NDIS Providers Have Had a Bad Run in the Media.

WORDS: Dee van Heerden PHOTOGRAPHY Supplied

Fraud, non-compliance, poor oversight and rapid growth with too little control are some of the stories that’ve made NDIS care providers famous. The investigations, fines, and bans throw the industry into a bad light and now, the whole sector carries that history, but that’s not the full story.

It’s also a system built on people who rarely leave when their shift ends, still answer the phone past midnight and graciously sit at someone’s bedside into the wee hours when called.

An 18-hour day is not unusual in disability support work where pay is also not structured around full continuous shifts but scheduled funded hours. On the ground, support workers know they’re doing far more but the Australian Services Union’s submission to NDIS Review confirmed that on average, support businesses are giving around six unpaid hours per week, per worker, which is never claimed or invoiced because it falls outside of the paperwork. The system records the six hours, but those on the ground know it’s far more.

Vanessa Norman built her NDIS business and scaled it to $4 in five years, before hitting burnout and gifting her business to one of her managers. Today, she’s immersed in this industry as a support to providers, teaching them ways to prevent burnout and scale effectively. She formalised everything that did work in her business, and built a framework for NDIS care providers, so they can practice ethically, compliantly, and with profit.

Vanessa says “the public’s perception of the NDIS is now shaped by the scandalous headlines that certainly should have been aired and discussed, public money is involved and vulnerable people are exploited. The stakes are high but when the only story told about an entire industry is the scandal, it flattens everything else that happens inside the system.”

For many of the small business owners running at a loss and pouring endlessly into their participants, that flattening feels personal while the reputation damage to the industry as a whole discredits their work and impacts them financially.

“They’re not big corporations who can absorb small fluctuations, these are families paying mortgages and raising children while they’re caring for Australia’s most vulnerable citizens, Vanessa adds”.

“They’re dedicating long hours in homes, hospital rooms, shared living spaces, and kitchens where they know the people they support as individuals with habits, fears, humour, and memory. They’re not ‘cases’ on paper with needs that can be reduced to hours or equipment.”

 Sometimes, support plans change and it isn’t always fair, there is a large margin for error which creates a gap between the care that is approved and the care that is needed. When someone is suffering and they’re not just a case on a piece of paper, you show up for them and plug that gap even when there’s no funding. A support worker shows up for that overnight stay because everyone can see this elderly person won’t manage on their own.

Vanessa reflects on the emotional toll: “It’s rewarding because it’s the right thing to do, but there’s a cost to that kind of work beyond just financial losses. Missed dinners, delayed sleep, interrupted family time, and constant availability can lead to burn out. Many providers are small operators, often women running teams from their homes or cars between visits. They don’t switch off at the end of the roster if someone still needs them”.

The frustration is not with accountability, most providers welcome scrutiny of fraud and misuse because these shady characters damage the sector for them too. The frustration is with how easily the entire industry becomes defined by its worst examples, when all the headlines are negative.

Most days do not look like a headline, these hard working carers are staying back after a long shift because a client is unsettled, or answering a call and even driving out at 4am because they’re needed. The public sees the system through investigations and reports while the hardworking caregivers see it through hours that are never recorded.

Both are true. Only one is usually heard.