Survive & Thrive Series Part 6 – Money Matters

3 July 2025

Welcome to Part 6 of our Survive & Thrive strategic leadership series for NDIS leaders who want to move beyond surface-level compliance and into transformational leadership.

Money Matters: Why Some Providers Are Thriving While Others Are Barely Surviving

In Part 5 we invited NDIS providers to examine the mindset of relying on feel-good mission statements (the “mantra”) to examining concrete, measurable indicators of service quality (the “microscope”). We promoted strategic leadership through practical, data-informed insights into what quality looks like in everyday service delivery.

In Part 6, we dive into the essential relationship between cost, value and price. The foundation that should be driving your budgeting approach, allowing you to maintain financial sustainability while delivering quality services. No doubt, the NDIS pricing model has its constraints, but it rewards providers who align spending with purpose, eliminate what no longer adds value, and embrace quality as a core leadership responsibility. This blog is designed to help you identify what’s driving real value in your organisation, what needs attention, and what’s consuming resources without meaningful return.

Is Your Organisation Thriving or Just Surviving?

Many readers will find this article hard to digest.

It challenges the dominant narrative in our sector. We keep hearing the same thing, the NDIS is broken, compliance is impossible, we’re all on the brink. And yes, the environment is undeniably hard. But here’s a harder truth: Survival isn’t guaranteed. Success, however, is still achievable.

And if we want to succeed, we must start asking better questions, especially these ones:

• Is our daily delivery aligned with participant goals and choice?
• Do staff feel proud, supported, and engaged?
• Are our resources supporting what we say we value?

This article is an invitation to do just that, to step back and critically assess what you’re doing well, what needs to improve, and what’s simply not worth your time or energy anymore.

A Hostile Operating Environment

It is undeniable that the NDIS can only be described as a hostile operating environment.

The challenges are undeniable:

• Workforce shortages
• Unclear policy
• Capped pricing
• Looming reform
• Increasing regulatory scrutiny from administrators who are trying to make an example of the ‘dodgy providers’.

But not all NDIS providers are struggling. In fact, some are growing stronger.

Our Data Set: A Sector Snapshot 

We analysed:

• 160 active NDIS providers
• 60 providers that went into liquidation
• 25 survey responses from for-profit and unregistered providers

We tracked over 21% of scheme spend in FY23/24.

Our independent review reveals stark variation in financial health, strategic readiness, and operational efficiency.

Let me be clear, Supporting Potential does not employ or contract any actuaries. This data and its analysis has come from publicly available information and has been used to try and find the ‘secret sauce’ for optimal operating. I couldn’t understand that in a sector where there has never been more money available, we have so many financial issues. The following has been referred to as my ‘ADHD hyperfocus’. I wanted to get as close as I could to a complete and honest representation of sector performance.

Data for 150 providers came from the audited financial statements of ACNC Registered Not for Profit organisations. Unfortunately, reporting consistency across ACNC financial statements is non-existent. Variations in formatting, categorisation, and disclosure make direct comparisons between providers challenging.

Key Focus Areas:

• Providers generating 75%+ revenue from the NDIS
• Operational revenue and costs (excluding philanthropy and one-offs)
• Liquidated providers (identified via ASIC cross-referencing)

We wanted to capture an accurate picture of the market which include providers no longer operating. Again, this data is very hard to pinpoint as ASIC does not differentiate NDIS Providers to others within the broader ‘health’ sector. Data for liquidated organisations came from cross-referencing NDIS payment data from the top 1,500 providers by value and the ASIC liquidated business database.

We conducted a survey to encourage for profit and non-registered providers to share their data anonymously. We had 25 responses but only 10 of those chose to share their FY 23/24 financial outcomes.

The Reality: Fragmentation and Financial Gaps

Some providers are using outdated, inefficient models. Others are:

• Increasing revenue and equity
• Operating with strong cost discipline

The data clearly shows the NDIS is financially fragmented. Some providers are clinging to outdated models or under-recovering the real cost of quality service delivery. Others, however, are thriving—quietly but confidently increasing both revenue and equity, year on year.

To put the remainder of this article into context, collectively this group is holding onto over $3.5 billion in equity.

There is too much variation in the data to claim this is just good fortune. The performance gap is real, and it comes down to leadership, clarity, and cost discipline.

