Achieving job security in the NDIS remains a critical challenge across the Australian care sector. Almost a decade ago, the NDIS Act was created, establishing a vision for a reformed care sector designed to empower people with disabilities and grant them greater control over their support services.
While participant feedback on the scheme remains mixed, the NDIS has caused far-reaching and disruptive effects for service providers and their frontline staff.
A survey of 2,000 disability support workers conducted by the University of NSW reveals that low pay and work instability are the most pressing concerns on the frontline. A problem for workers quickly becomes a shared issue for providers and participants alike.
With the NDIS undergoing continuous refinement and systemic control largely outside individual organizations, how can providers address job security in the NDIS to deliver positive outcomes for everyone involved?
The NDIA’s ‘Reasonable Cost Model’ was designed to inform the hourly fees for NDIS support services, setting prices ‘sufficient to cover the efficient costs of a reasonable quality support provider.’
Research by RMIT and reviews by McKinsey in 2018 indicate award conditions can’t be achieved based on the set prices.
Among other issues, the model sees payment to service providers only for hours of support provided. It does not allow for participant cancellations, training, travel, and administration, among other costs.
Understandably, in response to these conditions, many service providers have looked to a casualization of their workforce to limit unnecessary costs and to enable the level of flexibility required to meet the individual needs of participants.
Combined, these factors have resulted in worker concerns about pay and job stability.
And though the 2020 NDS survey tells us service providers have made a small move back towards permanent employment over the last 12 months, employees on the frontline continue to feel the effects of uncertainty in shifts, hours, and pay and look around for jobs that offer more.
Why is permanent work so important?
While refinement of the NDIS is ongoing, at this point, the scheme continues to negatively impact various parties involved, from service providers to participants.
- For service providers: the need for flexibility limits capacity to bring on permanent staff, and this results in issues with recruitment, retention, and other areas. Service providers report, both in the NDS survey and directly to VisiCase, a continued skills shortage in the industry and an inability to attract and retain enough of the right people. Inevitably, not having enough of the right people accessible or available limits the variety and volume of services any provider can offer. As workers move around, from job to job, trying to find optimal conditions, providers experience high turnover and incur additional costs to recruit and retrain.
- For workers: casualization simply results in instability in their work and personal life. While flexibility is often sold as a perk, in reality, it means workers cannot predict their availability at home, with their families or socially, and cannot accurately forecast their income. These factors alone can result in additional stress and anxiety for an individual and, at an organizational level, decreased morale and productivity.
- For participants: the effect of a casual workforce is inconsistency in service and potentially decreased quality of services. An important part of care for many with disabilities and their families is the opportunity to know their carer and to grow to trust them.
In response to these tight financial conditions, many service providers have relied heavily on workforce casualization to limit overheads and maintain scheduling flexibility.
Combined, these factors directly degrade job security in the NDIS. Although the 2020 NDS survey showed a slight shift back toward permanent roles, frontline employees continue to face unpredictable shifts, hours, and pay.
How do we address the casualization challenge?
Resolving job security in the NDIS permanently requires broad policy reform at the government level. Funding bodies must look beyond the bottom line and recognize the practical, unfunded realities of operating a high-quality care organization.
The government needs to not just consider its bottom line but to form a better understanding of the practical facilitation of these services—and all those who are involved in that process in various, currently unfunded ways.
Right now, this is where there seems to be a significant disconnect. There is an understanding on paper of what needs to be delivered and to whom, but there is a lack of real understanding of the full requirements of actually delivering these services to a high standard.
While disability support workers or allied health workers may be on the frontlines physically providing care, without those people behind the scenes who manage and supervise them, train them, roster them, pay them, and build and drive the organizations underneath them, the services simply cannot be delivered.
Likewise, once the physical service has ended, if those workers are unpaid for case-based administration and therefore unable to take clear case notes, the quality of care they are able to provide will inevitably decline.
