Australian government cracks down on NDIS fund misuse
The Australian Government is implementing measures to address misuse within the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
Last week, the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) and the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission reminded plan managers and support coordinators of their duties to prevent the inappropriate use of funds.
Inappropriate use of NDIS funds
Recent data from the Federal Budget and the NDIA’s Quarterly Report pinpointed intra-plan inflation as a major driver of the scheme’s cost increase.
NDIS Minister Bill Shorten highlighted that anonymised data matching between NDIS plan manager ABNs and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) showed that 343 of the 900 ABNs would have failed a statement of tax record at the time.
“Overspending of NDIS plans remains a key issue, particularly where someone encourages a participant to spend all of their NDIS funding before the end of their plan, known as intra-plan inflation, so they can receive extra funding within their set plan timeframe,” he said.
Primary drivers of intra-plan inflation
Under the NDIS, participants receive a budget to purchase approved supports in line with their plans. Spending a budget prematurely does not justify a plan review.
According to the NDIA, the primary drivers of intra-plan inflation include using more hours and higher rates of supports than funded, overspending core budgets beyond their intended purpose, and incorrect claiming of supports.
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