People on the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) are missing out on the services they require due to a lack of approved providers, with the situation most acute in regional and rural areas.
Newly compiled data from the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations has mapped the number of scheme participants by region, their average budget, the number of service providers available and what portion of their budget is being spent.
That data revealed while remote regions have attracted the highest average plan value, participants in those postcodes spend less due to restricted service provision.
People in the Alice Springs and MacDonnell councils in the Northern Territory have the largest average annual plan budgets at $224,000 per participant.
Hume and Moreland city councils in Victoria have the smallest average budgets at $51,000 per participant.
But large budgets have not translated into higher service delivery, with participants in the East Arnhem Regional Council area only utilising 29 per cent of their allocation, the lowest utilisation rate in the country.
No one getting 100 per cent
Australian Federation of Disability Organisations chief executive Ross Joyce said no participant was getting 100 per cent of the support they were eligible for.
"Most cases, confirmed by the new actuary last Friday at a meeting, you're talking about 70 to 80 per cent utilisation of a plan by individuals," Mr Joyce said.
"We don't have 100 per cent utilisation anywhere.
"In a lot of cases where it's further out in rural remote areas, we can see that it's way down, might only be 40 per cent of their total plan package which means they're not getting supports that they should be getting."
Last week's federal budget revealed the NDIS was the fastest growing pressure on government spending, with the Albanese government vowing to rein in spending by $74-billion dollars in the decade ahead.
The magnitude of that savings projection has caused some concern within the community with a large part of public discussion of the scheme focused on its cost.
'Nonsense in regional Australia'
Advocates have been trying to draw political and public attention to unequal access to services, particularly for First Nations scheme participants.
First Peoples Disability Network chief executive Damien Griffis said the existing model hasn't worked for regional and rural Australia.
"If you live in regional and remote Australia you're still seriously disadvantaged as a person with disability," Mr Griffis said.
"[The East Arnhem data] is stark evidence that shows clearly in First Nations communities we lack the service options.
"It's all well and good to have a plan done but if you've got no way to action it or no way to access supports then that in our view says you're not a participant in the scheme."
As of October 2022, there were 50 approved providers in the East Arnhem region, a number that did not specify whether the supports on offer matched need or the distance required to access support in remote areas.
South-West Sydney and the Hunter and New England regions had the largest number of providers, at almost 2,500 each, these providers were expected to be larger teams rather than sole operators.
The data also showed the Hunter and New England regions of New South Wales, including the Maitland, Lake Macquarie, Port Stephens and Tamworth areas had a total of 21,000 participants, the highest in the country.
Barkly Regional Council in the Northern Territory had the fewest participants, with just 153.
Mr Griffis said investing in community lead support, in First Nations communities was a possible solution.
"We are not investing the right way and what the scheme needs to be doing is to be supporting a community-led response," he said.
"A market-driven approach is frankly a nonsense in regional Australia."
Mr Joyce said now the rollout of the scheme was largely complete the focus had to shift to addressing access.
"We now need to address these areas such as the lack of supports and service providers across a range of areas," he said.
"At the moment most people can't get the level of supports that they require in their plan."
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