Bill Shorten says Coalition did not do enough to prevent criminals targeting disability sector as he brings 10-year review of scheme forward
The Herald Sun reported on Sunday that the Australian Crime and Intelligence Commission claimed as much as 5% of the $29bn scheme – or $1.45bn – is being stolen each year through fraud, including through falsified bookings, inflated invoices, or invoices charged through stolen information. Organised crime gangs were also said to be targeting the NDIS.
“There’s very few things more despicable in life than crooks taking money, which is due to go to disabled people.”He said Labor had “all options on the table to make sure we protect taxpayer money”, claiming the former Coalition government had not done enough to stop fraud or investigate criminals targeting the disability sector.
“I’ve only just looked under the hood, but I am putting on notice that we want to have a pricing system which makes sense to everyday people.” “It’s aimed for the most profoundly impaired and severely disabled Australians … So the challenge there is to sit down with our brothers and sisters in the states and say, what are you doing in the school system to provide additional support for kids with special needs? The NDIS can’t replace the school system,” Shorten said.