Disability Intermediaries Australia (DIA) is aware of the multiple articles in The Australian Newspaper that were published yesterday, March 20 at 4:50pm. The articles titled:
1. “Time to cut wasteful hidden fees from the NDIS” – by Dr James Fitzpatrick
This article now includes an editor’s note
“EDITOR’S NOTE: An earlier version of this opinion article included Dr Fitzpatrick’s estimate that plan management fees exceeded $1bn a year. In fact, the NDIA’s December quarter report says plan managers were paid $158m in that quarter for plan management services. It has also been made clearer that plan managers are registered, but not all support co-ordinators.”
2. “Plan managers and support co-ordinators soak up NDIS funds as providers go to the wall” – by Natasha Robinson
On these articles DIA CEO, Mr Jess Harper said:
“In my opinion, both of these articles contain significant factual inaccuracies, misleading statements and unsubstantiated claims. The ongoing discussion and debate about the future of the intermediaries sector needs to be build on fact, best practice, grounded evidence, data and most importantly support for participant outcomes through self direction, choice and control.”
The articles include significant factual errors and misrepresentations which include but are not limited to:
- “That is followed by what could be defined as a ‘trail fee’ ” Dr Fitzpatrick – this statement is inaccurate and misrepresents the service and billing practices of Plan Managers. There are no such thing as trailing fees or a trailing fee structure in the plan management space, the use of ‘trail fees’ insinuates and eludes to a structure similar that of trailing commissions which is inaccurate and misleading. Plan Management operates as a fee for service practices. Plan Managers are paid just $104 per month (or in extremely small numbers of participants in remote setting $157 per month) to:
- Support a participant to receive invoices for the disability services they have received,
- Validate those to ensure compliance with scheme rules and claiming requirements,
- Gather and store the required supporting evidence to facilitate a valid claim lodgements,
- Lodge claims with the NDIA (Government),
- Receive the funding from the NDIA for the claims lodged,
- Reconcile the funding received,
- Deal with any NDIA errors and under payment,
- Disperse funds to the disability providers who have invoice the participant.
Beyond this Plan Managers also:
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- Monitor the Participants Plan Budget,
- Provide at least monthly statements and information to the Participant on their spending,
- Reject non-compliant claims before they are lodged to the NDIS.
All of this is delivered for a singular establishment fee and a flat monthly fee their after. Regardless of size of plan or participant complexity. Yes, a Plan Manager is paid the same $1,230 per year to manage a multi-million dollar plan.
- “and taking a midpoint in both the set-up fee and trail fees, the cost of plan management has been about $190m in set-up fees and is about $86m in trail fees a month – or a touch over $1bn in trail fees paid to plan managers a year.” Dr Fitzpatrick – This statement is wildly inaccurate and extremely misleading. The NDIA’s own data shows that released each quarter, details exactly how much plan managers are paid for their services. Total payments to Plan Managers in the December 2024 Quarter were $158M and in the year ending 31 December 2024 to all Plan Managers was $592M (Source: NDIA Supplement to Quarterly Report Appendices 2024-25: Supplement E Tables E.112 and E.113). Closer to half of what the Dr Fitzpatrick and Ms Robinson have reported. This is for services delivered to more than 450,000 NDIS participants. Between the once of establishment/set up fee and monthly processing and administration fee Plan Managers are able to charge, Plan Managers on average bill $1,230 per year for each NDIS Participant for providing budget, NDIS funds management, NDIS claim validation, NDIS Claiming lodgement, record keeping, NDIS compliance and information services. These fees also pay for NDIS Registration and Auditing costs. This equates to 1.9% of total scheme payments despite the significant workload and support provided by Plan Managers. This is significant value and well below normal and standard finical transaction fees and costs, it is also around half the cost of similar functions / services provided within Aged Care, Workplace and Vehicle Injury Schemes etc.
- “The plan management model has diverted substantial resources within the NDIS and has made it more complex to administer for therapy and other service providers, and this has resulted in fewer resources being available for direct service provision.” Dr Fitzpatrick – This statement is inaccurate and misleading as there is no evidence to suggest that Plan Management model has diverted recourse within the NDIS or that of Direct Service provision like therapy. In fact the opposite is true, Plan Managers have reduced the workload of the NDIA in managing and dealing with participant enquiries, saved the scheme over $3 Billion Dollars in non-compliant claims in from being processed. Beyond this DIA have lobbied Government to end arrangements where the same provider may be able to deliver both intermediary and direct services to the same participant, this included significant evidence by the DIA CEO Mr Jess Harper to the Disability Royal Commission. The Disability Royal Commission made specific recommendations to put an end to this conflict of interest, DIA notes the Commonwealth Government have acceptance of this recommendation. The NDIS review also made similar recommendations in the context of a future state of the NDIS.
- “And in the absence of mandatory NDIS registration, with associated checks and balances, for plan management, support co-ordination and therapy service provision, many less scrupulous and unregistered providers have thrived on this closed-system approach, including at the expense of other, better governed, organisations.” Dr Fitzpatrick – This statement is inaccurate and misleading.