Data is interesting, but it doesn’t tell us how to fix it. While I cannot definitively state the reasons for these variances and the reasons probably vary, there are some common foundations we should be striving for:

• Strategic alignment to real value
• Understanding and application of the Reasonable Cost Model
• Utilising your best strategic asset
• Smart workforce planning
• Proactive, not reactive, engagement with reform

Strategic Alignment to Value

Compliance ≠ Quality
190 of the organisations we have analysed are registered. Technically this means they have passed an external NDIS Practice Standards Audit and met the ‘required’ standard of quality. But registration is an indicator of compliance, not quality. This is supported by one of the most consistent common concerns being raised across the sector at the moment:
                                                                                                      “We want to deliver quality, but the pricing doesn’t let us.”

It’s a fair concern. In a system built on fixed pricing, capped margins, and escalating compliance demands, many providers feel trapped. They are expected to do more with less, while simultaneously being held to higher compliance standards.

While the NDIS Practice Standards emphasise dignity, human rights, choice, and inclusion, the financial architecture underneath them doesn’t always support the time, workforce investment, or systemic capability required to achieve those outcomes sustainably but blaming “insufficient pricing” for everything risks creating blind spots that prevents deeper self-reflection.

But the harder truth? There will NEVER be enough money.

Disability is getting 10 times the investment as it got 15 years ago, yet we still don’t have enough. As leaders, we shouldn’t be beating ourselves up over this. But we do need to be aware of it and try to counterbalance it in our strategic decisions.

                                                        “Human nature is rarely content; we stretch to the edge of what we have and still feel the need for more.”

Yes, the price limits can be tight. Yes, the margins (2–3% on average) are low. But as recent data shows, some providers are still managing to thrive, even within the same funding framework.

The problem is not just about pricing; it is how providers are using the pricing they have.

The Reasonable Cost Model: A Wake-Up Call

The NDIS’ Reasonable Cost Model is more than a pricing tool. It can be used to:

• Benchmark sustainability
• Expose inefficiencies
• Support cost realism

There are very few industries where you get a budget blue print. The NDIS claim the Reasonable Cost Model was developed to calculate the “true, sustainable cost of delivering NDIS services.” It uses ‘realistic’ assumptions about wages, overheads, supervision, workforce mix, utilisation, and leave entitlements.

Providers need to remember that whilst the Agency sets the price based on these assumptions, it doesn’t mandate how providers spend. Providers who acknowledge that the Reasonable Cost Model isn’t just a funding formula but can be a diagnostic tool and benchmark will be more likely to thrive in environments when price isn’t keeping up as well as we would like with cost.

The following table provides an overview of what a budget could look like, based on the Reasonable Cost Model for a service provider who delivers approx. $8,000,000 p/a.

Where organisations are very clear on their service models, there is additional margin to be made. For example, if a portion of your business in low risk, community access, you may be able to roster workers at the 2.1 level.

We urge providers to take a cold look at where they believe they are underfunded. Common pain points we discover in our NDIS Critical Systems audits are:

• Costs driven by legacy staffing models
• Inefficient yet expensive systems that require ‘workarounds’ and extra staff
• Administrative and Executive positions to create an illusion of mitigating a risk but add very little value
• Executive bloat without value
• “Quality initiatives” that are often not measurable and lack impact
• The mindset that quality is unaffordable by default

This leads to:

• Cutting training budgets
• Stripping support roles
• Rushing through onboarding
• Prioritising rostering ease over participant fit
• Higher compliance risk

Ironically, it is these issues that often drive more compliance breaches, more complaints, and more costs over time.

Reframe: Quality as a Strategic Asset

Rather than seeing quality as a cost to be justified, leading providers are beginning to treat it as:

• A strategic investment
• A risk management tool
• A growth enabler
• A competitive advantage

High-impact quality investments result in:

• Better staff matching reduces turnover and incident rates
• Strong onboarding decreases avoidable escalation
• Investing in reflective supervision protects workforce wellbeing
• Competency-based training, not just completion, drives real capability

These are not “nice-to-haves.” They are high-impact levers and the last things we should cut.

The reframe is that these investments are both value creation and value protection mechanisms. In high-pressure environments like the NDIS, it’s tempting to chase growth or cut back too far, but sustainable organisations understand that strong strategy and associated budgets don’t just fund new ideas or ‘business as usual’, they also defend the foundation the organisation is built on.

These organisations see that the cost of not investing in quality can be far greater than the cost of getting it right the first time.

