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One of Australia’s largest disability service providers, Disability Services Australia (DSA), has gone into voluntary administration following financial constraints compounded by COVID-19. 

National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participants and support companies have said the government has been slow to act to offer support throughout the pandemic, particularly in the early days. 

But how much of an impact the pandemic had on DSA isn’t clear. One advocate has said its business and operational model is outdated. DSA employs hundreds of people with disabilities to work in a warehouse offering packing services, and runs villa complexes for people to live in.

How did this happen? 

Over 3000 people with disabilities receive services from DSA. It employs around 2000 people, 500 of whom have disabilities and work in the company’s packing site. In its latest annual report, DSA said demand for packing services had decreased, as much of its business came from airlines. 

In its latest annual report, the company noted the negative impact of the pandemic, with services cancelled to minimise transmission of the virus. Despite increased revenue last year from NDIS funding, it made a loss of $12.3 million — $7.45 million of which came from repaying underpaid employees. It had $34.6 million in assets. 

People With Disabilities Australia president Sam Connor told Crikey she doesn’t believe the company going into administration was necessarily reflective of the lack of government support. 

“[The government] has placed procedures that impacted on disabled people rather than just providers,” she said. 

COVID-19 support for disability service providers has been slow. It wasn’t until August 2020 that providers and participants in Victoria and NSW could directly claim the costs of personal protective equipment (previously, they had to foot the bill themselves or use their NDIS funds). 

The government also added a 10% loading on support to providers to help them cover extra costs. Participants were only reimbursed this loading if their funding was about to run out. Participants are also charged the full amount for services if they cancel within 30 days. 

In August this year, extra payments were announced in response to Sydney’s COVID-19 outbreak, including advanced payments, 10% loading paid directly by the agency for supported independent living services, and extra funding for participants if they had to isolate at home. 

National Disability Services interim CEO Laurie Leigh told Crikey DSA’s closure represented a “worrying situation”.

“More generally across the disability sector, there are increasing pressures on disability service providers that are making it difficult to provide ongoing sustainable services,” she said, pointing to the complex and constantly changing administrative system and lack of consultation with the sector.

“[Many] aspects of the NDIS are problematic, including processes and pricing related to supporting people with disability to live independently – as they have the right to do.”

Segregated work and living should be a thing of the past

A September 2020 position statement by disability advocacy organisations called for segregated work and living spaces to be ended. This includes segregated workplaces, previously known as sheltered workshops, where people with disabilities can be paid as little as a few dollars an hour for their work. 

Group homes too have been largely shut down across Australia as they were found to be a risk factor for abuse, and have been replaced with supported disability accommodation where people pay for individual services using their NDIS funding. But in practice, many of these accommodation options aren’t too different from group homes. DSA has clusters of villas where they offer supported living. 

“There’s been a ban on day programs, congregate living and workplaces [in outbreak settings],” Connor said. 

“It’s reflective of the fact that shoving people in with other disabled people in group settings is now thing of the past and we should be moving away from this kind of institutionalisation.” 

More to be done to support people with disabilities during the pandemic

In April, the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability released its report on the experiences of people with disabilities during the pandemic. It made 22 recommendations, 17 of which were supported by the government, four which were supported in principle, and one — calling for increased power to the disability sector’s watchdog — was noted. 

One key recommendation was to provide “supplementary funding to disability representative organisations for individual advocacy should there be a significant resurgence of COVID-19 in Australia”.

The government refused to say whether it would follow this, and instead pointed to the $2 million funding received by eight organisations annually, and $150,000 to Disability Advocacy Network Australia to coordinate the entire national advocacy response, advise the government and organise outreach activities. 

Across 2020, the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission received 354 complaints relating to COVID-19 but investigated just 75 complaints and took remedial action against just two providers.