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The NDIA has changed the way funding is delivered, sometimes paying for services up to three months after they’re delivered. Support providers say they need the money upfront.

The statement made it seem like a minor matter, just a simple rearrangement to the payment system. The effect’s been dramatic. Under the new system, instead of getting the full budget upfront, money is paid out in installments called 'funding periods'.

Although home and living supports are typically released monthly, most supports now only have funding released every three months in arrears - a massive shift. Service providers now have to find money to provide the services from somewhere else. Even if they do get the money eventually, they will face extra funding costs.

The government has effectively bought itself three-months interest free, by shoving the costs over to service providers.

The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) states that these changes aim to help participants manage their budgets more effectively and ensure consistent use of funding over the plan's duration.

That’s cold comfort for participants, providers, and advocacy groups, who are angry over the lack of communication, although they’re saying they’re worried about the potential impacts on participants' autonomy and well-being. They were against the new policy from the start, and ask why the NDIA is now implementing measures that appear almost deliberately designed to force them to scale back services.

In response the NDIA has indicated that funding periods are not new and are being introduced gradually, supposedly simply “to support participants in managing their budgets more easily”. The Authority emphasises that funding periods do not change the total amount of funding in a participant's plan, only when the funding becomes available.

Of course, that’s cold comfort while you’re waiting for it to appear in your bank account.