The Push for NDIS Provider Registration: Impact on Choice & Control
The NDIS market currently has around 154,000 unregistered providers compared to only 16,000 registered NDIS providers. Interestingly, 74% of NDIS payments went to registered providers, leaving only 26% going to unregistered ones. This shift toward using registered providers is growing, especially in light of recent concerns about NDIS fraud, abuse, and overall participant safety. However, a pressing question remains: will the push for more registrations limit participants’ ability to exercise choice and control in selecting their providers?
The Debate on NDIS Provider Registration
While it’s crucial to have checks and balances in place to ensure that providers are acting in the best interests of NDIS participants, there is growing concern that the current push for more registrations may curtail the very freedom that NDIS was designed to offer. Choice and control are central to the NDIS, giving participants the power to choose their own support workers and services. But with the majority of participant payments going to registered providers, are these registration requirements achieving the desired outcomes of improving the quality of care and protecting participants from harm?
Challenges in Monitoring the NDIS Market
One of the primary bodies responsible for regulating the NDIS is the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. However, the Commission’s limited capacity and on-the-ground presence raise concerns about its ability to efficiently monitor both registered and unregistered providers. This lack of oversight means that regardless of registration status, the Commission is currently unable to prevent fraud or enforce consistent quality improvement across the sector. The question then becomes: Does pushing more providers to register actually solve these problems, or does it simply add strain to an already stretched system?
The Strain of NDIS Provider Registration
Requiring more providers to become registered in theory would give the Commission greater oversight of providers currently operating under the radar. However, as the number of registered providers increases, the strain on the system will likely grow unless the Commission is given additional resources to support and monitor them effectively. For the NDIS registration process to work as intended, both the Commission’s capacity to enforce standards and its ability to encourage quality improvements need to be strengthened.
Beyond regulatory capacity, the registration process itself poses challenges for small businesses. Registering as NDIS provider is not only time-consuming but also expensive, with initial registration and auditing costs being significant. Unfortunately, ongoing audits do little to guarantee that providers are following through on the policies and procedures they set up just to pass the audit. The financial burden of staying registered might push out small businesses that are passionate about participant care but lack the resources to keep up with stringent compliance requirements.
Impacts on Participant Choice and Small Businesses
As the push for registration increases, participants may lose access to the smaller providers who entered the market out of a genuine desire to help. Instead, they may find themselves working with larger, more financially capable organisations that can meet the registration requirements but lack the personalised care that many smaller providers offer. This could diminish participants’ ability to truly exercise choice and control, a core principle of the NDIS.
With large companies potentially dominating the NDIS provider space, what measures are in place to ensure that participants don’t lose out on personalised, community-based support? How do we protect the NDIS from being overtaken by corporations that prioritise profits over the needs of participants?
A Balanced Approach to NDIS Provider Regulation
At Care Fast, we believe that the NDIS system must strike a balance between maintaining high standards of care and protecting participants’ freedom to choose their providers. Registration is an important step in ensuring accountability, but it should not come at the cost of disabling small businesses that provide crucial services to participants.
NDIS participants and their families deserve the right to assess and mitigate risks themselves. By restricting their choices to only registered providers, we may be creating a problem that NDIS was designed to solve—limiting participants’ ability to have a real say in their supports and care.
If you are NDIS participant looking for a trusted registered provider, contact us today at Care Fast. Our team is dedicated to delivering personalised care while ensuring full compliance with NDIS standards.
