Disability Support Should Be Removed from the Gig Economy Laws

As a person who relies on disability support for my basic needs, it's important to me that my support team have the best possible pay and conditions. It is the main reason why many NDIS participants like myself choose to self-manage our funding. It means that we can engage workers directly, and in doing so, more of our support dollars can go to the person providing the support rather than an agency taking their share. As was shown in my Reasonable & Necessary podcast series, being able to engage workers directly is why many of us choose to use unregistered providers.

If you want to engage workers directly, you can do it yourself, as an employer or through a microboard. You or your microboard are responsible for worker screening, superannuation, insurance and ensuring you meet National Employment Standards. These responsibilities are significant, and as someone who has been directly employing my support team for over 21 years, I know it is a lot to take on. There are resources about what it takes to directly employ support workers on the Self Manager Hub.

Another way to engage independent contractors directly is via a platform like Mable. The benefit of using a platform is the simplicity. The worker screening and insurance are taken care of, and the platform has a range of safeguards that ensure that support seekers and providers behave responsibly.?

New laws might make platforms less effective and more dangerous

The new ‘employee-like’ laws that were introduced to Parliament this week intend to include disability support platforms and could make them less effective in meeting the needs of NDIS participants.?

It will be harder to remove unsuitable people from the platform. Currently, the platform removes workers who are reported for behaving inappropriately, but under the legislation, the worker will have the right to remain on the platform until an investigation is completed. In that time, they may go on to cause harm to other clients.

Furthermore, the minimum standards are likely to include minimum engagement periods. Currently, you can hire someone to support you for as little as an hour. This is very important for some people who might just need someone to help them transfer into bed or bring in their washing. But under these new laws, it is likely that this will no longer be possible. So the person will need to ask for more funding in their NDIS plan to cover the extra hours or they may have to go without support.

Why try to fix a problem that doesn't exist?

Applying the ‘employee-like’ legislation to disability support is like trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist, and instead of fixing anything, new problems will be created. Workers using platforms are not forced into pay and conditions. They set their own pay rates and these rates tend to be better than what they would receive if they were an employee of a provider. Of course, a traditional provider would cover the cost of superannuation and insurance, but workers using these platforms factor these into their hourly rates. The recent NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission Own Motion Inquiry examining how platform providers operate in the NDIS Market stated:

We heard consistently from NDIS participants that providers (on platforms) always [sic] ask for and expect the highest possible rate that can be charged, regardless of skill and experience.

So while underpaying might be going on in the food delivery and ride sharing sectors, the evidence indicates that this is not the case in disability support.

Before applying the ‘employee-like’ laws to the disability sector, the government should investigate the pay and conditions of independent disabilty workers and speak with them and with people with disabilities to understand what's working and what could be improved. If there is underpayment going on, and if these workers are worse off, let's do something about it. But if it is working well for workers and people with disabilities, let's take the disability sector out of the reforms. Why would we want to make it harder for people with disabilities to find support and increase the cost of the NDIS?

As the NDIS grows, we need to grow the workforce

As the NDIS grows, the need for disability workers and diverse support options will continue to increase. The disability workforce is also ageing. The government needs to seriously address the growing workforce shortages. There are many people who have been attracted to the industry by the flexibility and higher than average pay offered on platforms. So let's reconsider what we can do to maximise the opportunities provided by platforms and independent contractors rather than making life more difficult for the people who depend on them.

If you're concerned about these changes, you can find out more about what you can do to have your say here. What do you think of the proposed changes? Let me know in the comments, I love hearing different ideas and always enjoy a healthy policy debate.

Thanks for reading my article, these views are my own. I always appreciate your reactions, comments and shares. You can check out my?Reasonable & Necessary podcast series?and follow me on Twitter @drgeorgethecrip