The NDIS was built to empower disabled people - but for too many of us, it’s become a system of trauma, neglect, and silence.

 

 

🧠 NDIS & NDIA Systemic Failures - Summary of Key Issues & Arguments

 

1. Support Worker Incompetence & Unsafe Practice

 

Lack of proper screening (e.g. Yellow/blue Card, immunisation, NDIS module completion, no de-escalation training, no trauma informed training) before support workers begin work.

 

Inappropriate and unsafe behaviour from workers (e.g. boundary violations, triggering disclosures, emotional harm, working while sick - leading to life long progressive lung disease).

 

No trauma-informed or autism-informed understanding among workers - been told "I don't look autistic".

 

Workers assigned without context, training, or awareness of client's medical or mental health conditions.

 

Support workers left unsupervised or unsupported.

 

Lack of worker supervision, training, onboarding, and reflective practice.

 

Repeated miscommunication and last-minute arrangements (e.g. meet & greets, cancellations).

 

Emotional and psychological harm caused by constant turnover and unsafe support.

 

 

2. Lack of Trauma-Informed and Disability-Informed Practice

 

Providers and the NDIA failing to use a trauma-informed approach, especially for clients with BPD, PTSD, Autism, and eating disorders, as well as complex medical diagnoses.

 

Victim-blaming and gaslighting from providers when concerns are raised.

 

No meaningful understanding of complex trauma, burnout, and neurodivergence.

 

"Just make a complaint" mentality places burden on already struggling participants and families/carers

 

 

3. Complaint System Failures - NDIS Quality & Safeguards Commission

 

Complaints ignored, delayed, or closed without investigation.

 

No protection from retaliation or ongoing harm during complaints.

 

No system for urgent responses when safety is at risk (e.g. hospital admissions, participants without any support or are made to work with unsafe workers just to get basic needs met).

 

Lack of lived experience voices informing Commission investigations.

 

Commission prioritises provider reputation over participant safety.

 

 

4. NDIA System & Planning Issues

 

Inaccessible and retraumatising planning process (e.g. constant re-explaining trauma history).

 

Risk-based prioritisation model leaves high-risk participants deprioritised.

 

Poor transparency and lack of participant choice and control.

 

Essential supports like continence or mental health needs being denied or cut.

 

Reliance on outdated or incorrect evidence from past providers.

 

 

5. Neglect by Providers 

 

No proper handovers between workers or when staff leave.

 

Operations managers acting unethically - instructing cut-off of contact from support coordinator to participant

 

No follow-up after serious abuse disclosures 

 

Failure to enact duty of care, particularly with immunocompromised participants.

 

Clients being blamed for service failures.

 

 

6. Overburdening Participants

 

Clients forced to do provider’s job (chasing training, setting boundaries, managing conflict )

 

NDIA and NDIS Commission both placing responsibility on participant to “self-advocate.”

 

No mechanisms in place to reduce re-traumatisation when reliving or explaining history.

 

Participants with complex needs forced to coordinate their own care due to constant worker turnover.

 

 

7. Inaccessible Communication & Lack of Accountability

 

No clear, accessible systems for communication between workers, providers, and clients.

 

Important emails ignored entirely.

 

No follow-up or timelines for resolution.

 

Failure to provide alternative formats or communication supports for disabled users (e.g. those with cognitive, mental health, or speech challenges).

 

 

 

 

 

📣 Petition Proposal: 

 

NDIS & NDIA - It’s Time for Systemic Reform

 

We call for:

 

1. Mandatory trauma-informed and disability-informed training for all NDIS workers and providers.

 

 

2. Urgent complaint response pathways for high-risk clients, especially those facing abuse or hospitalisation.

 

 

3. Mandatory supervision and onboarding processes for all support workers before commencing work.

 

 

4. Lived experience advisory boards embedded in the NDIS Commission and NDIA decision-making.

 

 

5. Clear timelines and transparency around complaints, worker breaches, and plan reviews.

 

 

6. Enforced provider accountability for service breaches and failure to act on abuse or health risks.

 

 

7. Genuine co-design with disabled participants, including people with psychosocial disability, eating disorders, autism, and complex trauma.

 

 

8. Immediate suspension of risk-based de-prioritisation models that put vulnerable people last.

 

 

9. National safety standards for immunocompromised clients, including infection control and mandatory health screening for all workers.

 

 

10. Stronger enforcement mechanisms so providers can’t just move on without consequences.

 

11. Mandatory communication access standards in all NDIS and NDIA interactions, including:

 

• Offering participants the choice of support staff and planners who speak clearly, without rolled R’s, strong accents, or fast/complex speech that can overwhelm those with auditory processing disorders, language disorders, or neurodivergence - NOT discrimination, it's accessibility.

 

• Mandatory training in accessible communication, plain language, and respectful pacing for all staff working with participants.

 

• Written versions or visual summaries of plan discussions, so participants can refer back in their own time.

 

• Ensuring participants feel safe to ask questions, and not punished or dismissed when needing clarification.

 

• Prohibition of jargon-heavy or intimidating or discriminatory  language when explaining plans, goals, or funding.

"We cannot give informed consent if we don’t understand what’s being said. And if the way you speak overwhelms or confuses us, that’s not a reflection of our capacity - it’s a failure of the system to be accessible."

12. Real consequences for misconduct, discrimination, or systemic harm caused by providers or NDIA staff

 

• Staff and providers who are discriminatory, negligent, dismissive, or financially exploitative must face serious, enforceable consequences - including suspension, fines, and debarment from the sector.

 

• Providers who steal, withhold, or redirect funds without consent must be investigated and held criminally accountable.

 

• Workers who refuse to accommodate disabilities (including psychosocial, neurological, medical, or rare complex conditions) or who harm participants through ignorance, must be removed from the system.

 

• The NDIS Commission must enforce a Code of Ethics that includes anti-ableism, cultural safety, intersectionality, and trauma-informed conduct - and not tolerate breaches.

 

 

Working in disability support is not “just a job” - it’s a position of trust, safety, and ethical responsibility. If someone isn’t equipped or willing to uphold that, they should not be in the sector.

 

 

We, the undersigned, demand immediate action to reform the NDIS and NDIA to reflect the lived experience of disabled participants - especially those with complex trauma, psychosocial disability, and neurodivergence.

 

We call for safety, dignity, transparency, and accountability at every level of the system - from complaint handling, to worker onboarding, to plan discussions.

 

This petition was created by Chlo Pond, founder of Ashes of Justice, and reflects hundreds, thousands of lived experiences across Australia. If you believe disabled people deserve more than voicemails and gaslighting - please add your voice below.