Government Releases Five-Year Strategy to Fix NDIS for Indigenous People While NDIS Providers Continue Exploiting Indigenous People

CANBERRA – The federal government has released a landmark five-year strategy to improve NDIS outcomes for First Nations people. The announcement came the same week advocates reported that some providers are actively exploiting the very people the strategy was written about.

The NDIS First Nations Strategy 2025-2030 was developed through consultation with over 650 First Nations people and promises culturally safe community-centred support. It was launched with a media event that sources described as “very moving” and “well catered.”

Meanwhile disability advocates have flagged concerns about providers billing for services not delivered or delivering services that are neither culturally appropriate nor geographically possible. One advocate noted that a provider had submitted claims for in-home support in a community that does not have a provider office within 800 kilometres.

“We know changes need to be made and they need to be made together with First Nations people” the Minister’s office said. When asked about the exploitation allegations the office said it took all concerns “extremely seriously” and directed further questions to the NDIA which directed further questions back to the Minister’s office.

The strategy includes five priority areas and an implementation plan. Insiders say the implementation plan will be rolled out in stages the first of which is drafting a framework for determining the stages.

First Nations NDIS participants are reportedly 28 per cent less likely to receive care through the scheme than non-Indigenous participants. A department official attributed this gap to “systemic complexity” rather than “systemic failure” – a distinction they assured reporters was meaningful.