Latest news with #NDIS
The Advertiser
14 hours ago
- Business
- The Advertiser
Rogue providers run rife in disability support sector
Rampant rule-breaking is going unnoticed within Australia's disability support sector, an industry body says as the workplace watchdog launches a probe into rogue conduct. Less than three per cent of Australia's 260,000 NDIS providers are registered, peak body National Disability Services notes as it welcomes the investigation announced on Tuesday by the Fair Work Ombudsman. "We do not know what is occurring in the unregistered market, because there is no oversight so seeking to understand that is a positive thing," chief executive Michael Perusco told AAP. His organisation has heard of countless instances of poor quality and unregistered providers exploiting staff and participants, he said, also praising the probe for shining a light on those practices. The ombudsman has received tens of thousands of inquiries, anonymous reports, requests for assistance and self-reported breaches each year. Back-payments for workers were close to $68 million between 2020 and 2024, equating to about $13.6 million every year. The peak body has pushed for all National Disability Insurance Scheme providers to be registered in a proportionate system, where regulatory burdens would be higher for services completing complex work. "In the absence of that reform, we are concerned that unsafe practices are going unnoticed," Mr Perusco said. Previous investigations have uncovered widespread and large scale non-compliance in the sector, with ombudsman Anna Booth holding "serious" concerns. The ombudsman aims to identify the root causes of non-compliance then work with industry and government to improve compliance. Key themes of breaches are small and unregistered providers, higher labour costs, an uptick in digital gig platform providers and financial pressures, the ombudsman said. Workers say they face strong demand for their services, high levels of casualisation in a predominantly female workforce, quick staff turnover and tight profit margins. Ms Booth said the sector had relied heavily on migrant workers who are vulnerable to exploitation due to their reluctance to complain, despite having the same rights as other workers. But she warned change won't be instantaneous. The inquiry has been welcomed by the Australian Services Union, the largest group representing disability support workers. "It often feels like a 'whack-a-mole' exercise with underpayments popping up all over the place in this rapidly growing sector," union spokesman Angus McFarland said. The inquiry's first phase will run for 18 months and involve hearing from workers, stakeholders and clients who require disability support. Rampant rule-breaking is going unnoticed within Australia's disability support sector, an industry body says as the workplace watchdog launches a probe into rogue conduct. Less than three per cent of Australia's 260,000 NDIS providers are registered, peak body National Disability Services notes as it welcomes the investigation announced on Tuesday by the Fair Work Ombudsman. "We do not know what is occurring in the unregistered market, because there is no oversight so seeking to understand that is a positive thing," chief executive Michael Perusco told AAP. His organisation has heard of countless instances of poor quality and unregistered providers exploiting staff and participants, he said, also praising the probe for shining a light on those practices. The ombudsman has received tens of thousands of inquiries, anonymous reports, requests for assistance and self-reported breaches each year. Back-payments for workers were close to $68 million between 2020 and 2024, equating to about $13.6 million every year. The peak body has pushed for all National Disability Insurance Scheme providers to be registered in a proportionate system, where regulatory burdens would be higher for services completing complex work. "In the absence of that reform, we are concerned that unsafe practices are going unnoticed," Mr Perusco said. Previous investigations have uncovered widespread and large scale non-compliance in the sector, with ombudsman Anna Booth holding "serious" concerns. The ombudsman aims to identify the root causes of non-compliance then work with industry and government to improve compliance. Key themes of breaches are small and unregistered providers, higher labour costs, an uptick in digital gig platform providers and financial pressures, the ombudsman said. Workers say they face strong demand for their services, high levels of casualisation in a predominantly female workforce, quick staff turnover and tight profit margins. Ms Booth said the sector had relied heavily on migrant workers who are vulnerable to exploitation due to their reluctance to complain, despite having the same rights as other workers. But she warned change won't be instantaneous. The inquiry has been welcomed by the Australian Services Union, the largest group representing disability support workers. "It often feels like a 'whack-a-mole' exercise with underpayments popping up all over the place in this rapidly growing sector," union spokesman Angus McFarland said. The inquiry's first phase will run for 18 months and involve hearing from workers, stakeholders and clients who require disability support. Rampant rule-breaking is going unnoticed within Australia's disability support sector, an industry body says as the workplace watchdog launches a probe into rogue conduct. Less than three per cent of Australia's 260,000 NDIS providers are registered, peak body National Disability Services notes as it welcomes the investigation announced on Tuesday by the Fair Work Ombudsman. "We do not know what is occurring in the unregistered market, because there is no oversight so seeking to understand that is a positive thing," chief executive Michael Perusco told AAP. His organisation has heard of countless instances of poor quality and unregistered providers exploiting staff and participants, he said, also praising the probe for shining a light on those practices. The ombudsman has received tens of thousands of inquiries, anonymous reports, requests for assistance and self-reported breaches each year. Back-payments for workers were close to $68 million between 2020 and 2024, equating to about $13.6 million every year. The peak body has pushed for all National Disability Insurance Scheme providers to be registered in a proportionate system, where regulatory burdens would be higher for services completing complex work. "In the absence of that reform, we are concerned that unsafe practices are going unnoticed," Mr Perusco said. Previous investigations have uncovered widespread and large scale non-compliance in the sector, with ombudsman Anna Booth holding "serious" concerns. The ombudsman aims to identify the root causes of non-compliance then work with industry and government to improve compliance. Key themes of breaches are small and unregistered providers, higher labour costs, an uptick in digital gig platform providers and financial pressures, the ombudsman said. Workers say they face strong demand for their services, high levels of casualisation in a predominantly female workforce, quick staff turnover and tight profit margins. Ms Booth said the sector had relied heavily on migrant workers who are vulnerable to exploitation due to their reluctance to complain, despite having the same rights as other workers. But she warned change won't be instantaneous. The inquiry has been welcomed by the Australian Services Union, the largest group representing disability support workers. "It often feels like a 'whack-a-mole' exercise with underpayments popping up all over the place in this rapidly growing sector," union spokesman Angus McFarland said. The inquiry's first phase will run for 18 months and involve hearing from workers, stakeholders and clients who require disability support. Rampant rule-breaking is going unnoticed within Australia's disability support sector, an industry body says as the workplace watchdog launches a probe into rogue conduct. Less than three per cent of Australia's 260,000 NDIS providers are registered, peak body National Disability Services notes as it welcomes the investigation announced on Tuesday by the Fair Work Ombudsman. "We do not know what is occurring in the unregistered market, because there is no oversight so seeking to understand that is a positive thing," chief executive Michael Perusco told AAP. His organisation has heard of countless instances of poor quality and unregistered providers exploiting staff and participants, he said, also praising the probe for shining a light on those practices. The ombudsman has received tens of thousands of inquiries, anonymous reports, requests for assistance and self-reported breaches each year. Back-payments for workers were close to $68 million between 2020 and 2024, equating to about $13.6 million every year. The peak body has pushed for all National Disability Insurance Scheme providers to be registered in a proportionate system, where regulatory burdens would be higher for services completing complex work. "In the absence of that reform, we are concerned that unsafe practices are going unnoticed," Mr Perusco said. Previous investigations have uncovered widespread and large scale non-compliance in the sector, with ombudsman Anna Booth holding "serious" concerns. The ombudsman aims to identify the root causes of non-compliance then work with industry and government to improve compliance. Key themes of breaches are small and unregistered providers, higher labour costs, an uptick in digital gig platform providers and financial pressures, the ombudsman said. Workers say they face strong demand for their services, high levels of casualisation in a predominantly female workforce, quick staff turnover and tight profit margins. Ms Booth said the sector had relied heavily on migrant workers who are vulnerable to exploitation due to their reluctance to complain, despite having the same rights as other workers. But she warned change won't be instantaneous. The inquiry has been welcomed by the Australian Services Union, the largest group representing disability support workers. "It often feels like a 'whack-a-mole' exercise with underpayments popping up all over the place in this rapidly growing sector," union spokesman Angus McFarland said. The inquiry's first phase will run for 18 months and involve hearing from workers, stakeholders and clients who require disability support.
