If you are an unregistered support coordinator, you may not have seen the latest email from the acting commissioner - Michael Phelan.
Here it is in its entirety.
Hello
The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) and NDIS Commission are acting against Support Coordinators who are engaging in and/or facilitating theft, coercion, identity theft and fraud.
Support Coordinators like you contribute to how, where and when NDIS participant plan monies are spent. Those who have the best interests of participants at heart should not have to compete with unethical and criminal entities and we thank those Support Coordinators who are supporting participants, often in challenging circumstances, and who do the right thing.
Our focus includes Support Coordinators who collude with Plan Managers, health professionals and participants to defraud the NDIS.
Theft, coercion, identity theft and fraud are unacceptable and must stop. These practices:
Harm participants by decreasing funding for supports that are designed to improve participant outcomes.
Negatively impact the reputation of Support Coordinators.
Undermine the sustainability of the NDIS.
The NDIA and NDIS Commission have zero tolerance for any Support Coordinators engaging in malicious behaviours, and we are progressively removing these Support Coordinators and their networks from the NDIS. We are also referring these Support Coordinators to law enforcement agencies.
We are writing to all Support Coordinators like you to remind you of your obligations to:
Meet record keeping responsibilities.
Meet conflict-of-interest obligations.
Not engage in practices which facilitate the misuse of NDIS funds.
Comply with all Commonwealth, State and Territory laws, including tax obligations.
Some Support Coordinators are facilitating overspending of participant plans
NDIS Support Coordinators have a significant role to play in supporting participants to spend in accordance with their plan. Our data shows that in many cases this is not happening.
We are seeing many cases where Support Coordinators are facilitating rapid plan spending and then contacting the NDIA for a reassessment and a funding increase.
A participant having spent their budget before the plan reassessment date is not always a reason to request a plan reassessment.
For these reasons, we are continuing to closely assess plan reassessment requests, including who is making these requests. We are committed to ensuring providers are acting in the best interests of NDIS participants and the Scheme, and if we identify providers who are not, we may take further action against them.
If there is a genuine need for the plan reassessment based on changing circumstances, such as the death or loss of an informal carer or significant deterioration of a participant as a result of their disability, then the NDIA will continue to facilitate that, prioritising participant safety and well-being. Support Coordinators have an important role in ensuring the appropriate evidence is provided to support any request for a participant requested plan reassessment – without such evidence we may be unable to conduct the reassessment.
In the event that the change of circumstances reflects a valid change that is supported by the required evidence, Support Coordinators should not allow plans to run down before seeking a plan assessment.
What you need to do
All Support Coordinators are asked to review any current requests for plan reviews and work with participants and nominees to determine if it needs to be withdrawn if it is not appropriate or supported by required evidence. If a plan review withdrawal is required Support Coordinators should also assist participants and nominees to contact the NDIA.
All Support Coordinators – both registered and unregistered – are required to read, understand and comply with the NDIS Code of Conduct. This requires Support Coordinators to:
recommend and provide supports and services appropriate to the needs of the participant.
maintain integrity by declaring and avoiding any real or perceived conflicts of interest.
avoid engaging in, participating in, or promoting sharp practices. Find further detail about Support Coordinators and their obligations at http://www.ndis.gov.au/.../working.../support-coordinators
Supporting participants during a crisis
Support Coordinators are expected to provide an early warning where they become aware a participant’s safety or wellbeing is at risk. It is important for Support Coordinators to work with participants to put in place a plan for when the unexpected happens. That includes establishing supports to prevent the unexpected turning into a crisis and ensuring a plan is in place should a crisis occur.
It is important for Support Coordinators to understand, the NDIA is not a crisis service. If someone you support requires crisis support it is in the best interest of the person to contact trained professionals such as a local GP, hospital, or mental health crisis team.
What we are doing to ensure compliance:
The NDIA and NDIS Commission are partnering with Commonwealth and State Government agencies to remove and prosecute unethical and irresponsible Plan Managers and their networks. These agencies include the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), the Australian Federal Police (AFP), Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC), the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
This includes the following interventions:
Exponentially increasing the volumes of claims being assessed by Payment Integrity, Compliance and Fraud Investigations functions. Any specific fraudulent claims are being used to identify the underlying provider, Support Coordinator or Plan Manager. In many cases, this is resulting in broader integrity activity (including reviews of historical claims) against an entity or a network.
Leveraging the capabilities of the 17 Commonwealth agencies in the Fraud Fusion Taskforce to identify, prevent and disrupt fraud. This includes intelligence sharing, prosecution and other regulatory actions.
Providing historical and current provider payment data to the ATO, including data on NDIS payments being made to Support Coordinators. The ATO is using NDIS data to identify Support Coordinators who fail to meet basic tax obligations.
Increasingly identifying and providing suspicious payment data to Services Australia and other agencies, to ensure that people employed as Support Coordinators are not double dipping across various government payment and welfare systems.
Working together we have already prevented the registration, and facilitated the deregistration or banning of, hundreds of individuals or entities. Our joint activities will be dramatically increased in the coming months.
Reporting unethical and irresponsible behaviour
Any providers exploiting the NDIS or participants will be identified, will be removed from the NDIS, and will be referred to relevant law enforcement agencies for investigation.
For those of you who remain committed to ensuring the integrity of the NDIS, if you do have any concerns about the practices of any other NDIS providers (including Support Coordinators, Plan Managers, or health professionals) or participants, we strongly encourage you to report suspicious behaviour through the NDIA Fraud Reporting Form.
Yours sincerely
Michael Phelan
Acting Commissioner
NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission
Rebecca Falkingham
CEO
National Disability Insurance Agency
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