- Plan Managers or as per their formal title “Registered Plan Management Providers” suggests are all Registered. In fact, Plan Management is the only disability support that has been mandatorily required to be registered since the inception of the NDIS in 2013 – in fact this is stated in the NDIS Act. As such every Plan Manager is registered with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission and is required to undertake regular audits to maintain their registration.
- Plan Managers have significant check and balances in place:
- Being registered all Plan Managers are required to go through either verification or certification audits regularly, upon initial registration and then every 18 months thereafter (as required by the NDIS Commission);
- Plan Managers do not hold any NDIS funds, the NDIA holds all funds until a claim is made. A Plan Manager is required to have adequate evidence to substantiate a claim prior to the claim being lodged on behalf of a Participant with the NDIA. The NDIA conducts three levels of payment assurance and compliance activities, pre-release of funds audit (where a Plan Manager needs to provide evidence to the NDIA of the claim made before the funds are released), post-release of funds audit (where a Plan Manager needs to provide evidence to the NDIA of the claim made after the funds are released) and fraud/compliance action taken by both the NDIA and Fraud Fusion Task Force where any serious fraud or misuse of NDIS funds are detected. On top of all of this is the responsibility and requirements imposed by the NDIS Commission through both the code of conduct and practice standards which all Plan Managers must strictly comply with.
- Support Coordinators, in which the majority of services are delivered by registered providers will from 1 July 2025 commence also being a full registered support service. Something DIA supports and has called for since 2018. All Support Coordinators currently registered or not are governed and regulated by the NDIS Commission. All Support Coordinators are required to meet and adhere to the NDIS Commission Code of Conduct and the NDIA monitors the claiming of all Support Coordinators (registered of not) to ensure visibility of the sector and ensure complaint claiming practices. Unlike all other disability services in the NDIS the NDIA plays an active role in support a NDIS Participant to directly connect with the participants chosen Support Coordinator through the Request for Service process. This process specifies the NDIA’s expectation on the role and function and funding that a Support Coordinator is to undertake with the Participant. The NDIA also specifies how and what reporting they require the Support Coordinator to produce.
Plan Management and Support Coordination are two of the most regulated, overseen and controlled services in the NDIS. For Dr Fitzpatrick to suggest or imply otherwise is wildly inaccurate.
- “A political moment passed us by in 2024 when Bill Shorten, who was on the right path, merely tinkered with the NDIS by mandating NDIS registration for plan managers and support coordinators…” Dr Fitzpatrick – This statement is inaccurate and misleading. As above all Plan Managers have had to be registered since the establishment of the NDIS in 2013.
- “Support co-ordinators’ reports and recommendations often advise highly qualified allied health professionals of the therapy priorities of a participant, a practice that may inadvertently override best practice clinical care.” Dr Fitzpatrick – This misrepresents the role a Support Coordinator plays in the NDIS. A report is only produced by a Support Coordinator at the request of the NDIA (government), this is done through the Request for Service the NDIA send the Participants chosen Support Coordinator. The NDIA requested report will go to how the plan has been implemented and any outcomes, barriers or issues experienced through the plan. To suggest that a Support Coordinator can override best practice clinical care is false. Funding decisions about clinical care, ratios, and practice are not the responsibility of a Support Coordinator but are made by the NDIA (Government) to suggest or infer that a Support Coordinator can somehow override the NDIA or a attending clinical or allied health specialist is factually incorrect. The Support Coordinator may communicate the decisions of the NDIA to a participant and in turn their provider such as a therapist or allied health practitioner (i.e. the participant has been funded for X hours of X service) any disagreement about this funding decision and any impact that may have on clinical care is a matter for the NDIA. The participant has access to processes to seek review (internal through NDIA and external through ART) to challenge those decisions of the NDIA. Further a Support Coordinator is not a substitute decision maker for an NDIS Participant, i.e. they cannot act as or in place of the NDIS Participant like a family (guardian), NDIS Nominee (legal decision maker) or public guardian.
- “where support co-ordinators, often with no formal qualification, could command salaries on par with junior doctors, experienced teachers or allied health workers.” Dr Fitzpatrick – This statement is both offensive and ignors the legal responsibilities Support Coordination business have to their staff under Fairwork and industrial legislation. A significant percentage of Support Coordination workers have experience and qualifications in Allied Health, Social Work, Case Management and other similar professions. Furthermore, a third of Support Coordination practitioners have direct lived experience of disability which is something DIA is extremely proud to have fostered within the sector. The hourly rates quoted by Dr Fitzpatrick are maximum price a Support Coordination business can charge for their services which is set by the NDIA. This price has been frozen for almost 6 years now with around 90% of Support Coordination Services being claimed at the rate of $100.04 per hour. This is the business claiming rate and includes wages, insurance, overheads etc. This has put significant strain on Support Coordination business with a substantial number having to close their doors due to non-viability. The Australian and its News Limited mastheads have reported on this critical situation on numerous occasions.
