NDIS provider and is intended to improve regulation of providers. The Explanatory Memorandum notes that low provider registration has resulted in a lack of market visibility, making it harder to address poor provider behaviour, fraud, exploitation, abuse and neglect.
An insolvency notification register would extend that logic to provider financial distress. It would allow the NDIA, the NDIS Commission or another designated body to identify providers entering formal restructuring processes and allow capable operators to register interest in acquisition or transition opportunities.
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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 648 SYDNEY NEWCASTLE ABN: 18 144 717 260 T (02) 9624 9310 T (02) 4927 8333 E sydney@iccare.com.au E newcastle@iccare.com.au PO BOX 8, Seven Hills NSW 1730 4 Sandringham Ave Thornton NSW 2322 iccare.com.au
This would support the Bill’s objectives by improving: visibility of distressed providers; continuity planning for participants; competitive tension in sale processes; regulatory awareness of provider risk; and the orderly transition of services where a provider cannot continue.
In short, the register gives practical effect to the Bill’s objective of a more visible and regulated provider market.
- NDIS-specific insolvency practice protocol
The proposed protocol would operationalise the Bill’s move toward clearer regulatory expectations and enforceable standards.
Schedule 2 creates new civil penalty, monitoring, investigation and information-gathering powers. The Explanatory Memorandum states that robust and enforceable powers are needed to strengthen the NDIS regulatory landscape, deter poor practice and encourage high-quality supports and services.
An NDIS-specific insolvency protocol would not change general insolvency law. Instead, it would give insolvency practitioners, providers and regulators practical guidance on how to manage insolvencies where participant continuity and public funding are involved.
It would operationalise the Bill by setting expectations around: participant continuity of care; participant communication protocols during operational instability and transition periods continuity and contingency planning requirements for participant-critical services prior to formal insolvency appointment; workforce continuity and rostering stability; regulator notification; coordination with alternative registered providers where participant transitions may become necessary; data disclosure; probity; and governance.
This would turn the Bill’s broad integrity framework into a practical guide for provider failure events.
The protocol could also support more structured safeguarding responses during periods of financial deterioration by promoting earlier engagement between providers, regulators, insolvency practitioners and alternative market operators before participant disruption escalates.
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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 648 SYDNEY NEWCASTLE ABN: 18 144 717 260 T (02) 9624 9310 T (02) 4927 8333 E sydney@iccare.com.au E newcastle@iccare.com.au PO BOX 8, Seven Hills NSW 1730 4 Sandringham Ave Thornton NSW 2322 iccare.com.au
- Standardised data room requirements
This recommendation directly aligns with the Bill’s information-gathering and record-retention reforms.
The Bill strengthens the CEO’s ability to require information or documents, with a civil penalty where a person refuses or fails to comply. Schedule 2 also requires providers, nominees and participants to retain records relating to the provision of supports and claims for NDIS amounts.
Standardised data room requirements would apply the same principle to distressed sale and restructuring processes. They would ensure that prospective purchasers, recapitalisation parties and regulators have access to minimum information about: participant numbers; services provided; workforce profile; service agreements; ATO debt; superannuation and employee entitlements; lease exposure; regulatory notices; and compliance history.
This would reduce information asymmetry, improve bidder confidence, and support more competitive and sustainable outcomes. It would also make it harder for distressed providers to obscure liabilities or compliance risks during restructuring.
- Mandatory Sale Process Disclosure Statement
This recommendation operationalises the Bill’s focus on integrity, transparency and accountability.
The Bill gives the Agency and Commission stronger compliance, monitoring and enforcement tools, including compliance notices, enforceable undertakings, civil penalties and investigation powers. A sale process disclosure statement would apply that same accountability logic to insolvency transactions.
It would require a high-level explanation of: the sale or recapitalisation process undertaken; timeframe; market engagement; parties approached; bids received or considered; and rationale for the final outcome.
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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 648 SYDNEY NEWCASTLE ABN: 18 144 717 260 T (02) 9624 9310 T (02) 4927 8333 E sydney@iccare.com.au E newcastle@iccare.com.au PO BOX 8, Seven Hills NSW 1730 4 Sandringham Ave Thornton NSW 2322 iccare.com.au
This would not need to compromise commercial confidentiality. Its purpose would be to demonstrate that a participant-critical NDIS business was not transferred through a narrow, opaque or related-party process without adequate market testing.
This is particularly important where the business relies on ongoing public NDIS funding.
- Enhanced probity and related-party review mechanisms
This recommendation is one of the clearest alignments with the Bill.
