The Silent Crisis: When NDIS Fails to Pay Providers

In the past year alone, I’ve supported providers left stranded by the NDIS — some owed as little as $480,000, others as much as $2.9 million. A few reached out after just 4 weeks of stalled payments, while others endured more than 12 months without a cent released.

Now picture trying to keep staff paid, services running, and participants safe with no certainty, no answers, and no end in sight.

Can your business really survive that long without payment — especially when the NDIS won’t tell you when, or even if, the money will come?

For some providers, this meant months of unpaid wages. For others, it meant spiralling debt and endless sleepless nights wondering if they would have to close their doors for good. In every single case, the NDIS Payment Integrity Team shifted the goalposts again and again — without ever giving a valid reason for holding back money that was rightfully owed.

But here’s what I want you to know:

• You don’t have to fold your business.
• You’re not the only provider going through this.
• And there is a proven way forward.

Does this sound familiar?

• Your invoices have been sitting unpaid for weeks or months, with no clear reason why.
• Every email you send to Payment Integrity disappears into silence.
• You’re told “we’re reviewing your claims” — but never given a timeline or explanation.
• Your cashflow is drying up and you’re worried about paying staff or subcontractors.
• You’re terrified that participant safety is at risk if the money doesn’t come through soon.

If you’re nodding along, you’re exactly who I wrote my NDIA Payment Integrity Review Playbook for.

4 Survival Tips (a taste from the playbook)

Here are four starting points that can shift you from waiting helplessly to taking back control:

1. Audit your claims before NDIA does.
   Make sure every service agreement, timesheet, and shift note lines up. Even small errors give NDIA an excuse to stall.

2. Set the tone with your first response.
   When you contact NDIA, don’t grovel. State the total amount owed, attach clean evidence, and set a clear deadline for response. 

3. Escalate early — not late.
   Silence doesn’t mean nothing is happening. It means they’re hoping you’ll give up. Complaints, ministerial escalation, and legal pressure all have their place.

4. Protect your business while you fight.
   Prioritise wages and participant-critical costs, manage subcontractor agreements, and reassure participants that services won’t stop.

These four steps alone won’t solve a payment freeze — but they’re the foundation of the method I’ve used to recover millions in withheld invoices for providers who were weeks away from shutting down.

Why You Need the Playbook

The truth is, NDIA delays aren’t about you doing something “wrong.” More often than not, they’re the result of sloppy processes inside NDIA. Waiting quietly is the fastest path to bankruptcy.

The NDIA Payment Integrity Review Playbook gives you:

• Step-by-step escalation pathways that actually get results.

• Pre-written templates for complaints, ministerial letters, and legal demands.

• Financial contingency planning tools to keep your business afloat during delays.

• Real case studies of providers who used this method to get paid.

It’s not theory. It’s the same system that’s helped providers recover seven-figure sums and survive the NDIA’s silence.

Ready to take back control?

Don’t wait another month hoping NDIA will do the right thing. They won’t.

Get the NDIA Payment Integrity Review Playbook today and protect your business, your staff, and your participants.

The longer you wait, the harder it is to recover. Take action now — before unpaid invoices put your business at risk.