1News
4 days ago
- Health
- 1News
Kiwi paralysed in surfing accident in Aus day before engagement party
A Kiwi tradie who was living on the Gold Coast became paralysed from a surfing accident just 24 hours before flying home for his engagement party last year. Jonathan 'Johnny' Konings, now 32, moved to the beachside neighbourhood of Kirra in Queensland in 2022 with his partner of seven years, Charlie. Coming from Hamilton, the couple hoped to start a life full of sunshine, beaches, and surfing. However, on June 18 last year, Johnny had a freak wipeout while surfing at Duranbah beach, landing him in a wheelchair potentially for the rest of his life. Johnny told the Daily Mail the morning of the accident was a normal one, "avo on toast with the missus" before going to meet with a client for the first job of his day. ADVERTISEMENT When the meeting got pushed back, Johnny decided to make the most of the ideal conditions and get out in the surf. He had been surfing since he was 16 and said that day, "was one of those days where you don't have to sit there and study it too long... it was looking pretty fun". But on his first wave, his landing went wrong, and he was thrown into the ocean floor, hearing a "clunk" as his body hit the sandbar. "It took a few moments for me to resurface," Johnny said. "I was pretty winded, so I was concentrating on my breath, and then a few moments later, I realised that I couldn't feel anything or move my legs." A nearby surfer helped to stabilise him on two surfboards before sprinting to a nearby beach to get help, but he was struggling to breathe due to a punctured lung and three broken ribs. Johnny had to wait 45 minutes for a lifeguard to get to him by jet ski, where he was then airlifted to a Hospital in Brisbane, the only facility in Queensland equipped with a spinal rehabilitation ward. ADVERTISEMENT "All I could think was Charlie, as we were meant to fly to New Zealand the next morning for our engagement party." Scans showed he had a burst fracture on his vertebra and a dislocation. The damage to his spinal cord was classified as ASIA A, which is the most severe form of paralysis. Although surgeons operated immediately, he was told he would never walk again. "Those were some of the darkest days of my life, and our life, to be honest," Johnny told the Daily Mail. "There is so much grief that comes with not being able to use your legs. It's like a whole version of yourself that dies." His injuries have left him unable to work, and while most spinal cord injury survivors in Australia are eligible to receive assistance through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), Johnny and Charlie have not lived long enough for citizenship or access to the scheme. The couple is having to privately fund his medical needs, specialist therapy, equipment, and daily care alongside rent. ADVERTISEMENT Charlie is now Johnny's full-time carer, while also having to find paid work to support both of them, with catheters alone costing over $21,800 per year, according to the Daily Mail. Now, the couple hopes that with community support, they can rebuild their dream lives, which will also include children in the future. Due to his injuries, Johnny and Charlie have been advised to begin IVF as soon as possible, which is another massive financial burden. "I wouldn't wish it on anyone," Johnny said.
The Advertiser
4 days ago
- Health
- The Advertiser
'They would withdraw care': cracks in NDIS costing Hunter families thousands
IT'S the system meant to offer them a safety net, but a funding crackdown is leaving some National Disability Insurance Scheme participants falling through the cracks. NDIS participants are being put at risk with lengthy delays and questionable decisions endangering the lives of those left without funded support and nowhere to go. Hospitals have become a last resort while families and service providers are being stranded with hefty bills into the tens of thousands of dollars. Industry insiders say that a broad-brush approach to a system-wide crackdown on NDIS spending is robbing those who genuinely rely on it. In two separate cases reported to the Newcastle Herald, people living with quadraplegia have had to rely on the goodwill of service providers for hands-on, life-sustaining care. Those service providers, and the families of those individuals, are paying out-of-pocket to ensure those supports remain in place. So far they have been unable to recover those costs due to what they describe as a combination of bureaucratic red tape, a lack of training and oversight, and the unavailability of NDIS staff with the experience, knowledge, or authority to address or escalate issues in a timely way. In the case of 52-year-old Jamie Phillips of Bolton Point, heavily reliant on his partner as well as funded supports, his NDIS journey has been difficult form the start. Karen Johnson, 58, works full-time as well as being Mr Phillips' full-time carer seven nights per week, starting at 4.30pm each day when she gets home from work. Night time care involves hoisting Mr Phillips out of bed and into a chair, onto a commode, in and out of the shower, into fresh clothes and hoisting him back onto the bed. He requires special boots, a CPAP machine, medications at 8pm and 11pm, and a catheter. She is preparing to purchase a $10,000 bed to enable her to sleep in the same room. "For three years he's been living in our loungeroom, he gets dressed there, he gets wheeled through the house naked to get showered, and wheeled back to go to bed," she said. Mr Phillips became a quadraplegic in 2022 after a botched medical procedure almost took his life, she said. He became an NDIS participant in December the same year. "Every plan we've had, we've had an issue with," Ms Johnson said. "It was underfunded or incorrectly funded, then last year his funding fell short. We had two agencies involved, both of them kept working for us without getting paid up until one who we paid because they said if we didn't pay they would withdraw their care." That was a bill for $21,000. The second company, which continued to provide services, has never been paid, she said, to the tune of about $15,000. "They just didn't get their money," Ms Johnson said. "This year Jamie got compensation for medical malpractice, so when we got the compensation, we had to pay back $1.9 million back to NDIS because that's the money they paid for him in the two years prior," she said. According to the civil court, compensation is calculated on the assumption that a quadraplegic has a life expectancy of eight years post-injury, but according to the NDIS it's about 22 years, Ms Johnson said. "So they took the $1.9 million and his funding will be cut down by around about $100,000 per year while he's alive, and so while we we're talking to them about that, that lady said she wasn't involved in the section where we could get our money back, and we've just never heard anything more about it." Mr Phillips has also lost out on occupational therapy due to NDIS-related cuts to allied health services impacting in-home care, Ms Johnson said. Jonathan Castellan, also a quadraplegic, was wheeled into the NDIS office at Charlestown earlier this month by support workers desperate to help him get the funding he needed. Already thousands of dollars out-of-pocket, it has been the dedication of those support workers that has kept Mr Castellan alive. "They didn't seem to understand how he couldn't spend a few days at home by himself," his sister, who did not wish to be named, told the Herald. Mr Castellan, 63, lives with quadraplegia following a spinal cord injury, as well as autism and dysphasia. He is catheterised and requires 24-hour care, but his sister said that due to an escalation in his care needs after a hospital stay, which meant he needed more support overnight, he ran out of funding. While the likelihood that he would run out of funding on that basis had been raised with the NDIS beforehand, delays meant his carers had no choice but to work without pay, she said. "You cannot ring the NDIS and speak to anyone who can actually do anything," an associated carer said. "They can't even escalate it and say to someone that we've got this major problem here - even if it was to release funding so we could continue caring for him until they can sort it out. "They don't read the reports. They will spend more money fighting the wheelchair than it would cost