DSX acknowledges that the Government has not yet decided whether to go down the path of a commissioned panel of SIL providers, but the fact that it has been floated as an option, makes us very nervous. Nervous because there may be significant, harmful unintended consequences if a flawed panel design ends up being the new reality for Australia's 37,000 participants.
Today, there are over 775,000 buyers (NDIS participants) being marketed to by over 325,000 sellers.
Is that too many sellers? Yes. The fact that there is almost 1 seller for every 2 buyers is a symptom of a market that is out of control and must be reined in.
Today there are approximately 14,400 registered SIL providers.
Is that too many SIL providers? Yes, but this number will drop significantly as many will not meet the NDIS Commission’s new SIL registration timeframes.
If Government goes down the path of implementing a commissioned SIL panel, how many providers should there be on a SIL panel?
We don’t know, but there should not be a target number.
There are 2,600 post codes in Australia. If we assume that every post code = a community (not entirely true, depending on your definition of ‘community’), we would hope that SIL participants in any given post code would have at least 3 potential SIL providers to choose from; all of them high quality, independent, compliant/audited service providers.
It matters not whether SIL providers are large, small, for-profit, not-for-profit. A group of providers of many shapes and sizes is a feature of a diverse, healthy market. Consumers always benefit from healthy competition.
What matters is that:
a. Participants always have choice – it is the most fundamental tenet of NDIS;
b. Providers meet or exceed the participant’s expectations related to quality, reliability, flexibility and achievement of outcomes; and
c. (For safety reasons and to prevent abuse and neglect of the type reported by the Disability Royal Commission) Providers strictly adhere to mandated safeguards that include the banning of any sharp practice or client capture. A service provider must not be allowed, under any circumstances, to concurrently act as the consumer’s service provider, landlord, intermediary and/or employer, within the same legal entity, or across related entities. This is critical because if ever a consumer is unhappy with a service, they can change providers without also changing their home or job or other key aspects of their life.
If you have a view on this subject, please share that view with the Australian Government here, before 13 September 2026 https://lnkd.in/gWSCpszf
If you are passionate about providing high quality, ethical services in the NDIS market, we encourage you to apply for DSX membership, starting at only $595 per year for small providers.
This article was sourced from DSX Editorial.
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