The prices charged by the service providers
I have 2 sons who have accounts with the NDIS. They both attend Early Start Australia which took over our previous provider. In the 7 years that my eldest son has been attending the cost of his sessions have almost trebled. It has also come to our attention that clients with NDIS funding are charged more than those who are self funded. The cost per hour for each of our children is currently over $200. This equates to a full time annual rate of over $400,000 per year.
The huge rise in the charges of NDIS providers are way above the rise in any relevant costs including staff wages which are always the biggest overhead. The average speech therapist for example is paid $95,000 per year.
We have noticed that since ESA was taken over by APM the fixation of this organisation on money has become alarming. Often conversations with my childrens therapists involve costs, charges a local practices' financial targets.
As a public listed company with a falling share price it seems that the companies main priority is no longer the clients but shareholders and profit. If other for profit providers have increased their prices in a similar way this would explain the huge rise in costs of running the NDIS.
These increases in costs have meant that the amount of assistance my sons are getting is reducing every year while profits made by providers are rising. I am sure this what not the intention of the NDIS when it was established
What NDIS users are charged needs to be reviewed and must much more closely relate to true cost of providing the service. Our experience alone accounts for the increase in the costs of running the NDIS.
NDIS clients should not be charged more than other clients as everyone should be recieving the same quality of care, record keeping, report writing and session length.
This 2 tier system needs to be stopped
The therapists that work with our children are great and impact positively on the lives and development. The financial assistance we do get allows us to spend money on other parts of their lives