Only two of 42 recommendations got government support, but there are clearly bigger fish to fry.
The federal government has released a lukewarm response to the Joint Standing Committee on the National Disability Insurance Scheme’s final report from the Inquiry into the Capability and Culture of the National Disability Insurance Agency.
The report, published in November 2023, spawned 27 recommendations from the committee, another five from its interim report, plus three more from the Coalition and another seven from the Australian Greens.
In its response, the government “noted” all but two, which it described as “supported”, while pointing out that the JSC’s inquiry was one of three running in parallel, the others being the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability which published its final report on 29 September 2023 and made 222 recommendations; and, the Independent Review of the NDIS which released its final report on 7 December 2023, which made 26 recommendations, including 139 detailed actions.
“There is considerable overlap and alignment between the Committee’s recommendations in its interim and final reports and the recommendations of the Disability Royal Commission and the NDIS Review,” said the government.
“[Our response] does not pre-empt the Government’s response to the NDIS Review and the Disability Royal Commission.”
The recommendations made by the JSC, the Royal Commission and the Independent Review “are aligned with the Government’s focus on rebuilding trust and confidence in the NDIS and getting the Scheme back on track”, it said.
“The Government accepts reform is required,” it said.
The government response shows a reluctance to commit to specific recommendations until its responses to both the Royal Commission and the Independent Review are also ready for public viewing.
To date the government has issued a “Progress Update” on its response to the Royal Commission, which will involve a series of consultations with “people with disability, their families, carers, representative organisations, service providers and the broader community to inform a response that will drive meaningful and lasting change”.
In response to the Independent Review of the NDIS, the government said it was “carefully considering the recommendations in the final reports of both the NDIS Review and the Disability Royal Commission before providing its full response”.
“Careful sequencing of any changes will be needed to ensure the most important foundations are in place before broader reforms occur,” it said.
The two recommendations from the JSC report which the government supported were:
Recommendation 5: The Committee recommends that the NDIA focus its compliance activities on the activities of service providers and subcontractors, to prevent systematic fraud and to ensure that people with disability do not experience further discrimination in wider society.
The government said in response:
“The Fraud Fusion Taskforce (FFT) brings together 16 Government agencies to deliver a whole-of-government capability uplift to detect and respond to potential fraudulent and criminal activity against the NDIS and deliver greater integrity and fairness across Commonwealth programs and payments.
“The FFT has new capabilities to identify misuses of NDIS funds intended to support people with disability. The FFT is reducing risk to participants by disrupting bad practice and fraudulent behaviours of providers, including prosecuting and shutting them down. FFT activities strengthen and improve the NDIS and other government systems, making it easy to do the right thing and harder to do the wrong thing.
“In addition, the NDIA regularly delivers a variety of education and awareness sessions to assist providers to understand their roles and responsibilities as a NDIS provider. This includes general sessions focused on operating as a provider within the NDIS, as well as issues specific sessions on topics such as good payment practices. These information sessions are supported by a variety of provider focused online resources available on the NDIS website.”
And:
Recommendation 6: The Committee recommends that the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission make recommendations to the Fraud Fusion Taskforce for increasing investigation, detection, and prosecution of systematic fraud against the Scheme.
The government responded:
“The Government notes the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission is a key contributor to the Fraud Fusion Taskforce (FFT), being a permanent member on all governance committees, driving the strategic direction of the FFT.”