Millions forgone as ACT government doesn't claim federal funding

The Canberra Times can reveal there are more than 48 NDIS recipients in Canberra, and potentially more, eligible for specialist disability accommodation (SDA) funding which has an average annual funding allotment of $18,689.

This is Commonwealth funding for maintenance, repairs, upgrades and builds to support housing for NDIS recipients with very high support needs as well as extreme functional impairment. It is not money that goes to recipients themselves.

Eric Thauvette, CEO of the not-for-profit-supported healthcare provider Hartley Lifecare, has told this masthead that the 48 NDIS recipients he is aware of have a combined $630,000 in their plan for this year alone.

The ACT government admits it does not know how many people in the ACT are eligible to have the funding through its agency, Housing ACT, and it is now launching a three-to-four-month-long engagement project with people such as tenants and carers to find out more.

"Housing ACT has been working through a range of complexities to claim SDA and as such, has not received any SDA funding for these dwellings to date," a government spokesperson told this masthead.

An answer on April 3 by the National Disability Insurance Agency to a question on notice by independent ACT senator David Pocock revealed that, despite eligibility, there were "zero" participants of the NDIS residing in SDAs in the ACT as of the end of the 2023. The answer states that there were 14 people eligible, but Mr Thauvette is aware of 48.

"Year on year, there's money that gets allocated that does not get drawn down by anybody," Mr Thauvette said. "Over the seven or eight years it's been around, we've been telling the ACT government they should register these houses, should register as an SDA provider."

"We've had some meetings about it, or I've had some phone calls from Housing ACT saying, 'tell us a little bit more about what that looks like' because we were the only SDA provider at the time.

"I would explain the whole process and they would say they're looking into it and then nothing would have occurred and that's been happening quite a bit. We have brought it up with ministers in the past to say this money is there and this money exists and it's not being claimed."

The answer to the question on notice states there are, as of the end of the 2023, 1,721 NDIS participants in the ACT living in public housing.

SDA is funded for a small number of NDIS participants whose disability-related support needs cannot be met through the general housing market.

Mr Thauvette said there are NDIS participants outside public housing in the ACT receiving the SDA funding, but not inside.

"There's obviously some communication somewhere that's not occurring properly," he said.

A spokesperson for the ACT government confirmed that Housing ACT registered as an SDA provider in October 2017 and began enrolling eligible dwellings in mid-2020. The enrolment of these dwellings was confirmed by the NDIA in November 2020.

It was confirmed that no SDA funding had flowed through to the ACT government as Housing ACT is working through a "range of complexities" to claim SDA.

"Disability modifications and maintenance at SDA-enrolled dwellings are funded through Housing ACT repairs and maintenance budget," the spokesperson said.

"In the last budget, the ACT government allocated $177 million for Housing ACT operations, repairs and maintenance."

The ACT government could not confirm how many NDIS recipients in the ACT were eligible for SDA funding as there were "inconsistencies in available NDIA data".

"There are 111 SDA-enrolled dwellings in the ACT, of which 25 tenancies are managed by Housing ACT and 86 tenancies are managed by Community Housing Provider," the spokesperson said.

"The ACT government is working with the NDIA to determine how many of the tenants in these properties are eligible for SDA."

Mr Thauvette said there is great need in the disability sector, as some of the supported houses are in quite poor condition.

The Hartley CEO said repairs are still being done, but he described the work as very slow with a lot of challenges.

"It's very frustrating to see sometimes where things are not getting being maintained at the level they should be maintained. And the people living there have this money assigned specifically for that and it is not being used for that. So yes, it is very challenging," he said.

The Canberra Times visited a supported home this week where a resident expressed a fervent wish to move out of the house and said she spent most of her time in her room. She also wanted the significantly water-marked flooring in her room replaced. A tradesman attended the property during the visit but he quickly left as he said he could not complete the requested job.

"We have [situations where] we have three or four people coming along saying 'I can't do it. We'll have to get somebody else' and then that gets sent the same type of people again, and sometimes it takes three or four times .. sometimes more. Sometimes it could take a year," Mr Thauvette said.

The ACT government confirmed it is spending money on improving public housing for people with disabilities.

"Housing ACT provides home modifications for tenants, across the spectrum of physical support needs, with $1.2 million spent on such modifications in 2022-23," a spokesperson said.

"Housing ACT also supports tenants with disability to transfer to alternative public housing properties that better meet their physical requirements."

It also insists that "responsive" maintenance and repair works in all Housing ACT properties are "actioned" for completion, including urgent works within four hours and normal repairs within 20 days.

The ACT government has told The Canberra Times it is launching an engagement project to hear from tenants living in Specialist Disability Accommodation about their housing needs, preferences, challenges and opportunities. The views of families, carers and providers are also being sought.

It is expected the work of the project will be used to inform government decisions and take up to four months.