For the seventh consecutive year, the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) has refused to increase prices for Support Coordination and Plan Management services, despite rising costs and increasing workloads for providers. Advocates warn that the cuts threaten to leave thousands of participants without critical assistance

"When you lose the therapy that keeps you mobile, or the coordination support that keeps your life running, it doesn't really matter whether you're technically still on the scheme – you're functionally shut out," said Craig Wallace, Head of Policy at Advocacy for Inclusion.

Warning participants are "falling through the cracks without a safety net", Wallace is calling on the government to stop plan, eligibility and support reductions "until the new foundational system is in place."

According to industry figures more than 600 Support Coordination providers have already closed since July 2024.

Provider Exodus Accelerating

Jess Harper, CEO of Disability Intermediaries Australia (DIA), Australia’s peak body for non-government Intermediary service organisations, described the situation as "reckless, gutless, and downright damaging."

"Over the last six years, the NDIA has in real terms cut the price of Support Coordinators and Plan Managers by more than 25%," Harper says. "That's not reform. That's demolition."

Harper questions how providers are expected to "keep the lights on while cutting off the power," contrasting this with the Prime Minister's recent announcement of a 3.5% wage increase for award wage workers.

“We’re seeing a degradation of the sector that pulls it apart,” Harper argued. “What that means from a demolition perspective is we’ve seen 600 quality providers close their doors because they’re unviable.

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With the NDIS reforms coming into place, Harper says businesses supporting people with disabilities are turning off the lights, with cuts to wages and staff on the rise.

“Most of these aren’t small businesses and have had to fire workers, leaving thousands of participants without support”, Harper points out. “For businesses to be able to make mature, reasonably informed decisions about hiring staff, it’s like negotiating with a gun to your head.

"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."

“One of the difficulties with block funding and why they moved away originally is that block funding takes an aggregate approach to support,” Harper says. “As a provider, you’re better off not providing a higher level of support to someone with more complex needs.”

“The whole point of the NDIS was to allow participants, regardless of their complex needs, to be able to go out and buy what they need” Harper argues.

Human Rights Crisis

Harper says the situation has now moved beyond financial concerns to become a human rights issue. "This isn't just neglect — it's sabotage,” she says.

“The NDIA's decisions are forcing providers out of the sector. Providers are now walking away because they can't afford to stay. And when providers leave, it's the participants who suffer most."

The crisis comes amid the ongoing NDIS Review, which advocates say has created chaos across the disability community. Support coordination helps people with disabilities engage with providers and networks, making it crucial to the NDIS ecosystem.

"This is no longer a pricing issue. It's a human rights issue," Harper warned. "We are now witnessing a slow-motion collapse of the very services that make the NDIS possible."