to buy the wheelchair." In both cases, family members and care teams considered hospitalisation as an option, but already hospitals are struggling with aged care and NDIS bedblock, and have pushed back. A spokesperson for the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), which governs the scheme, said the safety and welfare of NDIS participants was its "top priority". "While providers should be spending within a participant's funded support levels, the agency can prioritise requests for further funding, when there is a risk to a participant through a change in their circumstances," the spokesperson said. "In these cases, the NDIA will work closely with participants and review supporting evidence to ensure participant safety." It is understood the NDIA disputes the sequence of events as relayed by family members and support workers, and said that the required level of supporting evidence had not been submitted. Further, while the agency can prioritise requests for increased supports when there is a risk to a participant through a change in their circumstances, early exhaustion of plan funding does not automatically initiate a plan review or the approval of a new NDIS plan. The Herald has reported rising levels of aged care and NDIS bedblock, which has increased by more than 40 per cent across Hunter hospitals since March, further exacerbating the issue as hospitals battle to find enough beds and staff to man them. IT'S the system meant to offer them a safety net, but a funding crackdown is leaving some National Disability Insurance Scheme participants falling through the cracks. NDIS participants are being put at risk with lengthy delays and questionable decisions endangering the lives of those left without funded support and nowhere to go. Hospitals have become a last resort while families and service providers are being stranded with hefty bills into the tens of thousands of dollars. Industry insiders say that a broad-brush approach to a system-wide crackdown on NDIS spending is robbing those who genuinely rely on it. In two separate cases reported to the Newcastle Herald, people living with quadraplegia have had to rely on the goodwill of service providers for hands-on, life-sustaining care. Those service providers, and the families of those individuals, are paying out-of-pocket to ensure those supports remain in place. So far they have been unable to recover those costs due to what they describe as a combination of bureaucratic red tape, a lack of training and oversight, and the unavailability of NDIS staff with the experience, knowledge, or authority to address or escalate issues in a timely way. In the case of 52-year-old Jamie Phillips of Bolton Point, heavily reliant on his partner as well as funded supports, his NDIS journey has been difficult form the start. Karen Johnson, 58, works full-time as well as being Mr Phillips' full-time carer seven nights per week, starting at 4.30pm each day when she gets home from work. Night time care involves hoisting Mr Phillips out of bed and into a chair, onto a commode, in and out of the shower, into fresh clothes and hoisting him back onto the bed. He requires special boots, a CPAP machine, medications at 8pm and 11pm, and a catheter. She is preparing to purchase a $10,000 bed to enable her to sleep in the same room. "For three years he's been living in our loungeroom, he gets dressed there, he gets wheeled through the house naked to get showered, and wheeled back to go to bed," she said. Mr Phillips became a quadraplegic in 2022 after a botched medical procedure almost took his life, she said. He became an NDIS participant in December the same year. "Every plan we've had, we've had an issue with," Ms Johnson said. "It was underfunded or incorrectly funded, then last year his funding fell short. We had two agencies involved, both of them kept working for us without getting paid up until one who we paid because they said if we didn't pay they would withdraw their care." That was a bill for $21,000. The second company, which continued to provide services, has never been paid, she said, to the tune of about $15,000. "They just didn't get their money," Ms Johnson said. "This year Jamie got compensation for medical malpractice, so when we got the compensation, we had to pay back $1.9 million back to NDIS because that's the money they paid for him in the two years prior," she said. According to the civil court, compensation is calculated on the assumption that a quadraplegic has a life expectancy of eight years post-injury, but according to the NDIS it's about 22 years, Ms Johnson said. "So they took the $1.9 million and his funding will be cut down by around about $100,000 per year while he's alive, and so while we we're talking to them about that, that lady said she wasn't involved in the section where we could get our money back, and we've just never heard anything more about it." Mr Phillips has also lost out on occupational therapy due to NDIS-related cuts to allied health services impacting in-home care, Ms Johnson said. Jonathan Castellan, also a quadraplegic, was wheeled into the NDIS office at Charlestown earlier this month by support workers desperate to help him get the funding he needed. Already thousands of dollars out-of-pocket, it has been the dedication of those support workers that has kept Mr Castellan alive. "They didn't seem to understand how he couldn't spend a few days at home by himself," his sister, who did not wish to be named, told the Herald. Mr Castellan, 63, lives with quadraplegia following a spinal cord injury, as well as autism and dysphasia. He is catheterised and requires 24-hour care, but his sister said that due to an escalation in his care needs after a hospital stay, which meant he needed more support overnight, he ran out of funding. While the likelihood that he would run out of funding on that basis had been raised with the NDIS beforehand, delays meant his carers had no choice but to work without pay, she said. "You cannot ring the NDIS and speak to anyone who can actually do anything," an associated carer said. "They can't even escalate it and say to someone that we've got this major problem here - even if it was to release funding so we could continue caring for him until they can sort it out. "They don't read the reports. They will spend more money fighting the wheelchair than it would cost to buy the wheelchair." In both cases, family members and care teams considered hospitalisation as an option, but already hospitals are struggling with aged care and NDIS bedblock, and have pushed back. A spokesperson for the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), which governs the scheme, said the safety and welfare of NDIS participants was its "top priority". "While providers should be spending within a participant's funded support levels, the agency can prioritise requests for further funding, when there is a risk to a participant through a change in their circumstances," the spokesperson said. "In these cases, the NDIA will work closely with participants and review supporting evidence to ensure participant safety." It is understood the NDIA disputes the sequence of events as relayed by family members and support workers, and said that the required level of supporting evidence had not been submitted. Further, while the agency can prioritise requests for increased supports when there is a risk to a participant through a change in their circumstances, early exhaustion of plan funding does not automatically initiate a plan review or the approval of a new NDIS plan. The Herald has reported rising levels of aged care and NDIS bedblock, which has increased by more than 40 per cent across Hunter hospitals since March, further exacerbating the issue as hospitals battle to find enough beds and staff to man them. IT'S the system meant to offer them a safety net, but a funding crackdown is leaving some National Disability Insurance Scheme participants falling through the cracks. NDIS participants are being put at risk with lengthy delays and questionable decisions endangering the lives of those left without funded support and nowhere to go. Hospitals have become a last resort while families and service providers are being stranded with hefty bills into the tens of thousands of dollars. Industry insiders say that a broad-brush approach to a system-wide crackdown on NDIS spending is robbing those who genuinely rely on