NDIA passes 150 days without a permanent CEO

Bill Shorten has slammed the Morrison government for failing to appoint a new National Disability Insurance Agency CEO, five months on from the sudden resignation of former boss Robert De Luca.

Last Friday marked 150 days since the NDIA had a permanent CEO, after De Luca quit to become the head of Zenitas Healthcare just weeks before the federal election.

Then social services minister Paul Fletcher said in April the search for a new government-appointed CEO would “commence immediately”, with Vicki Rundle acting as CEO in the meantime.

Shorten, Labor’s NDIS spokesperson, said the delay in appointing a new CEO showed that people with disability were being “treated with contempt” by the Morrison government.

“[The government] are presiding over an exodus of senior executives, endemic delays in the provision of goods and services and a head-less organisation,” Shorten said.

“Australians with disability deserve better than the neglect and abandonment this government is displaying towards them.”

Shorten previously expressed concerns about instability in the NDIA in July, after it emerged four senior staff had resigned within a week.

Rundle is one of nine people listed on the NDIS website as holding an “acting” position.

Pro Bono News asked the NDIA when the agency expects to have a new CEO in place by, but a spokesperson would only say the process for appointing a new CEO was “ongoing”.

The search for a new CEO comes amid recent revelations that the Morrison government spent $4.6 billion less on the NDIS than expected because of delays getting people into the program. 

This has left the federal budget on the brink of surplus for the first time since 2007-08.

The Australian also reported on Monday that the NDIA has overseen a three-fold spending increase on external contractors, recruiters and lawyers.