NDIS Future and How It Effects Marketing

Early this week Bill Shorten in his speech to the National Press Club in Canberra announced a complete “overhaul” of the NDIS or what he called a “reboot” of the NDIS. As result of informal supports being exhausted he stated that no Australia should ever be treated as a second class citizen. He mentioned that in the 10yrs since its inception in Newcastle, NSW, the NDIS has become a life line for people with disabilities. The NDIS should be a collective effort, said Bill Shorten, but that would take time, I can understand that after 10yrs of mismanagement, Rome was not built in a day. With 1 in 5 Australians living with a disability this is something we must get right as the scheme is playing with the lives of some of Australia’s most vulnerable but it needs to be done quickly before we end up with more needless deaths at the hand of “shonky” operators. I still remember being told I had to attend a rally at Sydney’s iconic Opera House or my wife and I would go without care, only to hear John Della Bosca chanting “NDIS, When do we want it, now!” and carers walking around with union t-shirts on carrying placards demanding a pay-rise. How dare the industry high jack this countries most vulnerable but from a marketing perspective what a great ploy it was, using people with disabilities for political gain. Now I am not advocating that you use people to get what you want in business, what I am saying is when you become passionate about a cause people listen to anything.

With people with lived experience of disability now accounting for 50% of the NDIS Board of Directors, Bill has put “shonky” providers on notice to “sell up now”. With 6,000 people joining the NDIS every month I speak to agencies every day that tell me they need more clients to stay alive but they have no staff to cater for more clients. This results in people with disabilities without the carer they need for mere survival. Parents are hoping and praying for a quick exit due to burnout because they are left to care for a child with a severe disability without any support. I can tell you first hand it is not only parents, it is also husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, and other relatives too that all pitch in and do what they have to do to improve the quality of life for their loved ones due to a lack of support because of a supply and demand issue in the industry, their simply is not enough carers. In my experience the carers that are there dont want to be there. It is all well and good to lift the staff cap, which for one I do not know why it existed in the first place, secondly, if there is no workers to fill those jobs then what is the point. Dont even get me started on carers on worker visas, their training in their own country does not translate here. So we need more course places and better training for migrants especially in areas of non verbal communication and the basics of how to use a hoist. That takes 1 -3 yrs to be a qualified carer depending on the course you study and the level of study. How is Bill going to keep the industry going, little lone improve it when he can not add workers for 1- 3yrs, we need workers now! What are you doing to attract quality workers to your business? I would love to know in the comments.

The thing that worries me the most is this is all starting with a 12 month consultation process, so what are we to do in the meantime? And, 12 months, come on Bill, why do you need 12 months? Get industry experts in a room TODAY create the policies needed to legislate the change and act on it IMMEDIATELY! before more people die at the hands of shonky operators. With the scheme expected to cost $50 billion by 2026 and $80 billion by 2030 how is that sustainable. Bill also announced in the same speech at the “National Press Club” that there are currently 38 active investigations of fraud totaling $300 million, that is laughable considering the complaints I read daily on Facebook and LinkedIn. I think Bill if you bothered to look deeper you will find the numbers are in the thousands who are ripping off the scheme, and if your figures are correct then I think that $300 million would be more like $300 trillion plus.

Any providers out there not doing the right thing maybe they need to contact me for some ethical marketing advise instead of taking down the most vulnerable in our society. Bill has reduced the number of days people with disabilities are taking up beds in hospitals from 160 to 29 and for that I commend you Bill so here’s hoping that Bill’s 6 point plan of reform is not another marketing spin by a politician, god knows we had enough of that over the last 4 years with “Scotty from marketing”. It is time for real change and that change starts with selling a message but then acting on that message, after all actions speak louder than words. People buy from those they know like and trust.

Currently their is no confirmation that a service has been provided, resulting in agencies being paid for services not rendered and providers pressuring participants into using funding for services they do not need. Some providers are even charging extra fees above the NDIS rate or rewarding participants for using service that are not covered by their plans. How is that client centred? and what effect is that having on the long term survival of the businesses doing that? Because, the greatest form of marketing is “Word Of Mouth”.