NDIS watchdog commissioner resigns in wake of disastrous 4 Corners interview
by Nic Stuart | Feb 28, 2024 | The Big Story, Wire
NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commissioner Tracy Mackey has finally announced she will leave the organisation in May, after a 'train wreck' interview on the ABC.
After ‘mistakenly’ misleading viewers the boss who didn’t know what was happening in the scheme she was supposed to be regulating will leave in May. The government will start recruitment for a new Commissioner immediately as it seeks to strengthen regulation and implement the recommendations of the Independent Review.
The Community and Public Sector Union has welcomed Mackey’s departure, saying it presents an opportunity for much-needed reform.
The Union’s Deputy National President Beth Vincent-Pietsch says “Mackey failed at every turn to provide staff at the Commission [with] a safe and respectful workplace. People with disability and their families need the NDIS Commission to be a proactive and powerful body that regulates providers of NDIS disability support services.”
“Ongoing mismanagement and an unwillingness to cooperate with those advocating for improvements in the workplace have compromised its ability to be that,” Vincent-Pietsch added.
Ms. Mackey’s resignation comes amidst growing concerns regarding the Commission’s ongoing failure to address work health and safety issues, including excessive workloads.
The situation again escalated just under a fortnight ago, with Comcare announcing they will be commencing a formal investigation into the Commission’s noncompliance with an improvement notice that was issued ten months earlier.
The CPSU has long held concerns Mackey’s unwillingness to take WHS issues seriously has posed ongoing risks to both employees and People with Disability.
The Minister says he’s consulting with the disability community.