The Bill introduces a specific related party concept in relation to registered plan management providers, including relatives under the Corporations Act and associated entities under section 50AAA of the Corporations Act. It also prevents conflicts between plan management and support provision and requires deeds of arrangement to deal with integrity, governance, reporting, key personnel, claims handling, ICT systems, and related-party conflicts.
The proposed related-party review mechanism applies the same policy logic to insolvent or restructured providers. Where former directors, associated entities or related parties seek to remain involved after a restructure, there should be enhanced scrutiny of: unpaid statutory liabilities (GST / PAYG / superannuation); unpaid superannuation; employee entitlements; prior governance failures; related-party transactions; repeat insolvency risk; and ongoing reliance on NDIS revenue.
This operationalises the Bill’s governance and conflict-management reforms beyond plan management and into the broader provider market.
- Enhanced viability assessment for NDIS DOCAs
This recommendation operationalises the Bill’s core sustainability objective.
The Bill is explicitly directed at putting the NDIS on a sustainable footing and reducing cost growth. The Explanatory Memorandum states that the Scheme has deviated from its original intent, has uncontrolled inflation in participant support costs, and is affected by a distorted market structure with integrity weaknesses.
An enhanced viability assessment for NDIS DOCAs would ensure that restructures are not approved or relied upon where they are unlikely to produce a sustainable provider. This is especially important where: there are indicators of prolonged operational instability or workforce disruption affecting continuity of care creditor returns are minimal; repayment periods extend over several years;
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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 648 SYDNEY NEWCASTLE ABN: 18 144 717 260 T (02) 9624 9310 T (02) 4927 8333 E sydney@iccare.com.au E newcastle@iccare.com.au PO BOX 8, Seven Hills NSW 1730 4 Sandringham Ave Thornton NSW 2322 iccare.com.au
ATO or superannuation liabilities are compromised; future viability depends on optimistic trading assumptions; or incumbent directors remain involved.
This would reduce the risk of public NDIS funding continuing to flow to a structurally unviable provider that may collapse again, causing further participant disruption and creditor losses.
Enhanced viability assessments should also consider whether adequate participant safeguarding, continuity-of-care planning and workforce stabilisation measures are capable of being maintained throughout any proposed restructuring period.
- Early intervention and restructuring pathways
This recommendation operationalises the Bill’s preventative integrity agenda.
The Bill responds to concerns that the NDIS has lacked sufficient controls and that fraud and non-compliance can harm participants and the Scheme. Early intervention pathways would apply that same preventative approach to financial distress.
The aim would be to identify risk earlier, before liabilities become unmanageable and before participants face service disruption. Earlier intervention mechanisms should recognise that persistent unpaid statutory liabilities, repeated BAS or PAYG non-lodgements, payroll irregularities, workforce instability and operational deterioration may represent early indicators of broader governance and sustainability concerns within participant-critical providers. Measures could include: Safe Harbour education for NDIS provider directors; early-warning indicators; formal escalation triggers linked to significant unpaid statutory liabilities and persistent BAS or PAYG non-lodgements; structured engagement with regulators; referral pathways to restructuring advisers; guidance on participant transition planning; and better coordination between the NDIA, NDIS Commission, ATO and insolvency practitioners.
This would support the Bill’s objectives by reducing disorderly collapses, avoiding repeat insolvencies, limiting unpaid statutory liabilities, and protecting participants.
In conclusion
We believe these recommendations give practical effect to the Bill’s reform agenda by extending its focus on Scheme sustainability and provider integrity into the insolvency and restructuring environment, where risks to participants, employees, creditors and taxpayers are most acute.
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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 648 SYDNEY NEWCASTLE ABN: 18 144 717 260 T (02) 9624 9310 T (02) 4927 8333 E sydney@iccare.com.au E newcastle@iccare.com.au PO BOX 8, Seven Hills NSW 1730 4 Sandringham Ave Thornton NSW 2322 iccare.com.au
Strengthening earlier safeguarding visibility, continuity planning and coordinated regulatory intervention within financially distressed participant-critical providers would further support the Bill’s stated objectives of Scheme integrity, participant protection and long-term sustainability.
These reforms would also support broader public confidence in the stewardship of public funds by reducing the risk of disorderly provider collapses, repeated restructuring failures and avoidable participant disruption within the NDIS market.
On behalf of IC Care, we would welcome the opportunity to provide more detail or clarification to the Committee in its inquiry into the NDIS Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 and the broader operational issues for the NDIS.
Yours sincerely,
Michael Elliott Director
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