Add the equation a requirement for unpaid training, supervision, and general administration, and it becomes clear that providing care begins long before and ends long after a worker is physically supporting a participant.
Unfortunately, while various lobby and advisory groups continue to work tirelessly to bring about this understanding and an adequate response, services still need to be facilitated in the meantime.
RMIT and Greenacres suggest, for now, service providers need to work together, as closely as they can, with both employees/contractors and participants to find solutions that work better.
They advocate for further conversation and compromise around conditions to allow for the flexibility service providers need and as much stability as possible for employees—resulting in better continuity of service for participants.
This may mean determining, as a collaborative and consultative organization, the minimum number of regular hours any part-time, flexible employee must have.
Working together to find this number ensures employees understand the needs and challenges of the organization, and service providers understand what instability means for its people and how it can affect their lives.
They also suggest that regular consultation and review can lead to refinement of these arrangements. Analyzing any employee’s work patterns after a reasonable period can help determine the minimum hours an employee really does work so the agreed minimum ‘regular’ hours can be adjusted to best meet the needs of all parties.
Working this way not only gives all parties a sense of ownership over the way the organisation manages this joint challenge, but provides a clear understanding of (and empathy for) the difficulties faced at the provider and individual level.
The research, reinforced by conversations we have had with frontline workers, confirms that even having some confirmed ‘regular hours’ can make a big difference to how employees view their stability, their employer, and their lives.
This can also be a valuable lesson for providers as they approach recruitment.
Rather than euphemistically pitching flexibility as a positive to an industry of people who know otherwise, offering at least a minimum volume of regular hours might increase the appeal—especially compared to other organisations that don’t.
How can VisiCase help?
Fixing these issues is clearly bigger than any one service provider, supplier or lobby group, but as the old saying goes, ‘every little bit helps’.
Optimizing practices and processes with purpose-built software can help maximize efficiencies and inform workforce planning.
“VisiCase offers voice-to-text for rapid and accurate case notes and can simplify the rostering process by allowing you to quickly match an employee who is available and who has the right skills and experience,” says Colin Hoschke of VisiCase.
“It can help you get a better understanding of where you have surplus staff and where you may be short, of where demand truly lies and what is trending, so you can more accurately plan your workforce both immediately and into the future.”
VisiCase provides an NDIS-ready business automation platform, built on powerful workflows. It helps you manage, streamline, and optimize every component of your business, and its modules empower a positive employee and client experience.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary cause of low job security in the NDIS?
Low job security in the NDIS stems primarily from the NDIA’s Reasonable Cost Model. Because the model only reimburses direct care hours—excluding travel, training, administration, and cancellations—many service providers rely heavily on casual contracts to manage operational costs and overheads.
How does worker casualisation affect NDIS participants?
Workforce casualisation causes high staff turnover and inconsistent scheduling for NDIS participants. Disability care relies heavily on trust, familiarity, and continuous rapport. Frequent worker changes disrupt this care relationship, leading to inconsistent service delivery and potentially lower overall support quality for participants.
What steps can NDIS service providers take to improve job security?
Providers can improve job security in the NDIS by consulting with workers to establish guaranteed minimum regular hours. Analyzing historical roster patterns allows organizations to convert consistent casual shifts into predictable part-time positions, improving staff retention without sacrificing operational flexibility.
Why are administrative costs an issue under the current NDIS model?
The NDIS pricing model does not directly fund non-direct support tasks such as case notes, roster coordination, staff supervision, and mandatory training. Unfunded administrative responsibilities strain provider budgets, driving organizations toward casual employment structures to keep overheads manageable.
How does business management software support NDIS workforce planning?
Purpose-built software like VisiCase streamlines administrative tasks through features like voice-to-text documentation and automated shift matching. By accurately tracking demand patterns and staff availability, providers can optimize schedules, reduce administrative burden, and confidently offer workers stable, predictable hours.
