NDIS workforce capability: valuing experienced support workers
The NDIS and the deprofessionalisation of the disability workforce
By Wendel Bamford · Originally published 2 March 2016
Original article
I recently attended a staff recognition event for Community Facilitator (Support Worker), Brigid Barilla, who is celebrating ten years of service with Interchange. When I first met Brigid, she was a shy but eager volunteer looking for a career change. I could tell straight away how much Brigid cared for our customers. But I was keen for Brigid to learn more about the social justice agenda underlying our service.
Brigid returned to TAFE as a mature age student and was soon able to secure a full-time position with Interchange. She’s been with us ever since and remains a valued member of our support team. Her recent milestone has reminded me of the importance of retaining dedicated, effective and loyal staff.
Bridgid was the first person I employed when I came to Interchange ten years ago, so she really did herald the rise of Interchange from a back-yard family-run agency to the large and successful organisation we’ve become today.
So how do you keep good staff like Brigid? Management manuals will list things like: clear career paths, employee recognition, cultivating freedom and flexibility, showing corporate social responsibility, and offering competitive remuneration and working conditions.
While these things are important, in our industry, it’s always the mission that matters. Interchange believes in a world where all people are fully included in every aspect of community life. We seek to recruit and maintain staff who not only share this vision, but consider it their personal mission and morality. These people are proud to work in the disability industry and are motivated by social justice more than mere remuneration.
But disability is a rights issue, not a charity case. Staff are doing an extremely important job and need to be remunerated accordingly. If we value our customers, we must value our staff. And that means offering them a fair wage, employment security, ongoing training and career options. However the current state of the disability industry is eroding many of the ways that management can reward and recognise our devoted staff. The introduction of the NDIS risks making matters even worse.
The only way to remain sustainable under the NDIS is to radically reduce employment costs. This means employing less qualified, less experienced and less career-minded staff. It also means an increased use of casual staff, with a corresponding drop in training and supervision time.
In other words, the decrease in disability funding under the NDIS will result in a decrease in staff expertise and experience which, in turn, must result in a decrease in service quality.
The introduction of the NDIS thus risks a complete de-professionalisation of the disability industry.
For example, Interchange currently has nearly 50 percent of its staff employed in full-time permanent positions. The average for our industry is about half that, and falling. Full-time permanency not only gives staff certainty and reward, but guarantees consistency and familiarity for our customers.
Ten years ago I had no hesitation in employing Brigid for a full-time permanent position. I was even willing to sponsor her TAFE studies knowing that I would see a clear return on investment in terms of loyalty and expertise. However, with the ambiguity and austerity now underscoring contemporary funding packages, the use of casuals and even agency staff becomes a mitigating factor in addressing sector uncertainty. Besides, the NDIS calculates staff costs at entry-level rates, so employing qualified and experienced staff like Brigid becomes increasingly problematic.
This is scandalous when you consider the benefits someone like Brigid has brought to our organisation, not to mention the joy and support she has given to hundreds of customers.
Recognition is an essential principle in retaining good staff, so I was pleased to celebrate Brigid’s recent employment milestone. But true recognition means more than a cake or a party. We must show a tangible reward for qualifications and experience as reflected in the remuneration and working conditions of our committed staff.
Hence, disability funding must recognise the tenure and expertise of support staff as an essential component in underwriting quality services. Using that criterion, the NDIS has failed before it has barely started.
If the government truly wants to improve services to people with disability, it will look after the agencies that look after the staff that look after the people. We need more workers like Brigid, not less.
Wendel Bamford
Wendel Bamford has been the CEO of Interchange since 2007. He has previously worked in a variety of disability sector roles, including time as a counselor, employment coordinator, lecturer and manager.
Clickability editorial update: October 2026
Plan capability and continuity alongside staffing costs
Identify the skills each service requires and how new workers demonstrate them before undertaking tasks. Provide supervision, useful feedback and arrangements for absences. Retention matters, but long tenure alone does not establish competence for every participant or task.
Check wages, classifications and employment obligations with Fair Work guidance. Commission learning guidance connects training with actual service requirements. Recognition should support lawful conditions and learning rather than replace them.
Ask how the team maintains the skills your support needs
Discuss relevant experience, training and how changes in workers will be managed. Ask who supervises the service and how to raise a concern. A familiar worker can be valuable without being the only person capable of providing safe, respectful support.
Questions readers ask
Can funding pressure remove lawful employment duties?
No. Applicable employment responsibilities continue. Official guidance
Find support workers with skills relevant to you
Compare providers through Clickability and ask about capability, supervision and continuity. Confirm who will provide your support and how changes are handled.
