The abilityNEWS Daily
The Big Story
Thrive Plan Management (supplied)
How Thrive Bounced Back From a Crisis
Yesterday abilityNEWS carried a link to a newspaper report suggesting NDIS Plan Manager Thrive was floundering as it dealt with clients. This may have once been the case but the business now says it’s rebuilt and is more than meeting targets.
It began with phone calls that went unanswered. Payments that didn’t arrive. Participants who’d once trusted their plan manager found themselves explaining — again — why invoices still hadn’t been paid. For some, the frustration tipped into desperation.
This was the moment when NIB’s ambitious push into the NDIS market almost came unstuck. After acquiring four plan managers in just eight months, the health insurer’s new arm — Thrive — had grown faster than its systems could handle.
By December, the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission was issuing a compliance notice warning the company it was at risk of breaching the NDIS Act.
Now, NIB insists that crisis is over.
Specialised teams were thrown at the backlog, the compliance notice was lifted in April, and Thrive says it’s once again meeting growth targets.
None of this should be read to suggest the original story in the newspaper was incorrect - simply that the company says its actions have now addressed the issue.
It should also be noted that Thrive did lose some 3000 clients during this period, although NIB insists it has stemmed the departures and its business is growing again.
Explosive growth nearly pushed it over the edge. Today, Thrive says it’s fixed its Plan Management issues. The question is, will future acquisitions keep pace with its ambitions?
Author’s Note
Today’s Wrap carries a report that the Productivity Commission has been examining the operation of the NDIS and is recommending significant changes, including integration with aged care.
When even the Daily Telegraph is proposing ways to reform the scheme, it makes sense to realise change is almost certainly on its way.
Nic Stuart, [email protected]
The Briefing
Not anymore . . .
NDIA to Phase Out ‘I Heart NDIS’ Logos
by NDS
The NDIA has issued updated guidance regarding the use of the popular “I/We Heart NDIS” and “I/We Support NDIS” logos, advising organisations to pause new printing as the logos are being phased out. Files were removed from the NDIS website last year and the NDIA has indicated changes to branding guidelines are expected in the coming months.
DSWA Employment Program
by Down Syndrome Australia
Down Syndrome WA has launched an employment programme aimed at fostering confidence, independence and community involvement among its members. Interested individuals or their families are encouraged to connect with the organisation’s Employment Coordinator for more details.
Climate change the elephant in the room at the Economic Reform Roundtable
by The Australia Institute
Experts warn that climate change threatens productivity across key Australian industries, amplifying inflation through rising food and insurance costs. Critics say omitting climate risks from economic reform talks undermines credible planning for emissions targets and financial resilience.
[courtesy DSWA]
The Wrap
The age where one in six boys is now on the NDIS
by SMH
Australian children are flocking to the National Disability Insurance Scheme, with 16 per cent of all six-year-old boys in the country now relying on it, as the government begins designing a new pathway to help families leave the rapidly growing $46 billion program. NDIS Minister Jenny McAllister said further reforms were still needed to make the scheme sustainable, as fresh data shows more than one in 10 children aged five to seven in Australia are participants: 13.7 per cent of boys and 6.4 per cent of girls.
How getting the states to provide foundational supports can make the NDIS financially sustainable
by Daily Telegraph
This girl’s family moved hundreds of kilometres due to a disability service shortage that’s left two-year-olds doing telehealth consultations to New Zealand. Here’s how to fix the mess.
Productivity Commission’s Interim Report on Care recommends merging aged care and NDIS
by The Weekly Source
The Productivity Commission (PC)'s Interim Report on Delivering Care More Efficiently, written at the request of the Federal Government, makes three recommendations. First, the PC recommends greater alignment in the regulation of aged care, the NDIS, and Veteran's care. They propose a single safety and quality reporting framework and data repository for aged care and the NDIS. And finally the idea of a single regulator across aged care, the NDIS and veterans’ care within six years should be explored.
NDIS Commission review exposes the extent of bullying inside regulator
by CanberraTimes
A sweeping review of culture at the agency that regulates the National Disability Insurance Scheme has found 20 per cent of staff have experienced bullying recently, including "public humiliation, verbal abuse or intimidation".
NDIS Cuts: A Blow to the Macquarie Electorate’s Most Vulnerable
by Hawkesbury Gazette
In July 2025, sweeping changes to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) quietly came into force. These changes are reshaping the scheme’s reach and effectiveness, especially for those in regional and rural communities like ours here in the Macquarie electorate, which includes the Hawkesbury and the Blue Mountains.
The Diary