it. In two separate cases reported to the Newcastle Herald, people living with quadraplegia have had to rely on the goodwill of service providers for hands-on, life-sustaining care. Those service providers, and the families of those individuals, are paying out-of-pocket to ensure those supports remain in place. So far they have been unable to recover those costs due to what they describe as a combination of bureaucratic red tape, a lack of training and oversight, and the unavailability of NDIS staff with the experience, knowledge, or authority to address or escalate issues in a timely way. In the case of 52-year-old Jamie Phillips of Bolton Point, heavily reliant on his partner as well as funded supports, his NDIS journey has been difficult form the start. Karen Johnson, 58, works full-time as well as being Mr Phillips' full-time carer seven nights per week, starting at 4.30pm each day when she gets home from work. Night time care involves hoisting Mr Phillips out of bed and into a chair, onto a commode, in and out of the shower, into fresh clothes and hoisting him back onto the bed. He requires special boots, a CPAP machine, medications at 8pm and 11pm, and a catheter. She is preparing to purchase a $10,000 bed to enable her to sleep in the same room. "For three years he's been living in our loungeroom, he gets dressed there, he gets wheeled through the house naked to get showered, and wheeled back to go to bed," she said. Mr Phillips became a quadraplegic in 2022 after a botched medical procedure almost took his life, she said. He became an NDIS participant in December the same year. "Every plan we've had, we've had an issue with," Ms Johnson said. "It was underfunded or incorrectly funded, then last year his funding fell short. We had two agencies involved, both of them kept working for us without getting paid up until one who we paid because they said if we didn't pay they would withdraw their care." That was a bill for $21,000. The second company, which continued to provide services, has never been paid, she said, to the tune of about $15,000. "They just didn't get their money," Ms Johnson said. "This year Jamie got compensation for medical malpractice, so when we got the compensation, we had to pay back $1.9 million back to NDIS because that's the money they paid for him in the two years prior," she said. According to the civil court, compensation is calculated on the assumption that a quadraplegic has a life expectancy of eight years post-injury, but according to the NDIS it's about 22 years, Ms Johnson said. "So they took the $1.9 million and his funding will be cut down by around about $100,000 per year while he's alive, and so while we we're talking to them about that, that lady said she wasn't involved in the section where we could get our money back, and we've just never heard anything more about it." Mr Phillips has also lost out on occupational therapy due to NDIS-related cuts to allied health services impacting in-home care, Ms Johnson said. Jonathan Castellan, also a quadraplegic, was wheeled into the NDIS office at Charlestown earlier this month by support workers desperate to help him get the funding he needed. Already thousands of dollars out-of-pocket, it has been the dedication of those support workers that has kept Mr Castellan alive. "They didn't seem to understand how he couldn't spend a few days at home by himself," his sister, who did not wish to be named, told the Herald. Mr Castellan, 63, lives with quadraplegia following a spinal cord injury, as well as autism and dysphasia. He is catheterised and requires 24-hour care, but his sister said that due to an escalation in his care needs after a hospital stay, which meant he needed more support overnight, he ran out of funding. While the likelihood that he would run out of funding on that basis had been raised with the NDIS beforehand, delays meant his carers had no choice but to work without pay, she said. "You cannot ring the NDIS and speak to anyone who can actually do anything," an associated carer said. "They can't even escalate it and say to someone that we've got this major problem here - even if it was to release funding so we could continue caring for him until they can sort it out. "They don't read the reports. They will spend more money fighting the wheelchair than it would cost to buy the wheelchair." In both cases, family members and care teams considered hospitalisation as an option, but already hospitals are struggling with aged care and NDIS bedblock, and have pushed back. A spokesperson for the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), which governs the scheme, said the safety and welfare of NDIS participants was its "top priority". "While providers should be spending within a participant's funded support levels, the agency can prioritise requests for further funding, when there is a risk to a participant through a change in their circumstances," the spokesperson said. "In these cases, the NDIA will work closely with participants and review supporting evidence to ensure participant safety." It is understood the NDIA disputes the sequence of events as relayed by family members and support workers, and said that the required level of supporting evidence had not been submitted. Further, while the agency can prioritise requests for increased supports when there is a risk to a participant through a change in their circumstances, early exhaustion of plan funding does not automatically initiate a plan review or the approval of a new NDIS plan. The Herald has reported rising levels of aged care and NDIS bedblock, which has increased by more than 40 per cent across Hunter hospitals since March, further exacerbating the issue as hospitals battle to find enough beds and staff to man them. IT'S the system meant to offer them a safety net, but a funding crackdown is leaving some National Disability Insurance Scheme participants falling through the cracks. NDIS participants are being put at risk with lengthy delays and questionable decisions endangering the lives of those left without funded support and nowhere to go. Hospitals have become a last resort while families and service providers are being stranded with hefty bills into the tens of thousands of dollars. Industry insiders say that a broad-brush approach to a system-wide crackdown on NDIS spending is robbing those who genuinely rely on it. In two separate cases reported to the Newcastle Herald, people living with quadraplegia have had to rely on the goodwill of service providers for hands-on, life-sustaining care. Those service providers, and the families of those individuals, are paying out-of-pocket to ensure those supports remain in place. So far they have been unable to recover those costs due to what they describe as a combination of bureaucratic red tape, a lack of training and oversight, and the unavailability of NDIS staff with the experience, knowledge, or authority to address or escalate issues in a timely way. In the case of 52-year-old Jamie Phillips of Bolton Point, heavily reliant on his partner as well as funded supports, his NDIS journey has been difficult form the start. Karen Johnson, 58, works full-time as well as being Mr Phillips' full-time carer seven nights per week, starting at 4.30pm each day when she gets home from work. Night time care involves hoisting Mr Phillips out of bed and into a chair, onto a commode, in and out of the shower, into fresh clothes and hoisting him back onto the bed. He requires special boots, a CPAP machine, medications at 8pm and 11pm, and a catheter. She is preparing to purchase a $10,000 bed to enable her to sleep in the same room. "For three years he's been living in our loungeroom, he gets dressed there, he gets wheeled through the house naked to get showered, and wheeled back to go to bed," she said. Mr Phillips became a quadraplegic in 2022 after a botched medical procedure almost took his life, she said. He became an NDIS participant in December the same year. "Every plan we've had, we've had an issue with," Ms Johnson said. "It was underfunded or incorrectly funded, then last year his funding fell short. We had two agencies involved, both of them kept working for us without getting paid up until one who we paid because they said if we didn't pay they would withdraw their care." That was a bill for $21,000. The second company, which continued to provide services, has never been paid, she said, to