on Boarding Homes

By Evan Young and Nas Campanella

some that "collect residents, take them to undisclosed locations and siphon the funding from their packages"

• Both registered and unregistered NDIS providers are "draining vulnerable NDIS participants' packages" with insufficient safeguards "we have evidence of blind people 'signing forms' and illiterate people 'composing and sending emails'"

• Fast food and cigarettes are used to bribe residents to change providers, or make them feel "like they have colluded with overcharging for services" so they don't complain.

• Inappropriate, uncomfortable and unsafe accommodation is being provided at some SRSs, without proper monitoring "we have reports of wheelchair users being left in rooms that cannot accommodate their chair restricting all freedom of movement, including exiting their room".

• Some accommodation providers are holding residents' bank cards on the guise of protecting them from financial exploitation "we have reports of funds being withdrawn unauthorised from resident accounts".

Ms Jones said she was shocked by the report's findings.

"I couldn't actually understand that people saw other people as human cargo for money," she said.

The report says there is "a strong profit motive to work with people living with disability without the necessary regulation to ensure protection from predatory business practices".

"‘Choice and control’ for people living with psychosocial disabilities in [SRSs] is only theoretical," it says.

"The current system enables, and in many cases facilitates and financially rewards, exploitative and coercive practices.

"These practices include limiting access to supports, neglect, emotional manipulation, bribery, financial abuse and kidnapping."

El Gibbs, director of policy and advocacy at Disability Advocacy Network Australia, said the report's findings were unsurprising.

"People with disability and their advocates have been raising issues with substandard housing for many years," she said.

"This abuse and exploitation of people with disability must stop, and it must stop now."

Ms Gibbs said that only last year, people with lived experience and their advocates told the disability royal commission about appalling rates of violence and abuse in these settings.

"Urgent action is needed from the NDIS, but also from state and territory governments, to make sure people with disability have a decent place to live, free from violence and abuse."

Ms Jones said she believed there would be "many more" people living in SRSs that were being exploited "we don't know about yet".

"Most people have them in their neighbourhoods but people just don't see the residents," she said.

"And then it's really easy for them to be gone, and nobody's asking any questions."