Then there are the criminals who prefer more of a hands-off approach, using accomplices such as doctors, pharmacists and accountants to exploit loopholes by variously billing for “clients” who don’t exist, padding invoices and charging for services that are never delivered, relying on poor auditing within the NDIS to go undetected.
The head of the Criminal Intelligence Commission, Michael Phelan, told Nine newspapers that criminals were systemically “ripping off our most vulnerable people”.
It’s a sad reality of life that some truly awful people walk among us. However, the title of “most despicable” must surely go to members of the organised crime networks who have been targeting vulnerable Australians in order to rip off the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
Providers and peak bodies have welcomed a planned crackdown on fraud and other criminal activity inside the national disability insurance scheme. They say organised gangs and dodgy services have for too long undermined the system and disadvantaged vulnerable people.
The AFP has said the four people arrested have ties to organised crime gangs. Three of the four had posed as disability service providers. Money was allegedly being claimed from NDIS participants for services that were never received.
The taskforce, which is a partnership between the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), the Australian Federal Police and Services Australia, alleges the trio were operating as disability support providers and were fraudulently claiming payments for services not actually received.
A woman with cerebral palsy was sexually assaulted in a public park after her disability accommodation provider refused to let her meet her date in her own home, the disability royal commission has heard.
There hasn’t been nearly enough work done to fix the criminal justice system for people with disability, according to an advocate who knows first-hand how traumatic prison can be for those in the disability community.
The report finds that often, police responses to people with disability – whether they are witnesses, victims or alleged offenders – are not adequate. This is because policing is the ‘default’ response to people with disability who experience disadvantage, like homelessness, poverty or violence, while there is less and less funding for other social and human services. The recommendations promote community based, culturally safe and trauma informed programs that divert people away from the criminal justice system if they into trouble, like the Cognitive Impairment Diversion Program
Ms Smith’s death sparked numerous investigations and reviews, including by police, the state government and the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. The NDIS Commission’s independent investigation led to 10 recommendations, including that vulnerable NDIS participants should have multiple carers.
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is extending the NDIS Fraud Taskforce to crack down on dodgy providers and ensure participants get the supports they need. Minister for the NDIS, Senator the Hon Linda Reynolds CSC today announced the Taskforce will be extended indefinitely to protect the integrity of the Scheme and the participants it supports.
A Victorian man has been sentenced to jail for rorting the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) of more than $300,000 by billing the provider for fake lawn mowing services.
Commuters who use wheelchairs are taking legal action against the Victorian government and Melbourne’s tram operator over their failure to keep pace with federal standards for accessible public transport.
A teenage boy found guilty of murdering a Central Victorian man with a disability in his home in July 2018 will spend at least the next six years in jail.
Police allege the syndicate skimmed NDIS funding from disabled users of the scheme — providing inflated invoices to the NDIS for rebates.