the tune of about $15,000. "They just didn't get their money," Ms Johnson said. "This year Jamie got compensation for medical malpractice, so when we got the compensation, we had to pay back $1.9 million back to NDIS because that's the money they paid for him in the two years prior," she said. According to the civil court, compensation is calculated on the assumption that a quadraplegic has a life expectancy of eight years post-injury, but according to the NDIS it's about 22 years, Ms Johnson said. "So they took the $1.9 million and his funding will be cut down by around about $100,000 per year while he's alive, and so while we we're talking to them about that, that lady said she wasn't involved in the section where we could get our money back, and we've just never heard anything more about it." Mr Phillips has also lost out on occupational therapy due to NDIS-related cuts to allied health services impacting in-home care, Ms Johnson said. Jonathan Castellan, also a quadraplegic, was wheeled into the NDIS office at Charlestown earlier this month by support workers desperate to help him get the funding he needed. Already thousands of dollars out-of-pocket, it has been the dedication of those support workers that has kept Mr Castellan alive. "They didn't seem to understand how he couldn't spend a few days at home by himself," his sister, who did not wish to be named, told the Herald. Mr Castellan, 63, lives with quadraplegia following a spinal cord injury, as well as autism and dysphasia. He is catheterised and requires 24-hour care, but his sister said that due to an escalation in his care needs after a hospital stay, which meant he needed more support overnight, he ran out of funding. While the likelihood that he would run out of funding on that basis had been raised with the NDIS beforehand, delays meant his carers had no choice but to work without pay, she said. "You cannot ring the NDIS and speak to anyone who can actually do anything," an associated carer said. "They can't even escalate it and say to someone that we've got this major problem here - even if it was to release funding so we could continue caring for him until they can sort it out. "They don't read the reports. They will spend more money fighting the wheelchair than it would cost to buy the wheelchair." In both cases, family members and care teams considered hospitalisation as an option, but already hospitals are struggling with aged care and NDIS bedblock, and have pushed back. A spokesperson for the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), which governs the scheme, said the safety and welfare of NDIS participants was its "top priority". "While providers should be spending within a participant's funded support levels, the agency can prioritise requests for further funding, when there is a risk to a participant through a change in their circumstances," the spokesperson said. "In these cases, the NDIA will work closely with participants and review supporting evidence to ensure participant safety." It is understood the NDIA disputes the sequence of events as relayed by family members and support workers, and said that the required level of supporting evidence had not been submitted. Further, while the agency can prioritise requests for increased supports when there is a risk to a participant through a change in their circumstances, early exhaustion of plan funding does not automatically initiate a plan review or the approval of a new NDIS plan. The Herald has reported rising levels of aged care and NDIS bedblock, which has increased by more than 40 per cent across Hunter hospitals since March, further exacerbating the issue as hospitals battle to find enough beds and staff to man them.
The Advertiser
4 days ago
- Business
- The Advertiser
You know what's a bigger issue than productivity? This culture of entitlement
As we get closer to the productivity roundtable that the government hopes will solve all problems, various players are tipping their hand as to what they want the focus to be. Unfortunately, many commentators on the left have indicated the focus should be squarely on increasing taxation - both to close the existing budget deficit and to fund additional government spending. It has been clear for some time that the Treasurer is sympathetic to calls for an expanded role for government. His much-cited essay on the future of capitalism outlined a vision of government returning to the centre of the economy, using taxpayer funds to direct and shape economic priorities. This is a bad idea; both on its merits, and in terms of its negative impact on productivity. The fact is government has been steadily growing in both its expenditure and regulatory dimensions for years now and each of these are a drain on productivity. Focusing on expenditure, a full tally for all levels of government shows expenditure at 38.3 per cent of GDP in 2023-24 and it is likely to have been higher in 2024-25, perhaps approaching 39 per cent. The same measure before the coronavirus pandemic was usually in the range 34-35 per cent of GDP. Pandemic-era spending led to a spike above 40 per cent for two years. However, true to the then-government's word, most of that spending was temporary. The huge deficits of that era did leave a legacy in the form of ongoing interest expense on the resulting public debt. But otherwise, the pandemic can't be blamed for expenditure now being about 4 percentage points of GDP higher than before it. That is a massive $100 billion plus, every year. These increases have happened mainly at the federal level, although a good portion of the additional expenditure amounts to the federal government effectively bankrolling state expenditures and responsibilities. An examination of program expenditure points to the seeds of increased federal spending being sown long ago. Looking back to 2012-13 we see the rapid growth of expenses on disability support (the NDIS), aged care, child care, schools, public hospitals, pharmaceutical benefits and medical benefits - all programs that have been boosted by new policy initiatives since 2012-13 to roll out new social benefits or enhance existing ones. The welfare state has been on a roll, but in addition defence and funding of state infrastructure projects have increased rapidly, as has debt interest expense as a result of the budget deficits. All these programs together accounted for 35 per cent of federal own-purpose expenditure in 2012-13 but for 63 per cent of the dollar increase in annual expenditure up to 2024-25. Each item has its own story, and we wouldn't suggest that the growth was all avoidable. For example, some of it reflects population ageing and the increase in defence is a normalisation from a historically low level. However, the growth in social spending also includes wasteful and ineffective spending. That growth reflects the priorities of an earlier Labor government, and the subsequent Coalition government largely went along with it or felt they had to. Unfortunately, this political dynamic has created a situation where the main sources of growth in terms of employment and spending in the economy have been focused in areas that are relatively low productivity (the care economy in particular). To make matters worse, the current Labor government is doubling down on its previous spending increases in most areas. Aged care, childcare and Medicare are all areas where the government has unveiled substantial new spending commitments. The government has agreed to increase its share of Gonski school funding. And it has promised or hopes to go further with "free" TAFE and universal child care, while pressures for further increases in defence can be expected. READ MORE SIMON COWAN: Of course, this additional spending, though significant in its own right, is dwarfed by the growing costs of the NDIS. The CIS warned long ago that the NDIS was likely to grow far faster than had been predicted at the time. Despite these prescient warnings, both sides of politics have made only modest efforts to rein in the NDIS monster. Consequently, there are good reasons to be sceptical of rosy predictions of the NDIS cost-curve flattening (although staying at a level well above the growth of the economy) without substantial intervention. It should be noted as well, that despite the rapidly burgeoning costs, many participants and providers in the scheme report dissatisfaction with how the scheme is being