Fraud has been on the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) radar for years. Now, a new parliamentary report has made 12 recommendations aimed at stopping criminals, dishonest providers and other “bad actors” from exploiting the scheme.
The report calls for better information-sharing between government agencies, stronger action against kickbacks and conflicts of interest, a worker registration system, and better whistleblower protection.
But even more could be done to protect participants and detect fraud before false claims are paid.
The National Disability Insurance Agency recently estimated that around A$3.7 billion, or 8.3% of its payments in the previous financial year, was affected by what it calls “integrity leakage”.
But this figure should be treated carefully. Integrity leakage can include mistakes, poor record-keeping, incorrect claims and other breaches of the rules.
A provider might charge for a service that was never delivered, add extra hours to an invoice or charge the NDIS more than it charges other customers.
Fake businesses may be created to submit claims, while some criminals impersonate participants, providers or support coordinators to gain control of NDIS money.
More disturbing cases involve participants being intimidated or threatened to allow a provider to use their plan.
Criminal groups may also work with some providers or intermediaries to prepare false documents, inflate support needs or...
Fraud has been on the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) radar for years. Now, a new parliamentary report has made 12 recommendations aimed at stopping criminals, dishonest providers and ...