00:00 It took a while for Rhonda Knuth to piece together how her son's NDIS funds had bled dry.
00:08 Jeff has Fragile X Syndrome and is selectively mute.
00:13 He loves going to work, but getting there is a problem.
00:17 He's very vulnerable. He could put his trust in anybody and it's just too dangerous for him.
00:26 Jeff's NDIS Disability Service provider stepped in, taking him to and from work, a 30 minute commute, three times a week.
00:35 Rhonda found it difficult to make sense of her son's NDIS plan, later discovering how much the rides cost.
00:43 It was probably a maximum of 90 minutes a week and they were charging him probably $700 odd a week.
00:55 A local legal service review found almost 90% of Jeff's core funding that was meant to last three years was spent in just one.
01:04 Most of it had gone on the trips to work.
01:07 I just put my trust in them and I know that they've taken advantage of us.
01:11 Rhonda's complaint to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission was one of nearly 15,000 in the 12 months to March.
01:20 The watchdog told her the provider had been reminded of the quality standards expected to be followed.
01:25 Rather than penalising providers, the watchdog heavily relies on education.
01:31 Disability Voices Tasmania says people's complaints to the commission are often poorly understood.
01:38 We do hear that when people make complaints, they're often not resolved in an appropriate manner, they're not resolved quickly.
01:47 Amidst these concerns around the conduct of providers and cost blowouts, the federal government has commissioned a review into the NDIS.
01:55 It's expected to be finalised in October.
01:58 I really want to see some reforms to the Quality and Safeguards Commission that are going to be much more responsive to the complaints that we're hearing every day on the ground.
02:09 The commission told the ABC every complaint is reviewed, assessed and acted upon accordingly.
02:15 reportingly.
02:17 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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