managed. While increases in spending in individual programs and areas are the measure of the increase in the size of government, this is not the root cause. The bigger issue is the culture of dependency and entitlement has taken root in the population and political behaviour has become only too willing to accommodate and encourage it. We have reached a point where a sizeable proportion of the voting age population - perhaps more than half - is dependent on government directly or indirectly through social benefits and employment for most of their income. It is difficult to see the current government reversing this trend without a major change of mindset. While there is some hope for the broader centre left of politics in movements like the "abundance agenda", left-wing parties across the Western world have become the parties of higher taxes and bigger government. Despite the political difficulties, the economic and social consequences of the growth in government spending and dependency on government will have to be faced one day. The economic consequences include the unrelenting pressure for more deficits and more debt, which will make the economy more vulnerable to future crises and the government less able to respond. Governments' insatiable appetite for revenue also creates more pressure for taxes to rise, which in turn saps incentives for work, saving and investment - and thereby potentially compounds the problem of weak productivity growth. The simple fact is that people respond to incentives. When the incentives encourage innovation, investment and ingenuity, people respond by increasing productivity. Our living standards grow. However, when the incentives encourage us to fight over the distribution of the pie, even as it shrinks, the rot of entitlement and waste sinks in. Turning this around will require more than a summit. As we get closer to the productivity roundtable that the government hopes will solve all problems, various players are tipping their hand as to what they want the focus to be. Unfortunately, many commentators on the left have indicated the focus should be squarely on increasing taxation - both to close the existing budget deficit and to fund additional government spending. It has been clear for some time that the Treasurer is sympathetic to calls for an expanded role for government. His much-cited essay on the future of capitalism outlined a vision of government returning to the centre of the economy, using taxpayer funds to direct and shape economic priorities. This is a bad idea; both on its merits, and in terms of its negative impact on productivity. The fact is government has been steadily growing in both its expenditure and regulatory dimensions for years now and each of these are a drain on productivity. Focusing on expenditure, a full tally for all levels of government shows expenditure at 38.3 per cent of GDP in 2023-24 and it is likely to have been higher in 2024-25, perhaps approaching 39 per cent. The same measure before the coronavirus pandemic was usually in the range 34-35 per cent of GDP. Pandemic-era spending led to a spike above 40 per cent for two years. However, true to the then-government's word, most of that spending was temporary. The huge deficits of that era did leave a legacy in the form of ongoing interest expense on the resulting public debt. But otherwise, the pandemic can't be blamed for expenditure now being about 4 percentage points of GDP higher than before it. That is a massive $100 billion plus, every year. These increases have happened mainly at the federal level, although a good portion of the additional expenditure amounts to the federal government effectively bankrolling state expenditures and responsibilities. An examination of program expenditure points to the seeds of increased federal spending being sown long ago. Looking back to 2012-13 we see the rapid growth of expenses on disability support (the NDIS), aged care, child care, schools, public hospitals, pharmaceutical benefits and medical benefits - all programs that have been boosted by new policy initiatives since 2012-13 to roll out new social benefits or enhance existing ones. The welfare state has been on a roll, but in addition defence and funding of state infrastructure projects have increased rapidly, as has debt interest expense as a result of the budget deficits. All these programs together accounted for 35 per cent of federal own-purpose expenditure in 2012-13 but for 63 per cent of the dollar increase in annual expenditure up to 2024-25. Each item has its own story, and we wouldn't suggest that the growth was all avoidable. For example, some of it reflects population ageing and the increase in defence is a normalisation from a historically low level. However, the growth in social spending also includes wasteful and ineffective spending. That growth reflects the priorities of an earlier Labor government, and the subsequent Coalition government largely went along with it or felt they had to. Unfortunately, this political dynamic has created a situation where the main sources of growth in terms of employment and spending in the economy have been focused in areas that are relatively low productivity (the care economy in particular). To make matters worse, the current Labor government is doubling down on its previous spending increases in most areas. Aged care, childcare and Medicare are all areas where the government has unveiled substantial new spending commitments. The government has agreed to increase its share of Gonski school funding. And it has promised or hopes to go further with "free" TAFE and universal child care, while pressures for further increases in defence can be expected. READ MORE SIMON COWAN: Of course, this additional spending, though significant in its own right, is dwarfed by the growing costs of the NDIS. The CIS warned long ago that the NDIS was likely to grow far faster than had been predicted at the time. Despite these prescient warnings, both sides of politics have made only modest efforts to rein in the NDIS monster. Consequently, there are good reasons to be sceptical of rosy predictions of the NDIS cost-curve flattening (although staying at a level well above the growth of the economy) without substantial intervention. It should be noted as well, that despite the rapidly burgeoning costs, many participants and providers in the scheme report dissatisfaction with how the scheme is being managed. While increases in spending in individual programs and areas are the measure of the increase in the size of government, this is not the root cause. The bigger issue is the culture of dependency and entitlement has taken root in the population and political behaviour has become only too willing to accommodate and encourage it. We have reached a point where a sizeable proportion of the voting age population - perhaps more than half - is dependent on government directly or indirectly through social benefits and employment for most of their income. It is difficult to see the current government reversing this trend without a major change of mindset. While there is some hope for the broader centre left of politics in movements like the "abundance agenda", left-wing parties across the Western world have become the parties of higher taxes and bigger government. Despite the political difficulties, the economic and social consequences of the growth in government spending and dependency on government will have to be faced one day. The economic consequences include the unrelenting pressure for more deficits and more debt, which will make the economy more vulnerable to future crises and the government less able to respond. Governments' insatiable appetite for revenue also creates more pressure for taxes to rise, which in turn saps incentives for work, saving and investment - and thereby potentially compounds the problem of weak productivity growth. The simple fact is that people respond to incentives. When the incentives encourage innovation, investment and ingenuity, people respond by increasing productivity. Our living standards grow. However, when the incentives encourage us to fight over the distribution of the pie, even as it shrinks, the rot of entitlement and waste sinks in. Turning this around will require more than a summit. As we get closer to the productivity roundtable that the government hopes will solve all problems, various players are tipping their hand