Competition and collaboration between service providers in the NDIS

In recent decades governments in industrialised nations worldwide have been embracing marketbased models for health and social care provision including the use of personalised budgets.

The Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) which commenced full implementation in 2016 is an example of a personalised funding scheme which has involved substantial expansion of public funding in disability services. The scheme involves the creation of a competitive quasi market of publicly funded disability service providers who had previously been block funded and had historical practices of communication and collaborative working.

Research has shown that introducing or increasing competition can impact collaborative efforts between service providers. 

We have recently released a report based on qualitative interview data from disability service providers during the roll out of the NDIS to examine the effects of the introduction of a more competitive environment on collaborative working between providers who had historical relationships of working together.

The data shows that while collaborative efforts were largely perceived to be continuing, there are signs of organisations shifting to more competitive relationships in the new quasi market. This shift has implications for care integration and care co-ordination, providing insight into how increasing competition between providers may affect care integration.

You can find the full report through the Centre for Social Impact here.

Green, C., Malbon, E., Carey, G., Dickinson, H., Reeders, D. (2018), Competition and Collaboration between Service Providers in the NDIS, Centre for Social Impact, UNSW Sydney.