DIA CEO, Mr Jess Harper Said:
“To some how suggest that Support Coordinators are lining their pockets while other disability business fold is beyond laughable. More Support Coordination businesses have been put to the wall by NDIA failed pricing and market stewardship than any other disability support. Support Coordinators are literally holding the scheme together with both hands at the moment, often at the expense of being able to put food on their own tables.”The bigger point about the amount employees can command for the work, is largely out of the NDIS and Business’s hands. Almost all Support Coordination workers are employed under the SCHADS award(Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Service Industry Award [MA000100]), the remainder are paid under registered enterprise agreements or individual contracts, again inline with Fairwork statutory requirements. The SCHADS award is specific to the Social / Community Services and each level of the award clearly articulates the amount to be paid and employment conditions per hour for the work functions and level delivered. To suggest that Support Coordinators should not be paid the minimum wage set in law by the Fairwork commission is misleading. Any comparison between the amounts paid under the SCHADS award and those paid to other professions are for the Fairwork Commission. To frame the argument in this manner is both offensive and leads to a false conclusion — i.e. that the NDIS or Support Coordination Practices have any choice in the lawfully set minimum wages set by the Fairwork Commission.
Whilst Dr Fitzpatrick is entitled to his opinion, the factual errors and misrepresentations lead to a conclusion that is not founded in evidence. This piece by Dr Fitzpatrick has then been used as the basis of a article by Natasha Robinson published at almost the exact same time yesterday afternoon in The Australian titled “Plan managers and support co-ordinators soak up NDIS funds as providers go to the wall”. Ms Robinson’s article directly quotes and recycles content and story direction elements from the piece written by Dr Fitzpatrick.
As explored above, many of these statements are false and misleading. In neither Dr Fitzpatrick’s piece nor Ms Robinson’s article was there any mention to the fact that NDIS Participants (people with a disability) choose the funds management option that is best for them. In the December 2024 Quarter 77% of NDIS participants made the choice to have their funds managed by a Registered Plan Management Provider (Source: NDIA Supplement to Quarterly Report Appendices 2024-25: Supplement E). This is because a participant gets the best of both worlds when it comes to management, they have access to many of the benefits of Self-Management whilst having support to ensure they get their claiming right and are compliant with NDIS rules and systems. For the exact same reason people use a Tax Agent when dealing with the ATO. Plan Management as defined by the NDIS review really closer to supported self-management. Participants have an extremely difficult and often combative relationship with the NDIA, disagreements on funding, ever increasing level of oversight and scrutiny on how they spend their package funds, in ability to get accurate and timely information on Scheme rules and so much more. This is why Plan Management has become the most popular form of funding management for NDIS Participants. It creates an extra level of support for NDIS Participants to ensure that they are getting the support they need whilst being in line with the complex and overwhelming rules and regulations.
The NDIA make a reasonable and necessary decision as to whether a NDIS Participant can have Support Coordination in their plan. This means that the agency considers if the Participant can be supported by contracted NDIA supports first (LAC – Local Area Coordination) an only if the participant has greater levels of complexity in their support arrangements are they funded with a Support Coordinator.
Both the Dr Fitzpatrick’s piece or Ms Robinson’s article allude or insinuate that somehow both Plan Management and Support Coordination are somehow thrust on to people with a disability and the NDIS to make their lives more expensive, complicated and are unneeded when the reality is that the complete opposite. Both Plan Management and Support Coordination are the two services holding the NDIS together for people with the most profound disabilities.
DIA CEO, Mr Jess Harper has written to The Australian newspaper and journalists involved expressing DIA’s concern about these stories and requesting their removal. DIA has also lodged a complaint with the Australian Press Council.
Disability Intermediaries Australia (DIA) is the peak body for non-government disability intermediary providers and practitioners including Support Coordination and Plan Management. DIA has over 1200 members which deliver disability intermediary services to more than half of all NDIS Participants. DIA members deliver approximately 75% of intermediary services to NDIS Participants.
Neither DIA, nor DIA’s CEO Mr Jess Harper have been asked for comment before publication.
NOTE: After the release of this response, DIA CEO, Mr Jess Harper has received contact from Australian.
Media Contact: media@intermediaries.org.au
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DIA has received escalations from our members following the article who have requested how they can submit a complaint.
Complaints to The Australian can be submitted by emailing: Michelle Gunn Editor in Chief: gunnm@theaustralian.com.au, Richard Ferguson – Chief of Staff: fergusonr@theaustralian.com.au
Complaints to the Australian Press Council can be submitted here: https://presscouncil.org.au/complaints/make-a-complaint
DIA is a members-based organisation. We are only able to do the work that we do because of the ongoing support of our members. Thank you to all DIA members that continue to support the work we do. If you’re a provider delivering Support Coordination or Plan Management are not yet a member, you should consider joining. Click here to join from our homepage.