as to what they want the focus to be. Unfortunately, many commentators on the left have indicated the focus should be squarely on increasing taxation - both to close the existing budget deficit and to fund additional government spending. It has been clear for some time that the Treasurer is sympathetic to calls for an expanded role for government. His much-cited essay on the future of capitalism outlined a vision of government returning to the centre of the economy, using taxpayer funds to direct and shape economic priorities. This is a bad idea; both on its merits, and in terms of its negative impact on productivity. The fact is government has been steadily growing in both its expenditure and regulatory dimensions for years now and each of these are a drain on productivity. Focusing on expenditure, a full tally for all levels of government shows expenditure at 38.3 per cent of GDP in 2023-24 and it is likely to have been higher in 2024-25, perhaps approaching 39 per cent. The same measure before the coronavirus pandemic was usually in the range 34-35 per cent of GDP. Pandemic-era spending led to a spike above 40 per cent for two years. However, true to the then-government's word, most of that spending was temporary. The huge deficits of that era did leave a legacy in the form of ongoing interest expense on the resulting public debt. But otherwise, the pandemic can't be blamed for expenditure now being about 4 percentage points of GDP higher than before it. That is a massive $100 billion plus, every year. These increases have happened mainly at the federal level, although a good portion of the additional expenditure amounts to the federal government effectively bankrolling state expenditures and responsibilities. An examination of program expenditure points to the seeds of increased federal spending being sown long ago. Looking back to 2012-13 we see the rapid growth of expenses on disability support (the NDIS), aged care, child care, schools, public hospitals, pharmaceutical benefits and medical benefits - all programs that have been boosted by new policy initiatives since 2012-13 to roll out new social benefits or enhance existing ones. The welfare state has been on a roll, but in addition defence and funding of state infrastructure projects have increased rapidly, as has debt interest expense as a result of the budget deficits. All these programs together accounted for 35 per cent of federal own-purpose expenditure in 2012-13 but for 63 per cent of the dollar increase in annual expenditure up to 2024-25. Each item has its own story, and we wouldn't suggest that the growth was all avoidable. For example, some of it reflects population ageing and the increase in defence is a normalisation from a historically low level. However, the growth in social spending also includes wasteful and ineffective spending. That growth reflects the priorities of an earlier Labor government, and the subsequent Coalition government largely went along with it or felt they had to. Unfortunately, this political dynamic has created a situation where the main sources of growth in terms of employment and spending in the economy have been focused in areas that are relatively low productivity (the care economy in particular). To make matters worse, the current Labor government is doubling down on its previous spending increases in most areas. Aged care, childcare and Medicare are all areas where the government has unveiled substantial new spending commitments. The government has agreed to increase its share of Gonski school funding. And it has promised or hopes to go further with "free" TAFE and universal child care, while pressures for further increases in defence can be expected. READ MORE SIMON COWAN: Of course, this additional spending, though significant in its own right, is dwarfed by the growing costs of the NDIS. The CIS warned long ago that the NDIS was likely to grow far faster than had been predicted at the time. Despite these prescient warnings, both sides of politics have made only modest efforts to rein in the NDIS monster. Consequently, there are good reasons to be sceptical of rosy predictions of the NDIS cost-curve flattening (although staying at a level well above the growth of the economy) without substantial intervention. It should be noted as well, that despite the rapidly burgeoning costs, many participants and providers in the scheme report dissatisfaction with how the scheme is being managed. While increases in spending in individual programs and areas are the measure of the increase in the size of government, this is not the root cause. The bigger issue is the culture of dependency and entitlement has taken root in the population and political behaviour has become only too willing to accommodate and encourage it. We have reached a point where a sizeable proportion of the voting age population - perhaps more than half - is dependent on government directly or indirectly through social benefits and employment for most of their income. It is difficult to see the current government reversing this trend without a major change of mindset. While there is some hope for the broader centre left of politics in movements like the "abundance agenda", left-wing parties across the Western world have become the parties of higher taxes and bigger government. Despite the political difficulties, the economic and social consequences of the growth in government spending and dependency on government will have to be faced one day. The economic consequences include the unrelenting pressure for more deficits and more debt, which will make the economy more vulnerable to future crises and the government less able to respond. Governments' insatiable appetite for revenue also creates more pressure for taxes to rise, which in turn saps incentives for work, saving and investment - and thereby potentially compounds the problem of weak productivity growth. The simple fact is that people respond to incentives. When the incentives encourage innovation, investment and ingenuity, people respond by increasing productivity. Our living standards grow. However, when the incentives encourage us to fight over the distribution of the pie, even as it shrinks, the rot of entitlement and waste sinks in. Turning this around will require more than a summit. As we get closer to the productivity roundtable that the government hopes will solve all problems, various players are tipping their hand as to what they want the focus to be. Unfortunately, many commentators on the left have indicated the focus should be squarely on increasing taxation - both to close the existing budget deficit and to fund additional government spending. It has been clear for some time that the Treasurer is sympathetic to calls for an expanded role for government. His much-cited essay on the future of capitalism outlined a vision of government returning to the centre of the economy, using taxpayer funds to direct and shape economic priorities. This is a bad idea; both on its merits, and in terms of its negative impact on productivity. The fact is government has been steadily growing in both its expenditure and regulatory dimensions for years now and each of these are a drain on productivity. Focusing on expenditure, a full tally for all levels of government shows expenditure at 38.3 per cent of GDP in 2023-24 and it is likely to have been higher in 2024-25, perhaps approaching 39 per cent. The same measure before the coronavirus pandemic was usually in the range 34-35 per cent of GDP. Pandemic-era spending led to a spike above 40 per cent for two years. However, true to the then-government's word, most of that spending was temporary. The huge deficits of that era did leave a legacy in the form of ongoing interest expense on the resulting public debt. But otherwise, the pandemic can't be blamed for expenditure now being about 4 percentage points of GDP higher than before it. That is a massive $100 billion plus, every year. These increases have happened mainly at the federal level, although a good portion of the additional expenditure amounts to the federal government effectively bankrolling state expenditures and responsibilities. An examination of program expenditure points to the seeds of increased federal spending being sown long ago. Looking back to 2012-13 we see the rapid growth of expenses on disability support (the NDIS), aged care, child care, schools, public hospitals, pharmaceutical