The Government is attempting to crack down on overspending by NDIS providers.

This week, the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) and the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission issued a joint letter to plan managers and support coordinators, reminding them of their responsibilities. 

The government says too many participants are exhausting their NDIS funds prematurely and having to make additional funding requests within their plan periods.

There is also an issue of intra-plan inflation. 

For the 12 months leading to February 2024, this inflation contributed an additional $3.3 billion to the NDIS's costs. 

Around 15 per cent of participants exhausted their budgets before the end of their plan periods, with a quarter of these individuals responsible for over $2 billion of the excess costs. 

NDIS Minister Bill Shorten says overspending by some plan managers and support coordinators is a critical problem. 

He pointed out that 343 of the 900 NDIS plan manager ABNs, when matched against Australian Taxation Office (ATO) records, failed the statement of tax record at the time.

The NDIA's analysis identified that among the participants who prematurely spent their budgets, 80 per cent had a plan manager, and 90 per cent received support coordinator services. 

The findings suggest a systemic issue requiring immediate intervention to protect the scheme's integrity.

In response, the government allocated $20 million in the recent budget to explore and design improved support systems for people with disabilities. 

This initiative aims to enhance navigation of services and scrutinise the roles of plan managers and support coordinators within the NDIS framework.

The NDIA, leading the Fraud Fusion Taskforce, is enhancing its systems to better detect and assess early plan reviews submitted by plan managers and support coordinators. 

The NDIA encourages anyone with concerns about NDIS provider practices to report suspicious behaviour through the NDIA Fraud Reporting Form or by lodging a complaint with the NDIS Commission.