On 26 November 2025, Labor introduced the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Integrity and Safeguarding) Bill 2025 (Bill) into Parliament. If passed, the Bill will introduce tougher penalties for providers engaging in misconduct and unsafe practices, including where such conduct leads to the death or serious injury of a participant.
While Labor scrutinises fraud, misconduct and unsafe practices in the disability sector, the Federal Court of Australia (Court) has also been imposing unprecedented civil penalties on NDIS providers following participant deaths.
In this update, we provide an overview of the Bill, two recent Court decisions, and the implications for the aged care and disability sectors.
Bill
The Bill represents one of the most significant expansions of the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission's (NDIS QSC) powers since its establishment.
The Bill substantially increases penalties for serious contraventions of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (Cth) (NDIS Act), including:
- Code of Conduct: The maximum fine for breaching the NDIS Code of Conduct where a failure leads to the death or serious injury of a scheme participant will increase from $400,000 to $16.5 million.
- Banning Orders: Persons who fail to comply with a banning order will face a new criminal penalty of up to five years' jail, replacing the current maximum penalty of $1.6 million.
- False or misleading information: Providers who provide false or misleading information or documents in connection with an application for registration may receive a maximum penalty of $3.3 million for serious contraventions or $39,600 (double the current penalty) in any other case.
The Bill suggests the NDIS QSC may move from an education-first compliance approach to substantial civil and criminal penalties, requiring immediate review of current frameworks, policies and procedures.
Commissioner of the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission v LiveBetter Services Ltd [2024] FCA 374
In April 2024, the Court handed down a decision which considered multiple contraventions of the NDIS Act by a disability services provider.
The contravener, LiveBetter Services Ltd (LiveBetter), is a registered NDIS provider which provides support to people with disability, as well as older persons.
Between April 2021 and February 2022, LiveBetter provided in-home supports, including personal care and bathing, to Ms Lucas, a 28-year-old Aboriginal woman who lived in her family home in New South Wales. Ms Lucas lived with multiple significant disabilities and health conditions.
On 2 February 2022, Ms Lucas received assistance with bathing from two LiveBetter support workers. One support worker ran a bath for Ms Lucas by first running the hot water tap, then turning it off and adding cold water for approximately 1-2 minutes. After checking the water temperature with her hand, the support worker considered it seemed 'fine' and Ms Lucas was placed in the bath. The water temperature was excessive and Ms Lucas, who was non-verbal, suffered burns to 35-40% of her body. She later died in hospital on 7 February 2022.
Following mediation in August 2023, LiveBetter admitted liability and, together with the NDIS Commissioner, provided the Court with a Statement of Agreed Facts which included a joint list of 17 agreed contraventions of the NDIS Act, including one breach of the NDIS Code of Conduct (section 73J of the NDIS Act) and 16 contraventions of its conditions of registration (section 73V of the NDIS Act). LiveBetter and the NDIS Commissioner agreed that LiveBetter failed to:
- conduct a formal risk assessment of Ms Lucas' home prior to providing bathing supports;
- ensure access to responsive, timely, competent and appropriate supports to meet Ms Lucas' support needs and desired outcomes; and
- adequately train or assess seven support workers in proper bathing techniques.
Following the incident, LiveBetter implemented formal training, policies and procedures regarding safe bathing and introduced mandatory formal assessment in relation to proper bathing technique. All support workers are required to complete mandatory training when they commence employment and again annually. A representative from LiveBetter's executive team and Board also spoke with Ms Lucas' parents on a number of occasions, apologising for the incident and offering additional support.
Whilst the Court took these remedial actions into consideration, the Court ordered LiveBetter to pay a pecuniary penalty in the amount of $1.8 million for the 17 contraventions, noting that this was the maximum penalty.
Commissioner of the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission v Aurora Community Care Pty Ltd (in liquidation) (No 2) [2025] FCA 1237
More recently, the Court handed down a decision involving Aurora Community Care Pty Ltd (Aurora). Aurora (now in liquidation) was a registered NDIS provider that provided support to Mr Gupta between 16 February 2022 and 17 March 2023. Mr Gupta lived with multiple disabilities, including an intellectual disability, and from 2010 until his death in 2023, he received in-home care from various NDIS providers at various homes, including at the Supported Independent Living residence operated by Aurora.
