New estimates suggest nearly 5% of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is spent in error.
John Dardo, the integrity chief of the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA — the agency that runs the scheme), has warned around A$2 billion of the scheme’s spending was not on genuine needs, leading to the misuse of the NDIS’s $42 billion budget, including by organised crime syndicates.
Large-scale, publicly funded schemes, such as Medicare and childcare, have been targeted by criminals, with $1.5–$3 billion lost to Medicare fraud annually.
