More than $5m was handed to a single private consultant advising the National Disability Insurance Agency, a revelation that has prompted renewed criticism of its spending on contractors.
The US global management consultant McKinsey and Company was paid $5.17m to conduct an independent review of national disability insurance scheme pricing, a major piece of work used to help determine how much people with a disability pay for support services.
The cost of the McKinsey and Company work was detailed in responses to questions in Senate estimates, and has again caused concern about the extent of the NDIA’s outsourcing.
The agency is constrained by a staffing cap which Labor wants lifted because it places an increased reliance on private contractors. The Australian reported late last year that $180m had been spent on consultants and contractors between July 2016 and October last year.
Jenny Macklin, the shadow social services minister, said the NDIA’s work was being “outsourced because they just don’t have the capacity”.
“The staffing cap on the agency needs to be lifted,” Macklin said. “The purpose of the NDIS is to improve the lives of people with disability, not line the pockets of big consultancy firms.”
The work completed by McKinsey and Company informed the landmark reform and helped to guide the overhaul of the way disability support services are funded.
McKinsey and Company made 25 recommendations to overhaul the pricing level of the NDIS, all of which were adopted in-principle.
“More than 1,000 individuals and organisations were consulted or provided submissions during the review,” an NDIA spokeswoman said.
The NDIA said its use of consultants was not unusual for government. It was also necessary, given the unique nature of the NDIS rollout.
“The NDIA’s practice of engaging contractors and consultants is in line with the practices of other government entities, in bringing on resources for the delivery of functions,” the spokeswoman said.
“The level and use of contractors and consultants is reflective of the NDIA’s rapid development and expansion, focused on meeting the challenges of establishing and delivering a world-leading NDIS.”
But the disability advocacy group Every Australian Counts is concerned about the amount spent on contractors. Its campaign director, Kirsten Deane, said the link with the staff cap appeared clear. Nobody wanted to see the NDIA become a “big, fat, bloated bureaucracy”, she said, but it needed to have the required resourcing.
“It’s also very frustrating for people with a disability and their families because they’re struggling to have their voices heard,” she said. “And to find that consultants are being paid large amounts of money when they feel they’re not being heard is immensely frustrating.”
This week Every Australian Counts released polling showing that the vast majority of Australians support a fully funded NDIS.
At the same time, it released the results of a survey of the disability community on the greatest concerns with the scheme’s rollout. At the top of the list was the adequacy of NDIS planning, a topic of frequent criticism of the NDIA.
Disability advocates have said the development of support plans for participants – which determine their eligibility for services and funding – was rushed, lacked quality and exposed the lack of expertise within the NDIA.
The NDIA has moved to address this by pushing for more face-to-face planning sessions and seeking to eradicate phone-only planning.
The survey also identified concerns about delays, a lack of expertise in government, and the creation of service gaps as state governments withdraw services.
Macklin said there was “clearly much work” needed to ensure the NDIS liveds up to its promise. “It’s no secret that many people with disability and their families feel let down and are frustrated by the problems with the NDIS rollout,” she said.