benefits and medical benefits - all programs that have been boosted by new policy initiatives since 2012-13 to roll out new social benefits or enhance existing ones. The welfare state has been on a roll, but in addition defence and funding of state infrastructure projects have increased rapidly, as has debt interest expense as a result of the budget deficits. All these programs together accounted for 35 per cent of federal own-purpose expenditure in 2012-13 but for 63 per cent of the dollar increase in annual expenditure up to 2024-25. Each item has its own story, and we wouldn't suggest that the growth was all avoidable. For example, some of it reflects population ageing and the increase in defence is a normalisation from a historically low level. However, the growth in social spending also includes wasteful and ineffective spending. That growth reflects the priorities of an earlier Labor government, and the subsequent Coalition government largely went along with it or felt they had to. Unfortunately, this political dynamic has created a situation where the main sources of growth in terms of employment and spending in the economy have been focused in areas that are relatively low productivity (the care economy in particular). To make matters worse, the current Labor government is doubling down on its previous spending increases in most areas. Aged care, childcare and Medicare are all areas where the government has unveiled substantial new spending commitments. The government has agreed to increase its share of Gonski school funding. And it has promised or hopes to go further with "free" TAFE and universal child care, while pressures for further increases in defence can be expected. READ MORE SIMON COWAN: Of course, this additional spending, though significant in its own right, is dwarfed by the growing costs of the NDIS. The CIS warned long ago that the NDIS was likely to grow far faster than had been predicted at the time. Despite these prescient warnings, both sides of politics have made only modest efforts to rein in the NDIS monster. Consequently, there are good reasons to be sceptical of rosy predictions of the NDIS cost-curve flattening (although staying at a level well above the growth of the economy) without substantial intervention. It should be noted as well, that despite the rapidly burgeoning costs, many participants and providers in the scheme report dissatisfaction with how the scheme is being managed. While increases in spending in individual programs and areas are the measure of the increase in the size of government, this is not the root cause. The bigger issue is the culture of dependency and entitlement has taken root in the population and political behaviour has become only too willing to accommodate and encourage it. We have reached a point where a sizeable proportion of the voting age population - perhaps more than half - is dependent on government directly or indirectly through social benefits and employment for most of their income. It is difficult to see the current government reversing this trend without a major change of mindset. While there is some hope for the broader centre left of politics in movements like the "abundance agenda", left-wing parties across the Western world have become the parties of higher taxes and bigger government. Despite the political difficulties, the economic and social consequences of the growth in government spending and dependency on government will have to be faced one day. The economic consequences include the unrelenting pressure for more deficits and more debt, which will make the economy more vulnerable to future crises and the government less able to respond. Governments' insatiable appetite for revenue also creates more pressure for taxes to rise, which in turn saps incentives for work, saving and investment - and thereby potentially compounds the problem of weak productivity growth. The simple fact is that people respond to incentives. When the incentives encourage innovation, investment and ingenuity, people respond by increasing productivity. Our living standards grow. However, when the incentives encourage us to fight over the distribution of the pie, even as it shrinks, the rot of entitlement and waste sinks in. Turning this around will require more than a summit.
ABC News
5 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
SA disability employment provider Bedford hopes for government funding lifeline
Disability employment provider Bedford is hoping the federal government will throw it a financial lifeline to avoid the company entering voluntary administration. But Minister for Health, Ageing and Disability Mark Butler has warned the government does not usually put taxpayer money into a "failing organisation". In a statement on Thursday, Bedford said it would enter voluntary administration on Sunday, July 27 after an "exhaustive negotiation process with the state and federal governments, banking and commercial partners NAB". This morning on ABC Radio Adelaide, the organisation's chair Janet Miller said Bedford still hoped to avoid closure, and blamed the NDIS for its current position. ""We're hoping that we don't go into voluntary administration but if we do, what happens on Monday is out of our control, that would be up to the administrator," she said. "The model has evolved. It's very difficult to make the NDIS model work, it's not sustainable." Ms Miller said the organisation believed its strategy was "still sound" and that it had "a good balance sheet". She said the state government had already put money on the table and that the federal government was still considering it. "Our plea to stop us going into voluntary administration this week, we just need a commitment for that money to be available," she said. But Mr Butler told ABC News Breakfast, while talks were continuing, he believed the organisation's financial situation was dire. "We have been talking to them. It's not usual for the Federal Government to give money to an organisation that is failing financially before it goes into administration," he said. He reiterated those comments later on ABC Radio Adelaide. "I'm not clear that there wouldn't be the need for more money beyond the several weeks that that might give to them," he said. On Thursday, a federal government spokesperson said Bedford had received tens of millions of dollars in funding in the past 15 months alone. "The Australian government has been supporting the South Australian government's discussions with Bedford in recent weeks," the spokesperson said. According to its website, Bedford is the second-largest employer of people with disabilities in the nation, and has 22 sites across Adelaide and regional South Australia. The employment provider was established in April 1945 and has this year been celebrating its 80th anniversary. Employee Kym told ABC Radio Adelaide he had worked with the organisation for 11 years. "We were told that they're going to have a meeting with the president on Sunday and everyone would be notified what would happen," he said. "[We] could be closing down if we don't get the money to help us out." He said he felt "little bit sad" upon hearing the news but was trying to support his co-workers yesterday. Mr Butler said he felt for the employees. "I desperately want a future for Bedford," he said. "We understand very acutely the unique nature of this organisation, it's not just some other business that's got itself into difficulty. Premier Peter Malinauskas said his thoughts were primarily with the workers at Bedford, and the state government's offer for funding was still in place. "The question is the money that we do put on the table, does that best address those workers' future through the administration process or staving off administration and seeing a rebound plan initiated under Bedford's current economic arrangements," he said. "They are the deliberations that we've been working on frankly since May, June. We continue those discussions today." He said the state government's financial support would be conditional, but would not provide details on those conditions. "Not for one second do I think we should question the intent of the people that work there, including at the most senior levels of Bedford, the board, the CEO and the senior management, these are good people who want to do a good thing for the people they employed and the services they provide," he said.
