Responsibility: Australian Government
Response: Accept in principle
Status: Completed
What has been achieved to date
In November 2022, the Fraud Fusion Taskforce commenced. The NDIS Commission has since significantly increased compliance actions to prevent, mitigate, and respond to fraud risks.
217 compliance actions have been executed since 1 November 2022 with a further 33 enforcement actions in process (at 31 January 2024). To Quarter 2 of the 2024-25 financial year, 20 banning orders were issued compared to 59 for the 2023-24 and 37 for the 2022-23 financial years.
In 2024, the NDIS Commission undertook a campaign targeting Supported Boarding Houses as part of its role to regulating the quality of NDIS supports and services delivered to NDIS participants residing in privately operated supported accommodation facilities.
Throughout 2024, numerous information sessions and drop-in forums were held in remote locations with providers, workers, and people with disability.
Thematic campaigns underway for 2024-25 include Mealtime Management, Support Coordinators and Plan Managers and Out of Home Care providers.
The 2024-25 Corporate Plan set out specific Performance Targets for increasing the use of statutory enforcement powers including a 20% increase each year in the use of statutory enforcement tools.
In the past twelve months the NDIS Commission has actively pursued fines against NDIS providers who have contravened the NDIS Act 2013, including some NDIS providers who received significant monetary fines.
What the Disability Royal Commission said in the final report
The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission should review its compliance and enforcement policy and in doing so have regard to:
a) where appropriate, transitioning its primary compliance approach from educational and capacity building strategies to stronger compliance and enforcement activities
b) increasing its face-to-face engagement with National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participants who are at greater risk of experiencing violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation, and site visits to speak with providers and workers
c) increasing the use of its enforcement powers and monitoring tools in relation to NDIS providers that:
- have a history of non-compliance or repeatedly fail to meet their obligations to provide safe and quality supports and services
- have demonstrated a disregard for the safety of people with disability
- have caused serious harm to a person or people with disability
d) the availability of enforceable undertakings and compliance notices to address non-compliance by NDIS providers.
Australian Government Response July 2024
The NDIS Commission continues to strengthen monitoring, compliance and enforcement, including through the establishment of an inter-departmental Fraud Fusion team and teams focused on litigation and dispute resolution, place-based compliance activity, high intensity responses and risk, intelligence and delivery. The NDIS Commission also sits on the Fair Pricing Taskforce with the National Disability Insurance Agency and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to collaborate on delivering strengthened approaches to upholding NDIS participant consumer rights.
The NDIS Commission’s compliance priorities are developed on an annual basis, are evidence based, and risk informed (noting historical constraints in the NDIS Commission’s ability to gather intelligence). The NDIS Commission undertakes a range of enforcement and compliance campaigns which involve specific areas of focus where regulatory issues have been identified by the NDIS Commission. For example, a recent campaign has targeted unregistered providers implementing unauthorised restrictive practices.
While the NDIS Commission coordinates its response in accordance with its priorities, it will pursue any safeguarding matter that presents a serious risk to participants (even if that matter may fall outside one of the priorities).
More recommendations
View progress on other recommendations made by the Royal Commission.