NDIS participants are waiting months for their packages to be reviewed, and even longer for complex cases, meaning funds are running out and vulnerable residents are at risk of being turned out onto the streets.
Dr Rodney Jilek, managing director of Community Home Australia, has written in a social media post that one of their residents has “exhausted their NDIS funding” while awaiting the outcome of a review deemed “difficult” and sent back to the NDIA to be reviewed.
It has “sat on a desk collecting dust”, Dr Jikek wrote.
A representative of the NDIS had not “bothered” to tell Dr Jilek and Community Home Australia about the funding delay.
The delay left Dr Jilek with the choice of personally funding the recipient’s 24/7 care or “kick her out on the street to fend for herself”.
“No one gives a crap,” Dr Jilek explained.
Dr Jilek made the decision to cover the cost of the resident’s care, as he has done for other residents who had funding run out due to extended periods for funding reviews.
This year he has personally funded two participants’ care to the value of $150,000.
“I refused to abandon them,” he told HelloCare.
The NDIS March 2022 Quarterly Report to ministers shows that during the March 2022 quarter, the NDIA undertook 102,556 plan reviews, or 7,977 reviews per week on average.
The report shows that only 27% of plan reviews commenced before a scheduled review were delivered within the 56-day service guarantee, a decline from the previous quarter.
An NDIA spokesperson told HelloCare, “The Agency is committed to ensuring participants continue to be supported while their plans are reviewed.
“This includes working to ensure all participant reviews are handled in a timely manner, noting the time taken to ensure all information has been received by the agency, and the complexity involved in some cases.
“If participants have concerns about their NDIS plan, they can contact their NDIS Local Area Coordinator, their Support Coordinator, or call the NDIS Contact Centre on 1800 800 110.
“If providers are experiencing challenges regarding payments, they need to follow the appropriate enquiry process based on their provider registration status and the participant’s plan management type.
“Providers looking for more information about payments can call the NDIS Contact Centre on 1800 800 110.”
