More than 100 criminals and “dodgy consultants” operating within the National Disability Insurance Scheme have been banned as Labor seeks to crack down on fraudsters amid ongoing negotiations over the future of the $56 billion scheme.
In the three months following the Albanese government’s April move to empower the scheme’s policing body, 111 individuals and providers have been issued banning orders, including one supplier who is alleged to have fraudulently claimed around $4 million in NDIS funds.
A Sydney operator was banned in May after at least 70 NDIS participants told investigators from the scheme’s Quality and Standards Commission they were not aware of the firm and did not authorise claims on their behalf.
The record uptick in bans represented 70 per cent of the 158 bans handed down in 2026, and constituted the highest number of bans issued in a single quarter.
“Working in the NDIS is a great privilege, and if you abuse that privilege, you will be kicked out of the scheme,” NDIS Minister Jenny McAllister said.
“The new powers we’ve legislated have given the NDIS Commission the strong powers it needed to really take the fight to the shonks and grifters who thought they could take advantage of one of our society’s most important social programs.”
The crackdown comes as the government attempts to cut $36.2 billion out of the system by removing up to 300,000 participants, returning the scheme to its foundational intention of only supporting people with permanent and significant impairment.
Appearing on ABC TV’s Insiders on Sunday, McAllister said the government was confident of reaching an agreement on the legislation this week, and that attempts to curb fraud in the scheme were of “very strong” interest to both Labor and the Coalition.
“This scheme has to operate with integrity. When we see fraud, we very frequently see harm to people with disability, and I think there’s a shared view across ourselves and the Coalition,” McAllister said.
The NDIS has suffered significant hits in public perception after years of reports of rorts within the scheme, and its ballooning bottom line. Health Minister Mark Butler, who announced changes to both youth participation in the scheme and its overall size in speeches over the past 12 months, is seeking to restrict eligibility to those who can prove permanent impairment from 2028.
A Senate inquiry into Labor’s NDIS reforms released its final report green-lighting the laws on Friday despite weeks of testimony from disabled Australians, rights groups and legal services who said the changes could remove hundreds of thousands of people from the scheme within five years.
“I remember what it was like when we didn’t have a scheme of this kind. It was really bad,” McAllister said.
“We consider that changes to clarify who is eligible for the scheme and clarify what kinds of supports they should receive are absolutely essential if the community is to retain confidence in the scheme.”
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Nick Newling is a federal politics reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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