Cost of Inaction

Consider this:

• Every staff turnover event costs an organisation between $8,000–$15,000k in recruitment, training, lost productivity, and onboarding. Take our $8 million modelling org. If their retention rate is the industry average of 35%, they would be burning $176,000 – $330,000 in unnecessary turnover expense. Just a 10% reduction in turnover could save them over $100,000.
• Every preventable incident or complaint consumes hours of leader time, damages your reputation, and risks regulatory scrutiny.
• A well-trained support worker may prevent dozens of minor incidents that would otherwise erode participant trust (and organisational equity)

Sustainable organisations find ways to deliver what the participants wants, in a way the NDIA is willing to fund, whilst safeguarding equity, reducing risk exposure, and strengthening the bottom line.

The Key Takeaways….

Yes, the pricing model has its limits. But it also has opportunities, especially for those willing to align their spending with purpose, prune what no longer adds value, and treat quality not as a luxury, but as a leadership responsibility.

Organisations need to understand the dynamics of this hostile environment.

Specifically:

• It is very likely that you can grow revenue while losing money. Growth without margin or control creates risk, not opportunity.
• One profitable year doesn’t guarantee viability. Similarly, one bad year doesn’t mean collapse.
• A single organisation can have as many service models as they do participants. They need to adjust the workforce mix, training impost and supervision ratios accordingly.
• Financial sustainability can’t be delegated to the finance team, it’s a whole-organisation responsibility. Financial literacy in all leadership positions is no longer optional.
• The difference between thriving and struggling is not luck. It’s hard decisions, discipline, and value-based direction.

The Value of a Critical Systems Audit

You don’t have to do all this alone. When you’re working inside the system every day, it’s easy to miss the slow drifts, silent risks, and legacy processes that no longer serve.

That’s where a NDIS Critical Systems Audit becomes invaluable and why outsourcing it makes strategic sense.

An Independent Critical Systems Audit brings more than just fresh eyes. It brings:

• Unbiased insight into whether your systems are truly aligned to the NDIS Practice Standards, not just on paper, but in quality practice.
• Early identification of red flags that could lead to non-compliance, service gaps, or reputational harm.
• Cross-sector benchmarking, helping you learn from high performers and avoid pitfalls others didn’t see coming.
• A clear, actionable roadmap to move from “barely surviving” to “really thriving.”

Outsourcing also preserves your internal capacity. Your leaders stay focused on delivery while specialists dig deep into the bones of your organisation. It looks at your:

• Service models
• Financial viability
• Incident response
• Documentation trails
• Governance, and
• Frontline systems of accountability

Ready to Thrive?

This isn’t about judgment. It’s about protection and progress because in today’s high-stakes NDIS environment, “good enough” is never safe enough and the gap between providers is widening. The next reform wave won’t treat everyone equally.

Book Your NDIS Critical Systems Audit Today!

Appendix

 

Join our webinar via the link below

Part 6 – Money Matters next Thursday, 10 July at 1pm.

https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/17c59c54-7f1c-4e04-a45b-491f9d43490a@d8fe5969-e9bc-4d6b-ba5a-62e8825302c8

 

The next fortnightly instalment in our NDIS Survive & Thrive Series

Part 7 – Structuring Your Approach to Risk

This could be your new competitive advantage as well as your best approach to staying out of court, and out of the public eye for the wrong reasons. We review the different requirements of risk management from the Federal Court outcomes of Commissioner of the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission v Valmar Support Services Ltd [2025] FCA 11 and Commissioner v LiveBetter Services Ltd [2024] FCA 374 (LiveBetter)

Outcome – a clearer picture of where your key risks likely lie and the development of core mitigation strategies.

Get Involved and Get Connected!

• We would love to know if you’ve tried any of the activities we’ve suggested or done something similar in the past – and what the outcomes were! You can reach out to us in the Get in Touch section at the bottom of this page.
• We also share practical tips, real life examples, and expert insights every week on LinkedIn. Follow along, join the conversation, and share these posts with your network.
• Join our mailing list here to receive notifications up upcoming instalments and webinars. We truly value the insights and experiences attendees are bringing to our webinars!

How We Can Help

In today’s climate of tight overhead margins and a competitive labour market, resourcing your transformation team entirely with internal staff may not be feasible. That’s where we come in. Our experienced project and change managers can provide the specialised support you need to keep your transformation on track.

We also offer skilled facilitation for transformation team meetings, maximising your time and ensuring meaningful, high-quality outcomes.

For broader strategic needs, we provide executive advisory and tailored support packages designed to empower NDIS businesses at every stage of growth and development.

Get in Touch

If you would like confidential assistance in looking at this differently, book in a time to have a no obligation chat via my  bookings calendar or email me at  angela@supportingpotential.com.au.

Let’s build a stronger, more adaptable NDIS community together.

Your partner in achieving compliance, growth and sustainability 

Angela Harvey

Managing Director of Supporting Potential

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