10/09/2026
This is happening. This is serious, and it cannot be allowed to continue without proper scrutiny and accountability.
Participants, families, Support Coordinators and service providers are being placed under enormous pressure by processes that are supposed to protect and support people living with disability.
Support Coordination exists to help participants understand their rights, exercise choice and control, navigate the NDIS, and coordinate the supports they need. Support providers are also working every day to deliver those supports, often in extremely challenging circumstances. Both roles need to be respected, properly supported and able to advocate for participants without fear of repercussions.
McNaughton, I am more than willing to meet with you, my staff and, where appropriate, participants and families who have been directly affected by these issues.
Last year, my participants, their families and our staff experienced an extremely distressing situation when government representatives attended our service in connection with the investigation involving my daughter’s murder. This occurred only a week after our family had finally been able to say goodbye to her.
As an Indigenous family, we felt that our culture, our grief and the circumstances surrounding our loss were not adequately respected or understood during what was already an incredibly traumatic period.
The involvement of Commissioners and federal police, together with the way some participants were approached, had significant impacts on people we support.
We also experienced situations where members of an investigation team attended participants’ homes without prior notice and sought information directly from participants, including people who had guardians or who had significant cognitive impairments.
There were also instances involving participants with psychosocial disability where the presence of federal police contributed to significant distress and trauma responses. Our staff then had to focus on de-escalation and supporting participants through the consequences of those interactions.
These experiences raise serious questions about how investigations are conducted, particularly when dealing with people who may have cognitive impairment, psychosocial disability, trauma histories, guardians or significant communication and support needs.
At the same time, our organisation has been subject to an NDIS investigation, while invoices have been placed on hold for an extended period. For a rural provider supporting more than 300 participants and employing more than 30 staff, the financial and operational impact of this is enormous.
We have continued to keep our doors open and support participants despite these pressures.
But this is bigger than one provider.
It is about participant choice and control. It is about procedural fairness. It is about the rights of people with disability. It is about the role of Support Coordination. And it is about ensuring that providers who genuinely care about the people they support are not financially or operationally crippled while trying to navigate an increasingly complex system.
I am willing to provide supporting documentation, including reports that demonstrate the impact these processes have had, relevant correspondence, information relating to allegations made against our organisation, and documentation regarding invoices that remain unpaid.
I am not raising these concerns to avoid accountability. I am asking for a system that applies accountability fairly, respects participants and their representatives, recognises the important role of Support Coordinators and providers, and allows concerns to be investigated without unnecessarily causing further trauma or destabilising essential supports.
The NDIS is supposed to give people with disability greater choice, control, dignity and independence.
We need to make sure the system is actually delivering that.
Participants deserve better.
Families deserve better.
Support Coordinators deserve better.
Providers deserve better.
And most importantly, people with disability deserve a system that supports them rather than causing further harm.
