Australian government launches crackdown on unethical NDIS providers in remote Aboriginal communities

The federal government has announced new measures to crack down on unscrupulous National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) providers in the Northern Territory, with a focus on the use of inducements to recruit and retain vulnerable participants in remote Aboriginal communities.

Under the changes, new community access workers will be employed in 17 remote NT communities, as well as eight in Queensland and four in New South Wales.

The roles will be funded through the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), which runs the NDIS, but will be drawn from the ranks of local Aboriginal health services.

Earlier this year, an ABC investigation revealed the use of gifts such as food, cash, alcohol and cigarettes by NDIS providers was widespread in remote Aboriginal communities.

One woman from the community of Wugularr (Beswick) spoke up about having been offered tobacco by a provider, who she said pushed her to sign an agreement she did not understand.

Another man, Floyd Rose, from the desert community of Lajamanu, alleged he witnessed an NDIS provider supplying alcohol to his mother, who was one of their clients.

The provider has since been permanently banned.

NDIS Minister Jenny McAllister said there was still "more work to do within the Territory".

"These new initiatives seek to ensure First Nations people with disability across Australia are offered the services they need and are protected from those who seek to do the wrong thing," she said.

Changes to gather intel about practices in the bush

Senator McAllister's office said the 17 new NT positions being introduced under the remote community connector program would help locals understand the complexities of the scheme.

The NT communities set to receive the new positions are:

Alyangula

Angurugu

Aputula (Finke)

Barunga

Wugularr (Beswick)

Bulman Weemol

Groote Eylandt

Jilkminggan

Numbulwar

Maningrida

Manyallaluk

Mataranka

Milyakburra

Minyerri

Peppimenarti

Umbakumba

Urapunga

The government said the NDIS Commission would also contract a group of NT disability advocacy services to run "check-ins" in remote communities.

The check-ins are designed to fill gaps in the traditional complaints process, which can be difficult to access for remote Aboriginal people who may not own phones or computers, or speak English as a first language.

The advocates will go into communities and speak with NDIS participants and their families and carers, as well as traditional owners, before feeding information back to the regulator.

NDIS Commissioner Louise Glanville said the regulator was "committed to ongoing engagement with First Nations people".

Enforcement actions in the NT

In new figures provided to the ABC, a spokesperson for the NDIA said the agency had "critically examined" more than 1,000 public tip-offs related to 234 providers operating in the NT over the past three years.

The spokesperson said 47 providers working with NT participants had been referred for "serious compliance action".

The agency also said it was targeting a trend of "unscrupulous providers moving into the NT market from Melbourne and Sydney" by manually checking their payment claims.

"In most cases, these providers have been permanently removed from the NDIS," the spokesperson said.