We heard you! On fraud, rejected claims & having self-management taken away | NDIS | consultations
| News
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| NDIS | consultations
| News
| Text only
Self Manager Hub has submitted our response to the Joint Standing Committee on the National Disability Insurance Scheme’s Inquiry into the Integrity of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
We want to sincerely thank everyone who shared experiences, concerns, and ideas with us.
Your stories helped shape our submission. They made it stronger, clearer, and more grounded in the real experiences of self-managers, nominees, direct employers, and people using self-management and self-direction.
We know that sharing personal experiences can take time, energy, and courage. Many people told us about difficult and distressing experiences with claim rejections, audits, payment reviews, provider overcharging, and confusing NDIA processes.
We are grateful that you trusted the Self Manager Hub with your stories.
You can read our submission here.
What was the inquiry about?
The inquiry is looking at the integrity of our NDIS, including fraud, non-compliance, sharp practices and the effectiveness of government policies designed to protect the scheme.
For the Self Manager Hub, this was an important opportunity to make sure the voices of people who self-manage and self-direct were heard.
Our message was clear: integrity must not just mean putting more compliance pressure on participants and families. It must also mean addressing provider overcharging, hidden fees, double-charging, unclear claim rejections, unfair audits, and confusing NDIA processes.
Most importantly, our submission showed that self-management and self-direction are not integrity risks. They are part of the integrity solution.
What our community told us
Our submission drew on a survey of 40 community members connected to the Self Manager Hub, including 19 participants and 21 nominees.
The survey showed just how important self-management and self-direction are to our community.
A very strong message came through. People told us how important it is to make our own decisions about supports, choose the workers and providers that work best for us, and manage NDIS funds in ways that support independence, safety, flexibility, and dignity.
The survey also showed serious concerns about how integrity measures are currently being experienced.
Some people told us they had been charged unfairly by providers. Others described unclear claim rejections, delayed reimbursements, difficult audits and payment reviews, and fear that self-management or plan management could be questioned or removed without a fair process.
These experiences matter. They show that integrity reform must be designed carefully, fairly, and with people who use the scheme.
Our key messages
The Self Manager Hub will continue to advocate for the key messages from our submission.
1. Self-management and self-direction must be protected
Self-management and self-direction allow people with disability and our families to build supports around our real lives.
For many people, these arrangements are the only way to access safe, reliable, flexible, and individualised support.
Any integrity reform must protect choice and control, not weaken it.
2. Self managers help protect the integrity of our NDIS
Self-managers often check invoices closely, compare charges against services delivered, question unfair billing and identify overcharging before public funds are spent.
This is a practical, real-world integrity safeguard.
Our submission argued that any serious integrity framework must recognise the important role self-managers play in preventing waste and poor practice.
3. Provider overcharging and sharp practices must be taken seriously
Many people told us about providers charging unfairly, double charging, adding hidden fees or charging higher rates simply because someone is an NDIS participant.
Integrity reform must focus more strongly on provider behaviour. People with disability and our families should not carry the burden of compliance while poor provider practices go unchecked.
4. Claim rejections must be clear, fair, and easy to fix
People told us that claims are sometimes rejected without a clear explanation, and that it can be very difficult to find someone who can explain the decision or fix a mistake.
This is not good enough.
When a claim is rejected, delayed or held, participants and nominees should receive a clear written explanation, be able to speak with someone who understands the issue, and have mistakes corrected quickly.
5. Audits and payment reviews must be fair and proportionate
Audits and payment reviews should not feel punitive, frightening, or accusatory.
They should be trauma-informed, accessible, clear, and fair.
People acting in good faith should be supported to understand and fix issues, not made to feel like they have done something wrong because of confusing rules or minor administrative errors.
6. Self-management or plan management should never be removed without due process
The NDIA should not remove or restrict self-management or plan management without clear written reasons, evidence, a chance to respond, reasonable timeframes, and access to review rights.
People must not lose choice and control through unclear, unexplained, or unfair processes.
7. Guidance must be clear, consistent and accessible
Many people told us that information about what NDIS funds can be used for is confusing, inconsistent, and hard to apply in real life.
We need plain English guidance that is practical, accessible, and consistent across the NDIA, planners, partners, call centres, payment integrity teams, and plan managers.
8. Integrity reform must be co-designed with people who self-manage and self-direct
People who self-manage and self-direct understand the real risks, the practical safeguards, and the unintended consequences of poorly designed compliance systems.
Reform must be designed with us, not simply imposed on us.
What happens next
The Self Manager Hub will keep advocating for an integrity system that protects our NDIS without punishing people who are acting responsibly and in good faith.
We will continue to raise the importance of self-management and self-direction with decision-makers.
We will keep pushing for fairer claim processes, clearer rules, stronger action on provider overcharging, and proper safeguards before self-management or plan management can be questioned or removed.
Most importantly, we will continue to make sure the experiences of self-managers, nominees and people using self-directed supports are heard.
Thank you again to everyone who contributed.
Your stories have helped us tell a powerful and important truth: self-management and self-direction are essential to integrity in our NDIS.
To continue to support our work please join the Self Manager Hub it helps us to help you.