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A senior Northern Territory public servant ran NDIS provider Life Aspects while holding senior roles in the Department of Children and Families, prompting conflict of interest complaints.
A senior Northern Territory public servant responsible for child and family services in Central Australia ran an NDIS provider company in Alice Springs while holding senior roles in the Department of Children and Families. Kudzai Mutsunge was the sole director of Life Aspects, a registered NDIS provider, and also owned a 50 per cent stake in its parent company, Japhin The Teacher Pty Ltd, from December 2024 to February 2026.
The Department of Children and Families has confirmed it referred a complaint about her involvement with Life Aspects to an internal integrity process. The status of that process remains unclear.
Documents obtained by the ABC show the department has recently strengthened its internal conflict of interest procedures, especially for staff with the power to influence NDIS referrals.
Conflict of Interest Concerns at Department
The Department of Children and Families plays a significant role in the NDIS system in the Northern Territory. Figures from 2024 show more than 300 children in its care had active NDIS plans.
Life Aspects is registered to provide a range of disability services, including assistance with independent living and support coordination. Support coordination involves arranging other providers for people with disability.
The ABC has seen no evidence that any child in the care of the department was a Life Aspects client.
Ms Mutsunge wound up her directorship and shareholding in Life Aspects earlier this year, one week before an anonymous complaint was sent to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission in March.
A separate complaint went to the Department of Children and Families in August from the Alice Springs-based Disability Advocacy Service (DAS). On August 21, the department told the service it had referred the information through the appropriate internal integrity processes and was coordinating with the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) where relevant. The outcome of that process, if any, is unknown.
In response to questions from the ABC, the department declined to say whether Ms Mutsunge had declared a potential conflict of interest or sought approval for outside work, saying it could not comment on individual employment or conduct matters.
Public Servant Denies Allegations
Ms Mutsunge said she did not endorse or agree to the allegations or characterisations put to her by the ABC about whether her roles presented a potential conflict of interest. She said she could not respond to further questions within the timeframe provided.
Under the NT public service code of conduct, employees must declare any perceived, potential or actual conflicts of interest in writing to their chief executive. The department's acting chief executive Karen Broadfoot said it had zero tolerance for a failure to declare a conflict.
Ms Broadfoot said that where integrity matters involved the NDIS, the department would also coordinate with the Australian Federal Police when relevant.
DAS chief executive Scott Richardson said government officials needed to be held to a higher standard on potential NDIS conflicts, to ensure they do not have access to participant information that they could then benefit from, or family could benefit from.
In a meeting in March, Ms Mutsunge reportedly told DAS staff that she was operationally removed from placement decisions, and denied any role in referring children to NDIS providers.
Strengthened Conflict of Interest Procedures
As well as written declarations, the public service code of conduct in force since 2022 requires employees to get written approval from their chief executive before taking paid work outside the service.
The department went further and endorsed its own conflict of interest policy on May 29, 2025, while Ms Mutsunge was still sole director of Life Aspects. The policy required staff to consider their own interests and those of their family, identify any conflicts and report them.
It made clear conflicts were common and not necessarily a problem, so long as they were declared and managed. Then on June 12, 2026, three months after Ms Mutsunge had offloaded Life Aspects, the department policy was updated.
Kudzai Mutsunge NDIS Life Aspects NT Department Of Children And Families Alice Springs Conflict Of Interest Disability Advocacy Service
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