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AAP
AAP
Politics
Kat Wong

Dodgy NDIS providers on watch as task force unveiled

NDIS Minister Bill Shorten has vowed to crack down on unregistered service providers. (Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS)

Dodgy disability service providers will fall under increased scrutiny as the federal government takes its first steps to overhaul the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

A landmark review into the NDIS found many unregistered service providers were under-servicing and overcharging Australians with disabilities.

While 16,000 providers were registered, about 154,000 businesses and individuals that were not had submitted invoices to be paid.

Bill Shorten
Mr Shorten said the NDIS overhaul is not aimed at removing choice for people with disabilities. (Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS)

In response to the review's findings, NDIS Minister Bill Shorten vowed to crack down on those unregistered providers, with the process beginning on Monday.

The federal government announced a new task force that will advise the best way to revamp the NDIS registration system to make it more transparent and targeted, while also clamping down on fraud and abuse of the scheme.

"There has been two systems in the NDIS: one for registered providers, and then unregistered providers," Mr Shorten told reporters in Canberra on Monday.

"What we want to do is bring together our system so that we can ensure the safety, wellbeing and quality of services for people on the NDIS."

The task force will be headed by disability advocate Natalie Wade, former consumer watchdog chair Allan Fels, previous ACTU assistant secretary Michael Borowick and former Northern Territory administrator Vicki O'Halloran.

Australians with disabilities could also rest assured the overhaul was not aimed at removing choice or control, but rather improving the quality of disability services, Mr Shorten said.

"What we want to do is make sure that the NDIS delivers quality services for people, that people are safe," he said.

"The job of the scheme is not to make some service providers multimillionaires, it's to provide fair dinkum support for the people who need it most."

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