The National Disability Insurance Agency has been criticised for renting office space from gambling company Sportsbet. 

The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) has paid over $3 million in rent to the online gambling agency to rent office space in the Mirvac building in Melbourne's CBD. 

At the same time, Government Services Minister Stuart Robert has been blaming participants for wasting money in the important government insurance scheme. 

Mr Robert does not enjoy the comparison, issuing a statement saying; “Any correlation between significant reforms delivering on the promise of the NDIS and operational or corporate decisions of the agency in 2018 is strongly rejected. It is an ambitious slur on the future of the NDIS and should be called out as such”.

The the NDIA says it is getting value for money. 

“As a Federal Government agency we have an obligation to ensure all contracts entered into — including property lease agreements — represent value for money, and therefore reject any suggestion of ‘improper spending’,” it said.

“The tenancy is strictly a standard commercial office sub-lease agreement. To suggest otherwise is wrong.

“We reject the premise procurement arrangements are inappropriate and risks normalising relationships between gambling companies and government agencies.”

There is no prohibition on government agencies entering into this kind of arrangement with a gambling company, but some must follow procurement rules that state they must engage in “efficient, effective, economical and ethical procurement”.

However, as the NDIA was formed as a “Commonwealth corporate entity”, it is largely exempt from these procurement rules.

But still, for some, the idea is untenable.

Tim Costello, chief advocate of the Alliance for Gambling Reform, has told reporters he believes the arrangement is “distasteful, damaging and a completely inappropriate use of taxpayer money”.

“To think a gambling company is profiting off of rent from the NDIS leaves me almost lost for words.”

Additionally, Mr Robert has raised concern about looming draft legislation that makes changes to a range of areas within the scheme.

The new rules could reduce some of scheme entitlements for current participants, and may make it harder for new participants to gain access to the NDIS.

The minister says he is making changes to “make the NDIS experience better and fairer”.