Federal Health Minister Mark Butler says revelations of large-scale fraud in the NDIS are "incredibly alarming" amid reports dodgy providers were spending millions of taxpayer dollars on cars, holidays, and drugs.
National Disability Insurance Agency integrity chief John Dardo told Senate estimates on Monday that the legal system would be unable to cope if every fraudulent provider was chased down and prosecuted. "This is a terrific scheme that's providing support to people with disability that simply wasn't there more than 10 years ago, but we know there's simply too much waste," Butler toldHe called on federal MPs to pass legislation, drafted by NDIS Minister Bill Shorten, which was currently before parliament, and which takes aim at the problem."I mean, there are thousands of unregistered providers out there too," Butler said.
But he conceded that while people in legitimate need struggled to access support, reports of these rorts would leave them "furious". "We all know people who are struggling to get onto the scheme and would benefit from this world-leading scheme if they were able to get on it," he said.: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, celebrity and sport via our WhatsApp channel. No comments, no algorithm and nobody can see your private details.