MEDIA RELEASE:
NDIA Abandons Disability Providers Yet Again — Sector in Outrage Over Frozen Prices and Funding Cuts
For Immediate Release
Disability Intermediaries Australia (DIA), the national peak body for NDIS Support Coordinators, Psychosocial Recovery Coaches, and Plan Managers, has delivered a scathing response to the National Disability Insurance Agency’s (NDIA) 2025 Annual Price Review, labeling it a betrayal that threatens the sustainability of essential disability services across the country.
For what will be the seventh consecutive year, the NDIA has refused to increase prices for Support Coordination and Plan Management, despite skyrocketing costs, new regulatory demands, and an increasing workload placed on already-stretched providers. In today’s announcement the NDIA has also slashed over $35 million in Plan Management funding, through the removal of critical establishment and rural/remote pricing, leaving our sector in outrage over frozen prices and new funding cuts.
Mr Jess Harper, CEO of Disability Intermediaries Australia, expressed the outrage of its members:
“This is outrageous. The NDIA is asking providers to keep the lights on while cutting off the power. It’s reckless, gutless, and downright damaging. They’ve ignored fair pay, ignored independent advice, and ignored the human cost of their actions. How many more providers have to collapse before they listen?”
Just days before the NDIA’s decision, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese proudly announced a 3.5% wage increase for award wage workers, a move that was welcomed by workers across Australia. However, the NDIA has refused to pass on this wage increase to the very providers responsible for supporting participants to implement their plans, overseeing quality services and claiming for essential NDIS services. In addition, the agency has cut funding in the middle of rising wages and inflation — calling this decision “fairer” for NDIS participants.
“There’s nothing fair about this,” Mr Harper said. “This is spin — offensive, insulting spin. Over the last six years, the NDIA has in real terms cut the price of Support Coordinators and Plan Managers by more than 25%. That’s not reform. That’s demolition.”
The NDIA has ignored its own Independent Pricing Committee’s recommendations, also released today, by removing establishment fees for Plan Managers. DIA also notes that there has been no consultation or discussion with the sector on these cuts to Plan Management. Support Coordinators are about to be forced to register with the NDIS Commission, triggering significant compliance costs and obligations — whilst DIA supports the registration for Support Coordinators its not been accounted for in the pricing.
“This isn’t just neglect — it’s sabotage. The NDIA’s decisions are forcing providers out of the sector,” said Harper. “Since July 2024, over 600 Support Coordination Providers have closed their doors. That’s hundreds of hard-working Australians and thousands of vulnerable people left without critical support, and it’s only going to get worse.”
DIA respectfully reminds the NDIA of the Disability Royal Commission recommendations 10.3 to Adequate support coordination (accepted in full by the Commonwealth Government) and 10.4 Quality of support coordination (accepted in principle by the Commonwealth Government), as the outcomes of today’s decision will, if unchanged, be contrary to these recommendations.
Plan Managers, meanwhile, are left to deal with the fallout of broken NDIA systems, administrative burdens, and chaotic reform implementations that have not been properly planned. Providers are now walking away from the sector because they simply can’t afford to stay. And when providers leave, it’s the participants who suffer most.
“This is no longer a pricing issue. It’s a human rights issue. Participants will lose access to or receive reduced service from the trusted, independent supports that help them navigate an increasingly dysfunctional, combative system,” Mr Harper said. “We are now witnessing a slow-motion collapse of the very services that make the NDIS possible.”
DIA urgently calls on the NDIA to do the right thing and take immediate action:
- Pass on the 3.5% wage and 0.5% superannuation increase to Support Coordination and Plan Management pricing immediately (from 1 July);
- Reverse the cuts to establishment fees and rural/remote loading for Plan Management services;
- Implement independent price setting. Only an independent pricing authority can set a transparent pricing model that accurately reflects the true cost of service delivery, including wage pressures, compliance costs, and the value of these services.
“We’ve passed the tipping point,” Mr Harper said. “Providers are bleeding out. This scheme cannot function if quality providers continue to be punished for doing the right thing. We won’t stay silent while the NDIA drives our members — and participants — off a cliff.”
To DIA’s quality members, who do the right thing, deliver quality outcomes focused services and have supported the NDIA on countless initiatives and have been holding a fraying scheme together for years. We see you, we stand with you, we respect you and will be here to support you and the sector in further action over the coming weeks and months.
For more information, please contact:
Jess Harper
Chief Executive Officer
Disability Intermediaries Australia
E: media@intermediaries.org.au