In short:
The regulator of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is dealing with a significant backlog of just under 13,000 open complaints.
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regulator → deal → complaints
While the figure is an improvement on 15,000 open complaints in March, NDIS participants say serious complaints are going unaddressed for months.
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complaints → say → months
A former senior staff member says the backlog is overwhelming the regulator and taking a toll on staff.
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backlog → say → staff
NDIS participants say serious reports of abuse, neglect and fraud are languishing for months, as data released by Freedom of Information reveals the regulator is grappling with a massive backlog of complaints.
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regulator → say → complaints
In disturbing cases uncovered by the ABC, a participant with cerebral palsy had no support for three weeks after allegedly being defrauded of $16,000 from her plan, while in another case it took four months for a case worker to be assigned to look into reports of abuse and neglect.
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worker → uncover → abuse
A former senior NDIS Quality and Safety manager has told the ABC complaints are routinely closed without the regulator's staff having spoken to the person making the complaint.
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staff → tell → complaint
Becki Greene, an NDIS participant who has multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair, first contacted the regulator, the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, in May to complain about a provider who allegedly abused and neglected her.
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who → have → her
The commission is tasked with investigating complaints against providers and disability workers, including allegations of abuse and harm, while working with other agencies to investigate fraud.
But Ms Greene said when she phoned, she was left on hold for an hour and 40 minutes, without ever getting through to a staff member.
"Having someone on hold for nearly two hours while they are distressed and distraught is completely unacceptable," she said of her experience.
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she → task → experience
When she tried to contact the commission again over the following days, she said she was left on hold for extended periods and was never able to speak to a staff member.
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she → try → member
She then tried to submit an online complaint, but she said the commission's website timed her out midway.
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website → try → her
Finally, she was able to lodge a complaint over email.
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she → lodge → email
Despite repeated calls to the commission in which she was told it had been listed as a priority one case, it wasn't until the ABC made enquiries that a commission staff member phoned her, with a complaints officer only this week opening an investigation.
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officer → repeat → investigation
She said she was initially shocked by the long wait for a response to her complaint given its seriousness.
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she → say → seriousness
"I expected the commission to sit up and take notice," she said.
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she → expect → notice
"It shouldn't have to take getting the media [involved] … for participants to be heard and have their complaint investigated."
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complaint → have → ?
The commission said it did not comment on individual cases but Acting Commissioner Natalie Wade explained that complaints were prioritised based on their urgency, seriousness and complexity.
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complaints → say → urgency
"We use a risk-based prioritisation framework that helps us assess the level of risk and appropriate action," she said.
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she → use → risk
Ms Wade also said that the regulator remained "committed to continuous improvement and maintaining public confidence through meaningful and timely action on complaints and incidents".
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regulator → say → complaints
Fraud complaint unaddressed after nine months
Disability advocate Elly Desmarchelier, who lives with autism and cerebral palsy, made a complaint to the commission over the previous Christmas/New Year period and still has not had any response.
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who → live → response
Her complaint alleged that a former independent support worker claimed more than $16,000 in wages for shifts they did not work during the months after they had been let go.
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they → allege → months
When the support worker was contacted about the issue, they sent Ms Desmarchelier's plan manager an email where they said claims totalling $16,992 had been sent because of an "internal administrative error".
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claims → contact → error
The worker offered to reimburse the money.
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worker → offer → money
But Ms Desmarchelier said it was never repaid, meaning she lost that funding from her NDIS plan.
"
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she → say → plan
I had three weeks where I did not have any support because I did not have funding to pay support workers," she said.
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she → have → workers
Ms Desmarchelier, a former National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) staff member who has been critical of the agency, made a complaint to both the commission and the NDIA's fraud team but hasn't heard back from either body.
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who → make → body
Both agencies said they do not comment on individual cases.
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they → say → cases
She agreed the commission should prioritise complaints related to abuse or violence towards participants, where the risk to participants was highest.
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risk → agree → participants
But she said after such a long wait for a response to her complaint, she had now lost hope.
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she → say → hope
"I don't think I will ever get a response," Ms Desmarchelier said.
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Desmarchelier → think → response
The disability advocate said she worried this created an environment where it was easier for people to do the wrong thing.
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people → say → thing
"If there is no threat of being held accountable, if you know you can get away with it, of course there is more opportunity to exploit disabled people,"she said.
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you → be → people,"she
She said many in the disability community believed commission staff were doing the best they could but did not have enough resources.
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they → say → resources
"I have seen some good changes in the commission over the last few years but if you only have a certain amount of staff, there is only so much you can do," she said.
Complaints backlog shrinking, but concern still high
These experiences are not isolated.
Data released under Freedom of Information laws shows the commission had more than 15,000 open complaints as of March this year, down from a high of more than 25,000 open complaints in January 2025.
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commission → see → January
The commission told the ABC that figure had continued to drop and was now sitting at just under 13,000 open complaints.
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figure → tell → complaints
That initial data was released by the commission to Mark Sweeney, a former senior NDIA executive who was with the public service for 20 years before being made redundant.
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who → release → years
He took federal court action against the NDIA claiming he had been unfairly treated as a whistleblower, but that case was dismissed.
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case → take → whistleblower
Mr Sweeney now publicly scrutinises the performance of the scheme and said the complaints backlog was still so large he believed it was overwhelming the regulator, even after its improvements in the past 18 months.
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it → scrutinise → months
"I think what it probably indicates is that potentially they don't have enough staff — you know, their workflows are inefficient or they have a mismatch, an imbalance of staff monitoring the back of house as opposed to frontline workers," he said.
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he → think → workers
Mr Sweeney said the commission was also failing to meet its own target of closing half of the complaints within 90 days of being lodged.
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commission → say → days
"They've only achieved one in three complaint closures for the last two quarters," he said.
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he → achieve → quarters
…and 17 more, not listed.
The Aporia