'Beyond outrageous': Lee calls for minister to explain NDIS funding bungle

The Canberra Times revealed on Saturday that there are more than 48 NDIS recipients in Canberra eligible for specialist disability accommodation (SDA) funding which has an average annual funding allotment of $18,689, but could be up to $90,000 a year.

It can now be revealed that there could be up to 200 eligible NDIS participants.

This is commonwealth funding through the NDIS agency, the National Disability Insurance Agency, for maintenance, repairs, upgrades and builds to support housing for NDIS recipients with very high support needs as well as extreme functional impairment. It is not money that goes to recipients themselves.

The ACT government admits it registered as a specialist disability accommodation provider seven years ago and does not know how many people in the ACT are eligible to have the funding through its agency, Housing ACT. It has told this masthead that is not received any SDA funding to date as it working through a "range of complexities" and is now embarking on a three-to-four-month-long engagement project with people such as tenants and carers to find out more.

The Canberra Liberals leader wants Housing Minister Yvette Berry to explain how it happened.

"It is beyond outrageous that this Labor-Greens government has failed some of our most vulnerable Canberrans," Ms Lee told this masthead.

"This is a morally bankrupt government that has let down ACT Housing tenants who have high needs and extreme functional impairment that could have had access to federal funding to make necessary modifications to their homes."

She has described the engagement project as a "talkfest to look like they're doing something."

"The Minister should be utterly hanging her head in shame and take full responsibility for abandoning these Canberrans. The Minister must be upfront and explain to the Canberra community how this shocking failure has been allowed to happen under her watch," she said.

The ACT government could not confirm how many NDIS recipients in the ACT were eligible for SDA funding as there were "inconsistencies in available NDIA data".

"The ACT government is working with the NDIA to determine how many of the tenants in these properties are eligible for SDA," a spokesperson said.

Eric Thauvette, CEO of the not-for-profit-supported healthcare provider Hartley Lifecare, told this masthead that the 48 NDIS recipients he is aware of have a combined $630,000 in their plan for this year alone.

"Year on year, there's money that gets allocated that does not get drawn down by anybody," Mr Thauvette said. "Over the seven or eight years it's been around, we've been telling the ACT government they should register these houses, should register as an SDA provider."

"We have brought it up with ministers in the past to say this money is there and this money exists and it's not being claimed."

Meantime, the ACT government insists repair and maintenance work on public housing with SDA eligible tenants is being done, but Mr Thauvette regards the work as very slow with a lot of challenges.

"Disability modifications and maintenance at SDA-enrolled dwellings are funded through Housing ACT repairs and maintenance budget," a government spokesperson said.

"In the last budget, the ACT government allocated $177 million for Housing ACT operations, repairs and maintenance."

"Housing ACT provides home modifications for tenants, across the spectrum of physical support needs, with $1.2 million spent on such modifications in 2022-23."

The revelations emerged from an answer on April 3 by the NDIA to a question on notice by independent ACT senator David Pocock revealed that, despite eligibility, there were "zero" participants of the NDIS residing in SDAs in the ACT as of the end of the 2023. The answer stated then that there were 14 people eligible, but The Canberra Times now understands the number is closer to 200.

"One of the big challenges for any ACT government is the limited revenue base. But that makes it doubly frustrating when there are instances like this one of Commonwealth money being on the table that Canberrans are entitled to but the ACT isn't claiming," Senator Pocock said in a statement.

"Over 1000 people with disability live in ACT social housing. At least 48 of these people - but potentially hundreds - are eligible for specialist accommodation funding of up to $90k per year to help meet their needs.

"This is money that could and should be going towards improving the lives of people living with disability in Canberra."