Due to his disabilities, Mr Gupta required 2:1 care, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Aurora and its staff knew that Mr Gupta would leave his residence from time to time (or attempt to do so) and that he was not subject to any environmental restraint that permitted them to lock doors or gates, so his support workers needed to always watch to ensure he did not leave the residence alone.
On 17 March 2023 at about 1:45am, Mr Gupta died having been struck by a vehicle after leaving the residence alone, without the knowledge of his support workers. A support worker had left the residence at approximately 10:20pm on 16 March, leaving Mr Gupta in the sole care of the remaining support worker. At approximately 10:35pm, Mr Gupta left alone and was later found sitting in the middle of the road. He was shortly returned home by the ambulance. Sometime after 1:00am on 17 March 2023, Mr Gupta left the residence. The support workers realised Mr Gupta was not in the house sometime between 1:30am and 2:00am and went outside to search for him, at which point they discovered he had been hit by a vehicle and died.
Aurora reported Mr Gupta's death 11 days after the mandatory reporting period to the NDIS Commission.
In the lead up to his death, it is relevant to note:
- Aurora was informed five times between February 2022 and December 2022 that it must report the use of medication to the NDIS QSC which it failed to do in relation to Mr Gupta;
- Mr Gupta's parents had found support workers asleep on duty on multiple occasions and made verbal complaints to Aurora but received no response as to future steps Aurora would take to address their complaints;
- four weeks prior to his death, Mr Gupta set fire to a mattress in his bedroom using a lighter, having been left unsupervised.
While the Court took into consideration that Aurora was now in liquidation and had no prior contraventions of the NDIS Act, the Court found that these contraventions reflected repeated and ongoing conduct and ordered Aurora to pay a pecuniary penalty of $2.2 million for breaches of its condition of registration and the NDIS Code of Conduct.
Broader implications
The Aged Care Act 2024 (Cth) (Aged Care Act), which commenced on 1 November 2025, introduced a new regulatory framework that is similar to the NDIS framework under which LiveBetter and Aurora were penalised. The following outlines some of the key parallels between the NDIS and aged care frameworks, including potential penalties:
1. Conditions of registration
NDIS Regime: Registered NDIS providers must comply with conditions of registration
(NDIS Act, section 73J).
Aged Care Regime: Registered providers must comply with conditions of registration (Aged Care Act, section 142).
Penalty: 250 penalty units (currently $82,500); or
500 penalty units (currently $165,000) for aged care providers if the conduct involves a significant failure or is part of a systematic pattern of conduct.
2. Code of Conduct
NDIS Regime: Registered NDIS providers must comply with the NDIS Code of Conduct
(NDIS Act, section 73V).
Aged Care Regime: Registered providers, aged care workers and responsible persons must comply with the Aged Care Code of Conduct (Aged Care Act, sections 173 and 174).
Penalty: 250 penalty units (currently $82,500).
While the NDIS Regime may soon be subject to even tougher penalties, the above decisions provide some insight into how similar incidents could be dealt with under the new Aged Care Regime.
Further, we expect that, had this type of conduct occurred in an aged care setting, the new statutory duties would likely have been triggered:
- Registered provider duty: Registered providers must ensure that their conduct does not cause adverse effects to the health and safety of individuals to whom they are delivering funded aged care services (Aged Care Act, section 179). Failure to comply could result in a civil penalty of 150 penalty units (currently $49,500) for a registered provider that is an individual or 1,000 penalty units for all other providers (currently $330,000).
- Responsible persons duty: Responsible persons must exercise due diligence to ensure the provider complies with the registered provider duty (Aged Care Act, section 180). Serious failures could result in a civil penalty of 150 penalty units (currently $49,500) or, if the conduct results in death, serious injury or illness, 500 penalty units (currently $165,000).
Beyond civil penalties, the ACQSC also has access to the stronger and more flexible compliance and enforcement mechanisms under the Aged Care Act including enforceable undertakings, injunctions, compliance and required action notices and banning orders (for both individuals and registered providers).
These cases are a stark reminder (for both aged care and disability services) of the importance of ensuring robust policies are implemented and being reviewed. As we come to the end of the first month of the new Aged Care Act, providers should review their existing policies and procedures to ensure they fully reflect and comply with the obligations under the new framework.
For tailored advice on the Bill or compliance obligations under the ACQSC and NDIS frameworks, please contact our team.
