Rebecca Cooper has a complex disability and is considering moving interstate to access specialised support she cannot get in her home town.
The resident of the South Australian Riverland town of Berri has functional neurological disorder (FND), which has led to vision impairment, memory loss, swelling, pain, and mobility issues.
Ms Cooper also has frequent seizures and her doctor said she needed regular support, but the disability care labour shortage meant Ms Cooper could be alone for up to five hours a day.
"There are heaps of people falling through the cracks and it shouldn't happen," she said.
Ms Cooper was now considering moving interstate to access more specialised and consistent support as her FND symptoms worsened.
"I shouldn't have to move to get the care I need," she said.
"I just think it's worth fighting for, and maybe it's too late for me, but it's not too late for lots of people who live in this town that I care about."
Care providers crying out for workers
Ms Cooper's disability service provider, HomeCare+, is trying to boost the hours of support she receives.
But chief executive Peter Stewart said nationwide labour shortages meant employers were competing over a small pool of workers across allied health and human services industries.
"There are a lot more options for people to look at when it comes to occupations, and people have been leaving the disability services sector to work in other areas," he said.
Mr Stewart said more needed to be done to attract workers to the job and to promote the benefits that came with supporting people to live their best lives.
"We need to try to generate more interest from school leavers upwards, even people who are looking for career changes, people who are maybe a bit more advanced, a bit more mature," he said.
"Yes, it's hard work, but the benefits far outweigh that in terms of supporting people who really need that assistance."
While minimum wage increases this year were welcomed by the disability care sector, Mr Stewart said pay needed to lift further to keep in line with the aged care industry.
"We have the challenge of funding being offered as a result of the Royal Commission into Aged Care, which is incentivising people to work in that sector specifically," he said.
"We have people who work both across disability and aged care, who are choosing to stick with the aged care side because of those incentives."
Regions face added challenges
The Disability Rights Advocacy Service said the disability care labour crisis was felt Australia-wide, and nationally two-thirds of disability support providers could not recruit enough workers to meet demand.
But chief executive David McGinlay said hiring and retaining workers in the regions was even more challenging.
"Metro is easier to recruit to because you have more services for the people you're recruiting, like housing and education," he said.
"Even if you get people to come to the Riverland, it's about getting that consistency."
Regional families are carrying the load as a result, with 13.7 per cent of people in the Berri Barmera area providing unpaid care compared to the state average of 13.1 per cent, according to the 2021 census.
Mr McGinlay said injecting more funds into the disability industry would negate this side effect and benefit the public more broadly.
"When you pump money into the disability sector, it has a return to the general community of $2.25 as far as generated spending goes," he said.
"You're putting money into support services, giving someone with a disability choice and control, and then the support services can extend to employment and activities.
"There are hundreds of thousands of people around each participant in Australia who benefit."
NDIS Minister Bill Shorten said work was underway to address the NDIS markets that have historically made accessing the NDIS in regional and remote Australia difficult.
"One of the ways we are doing this is by appointing a senior officer within the NDIA to tackle service delivery issues in remote and regional areas," he said.
Mr Shorten said price limits of NDIS services implemented in June this year would also help support participant outcomes and reduce workforce turnover by funding better conditions for NDIS workers.
He said the Albanese government has also committed to a "sweeping review" of the NDIS, including pricing, markets, quality, safeguards, compliance, and workforce.
