Outsourced NDIS call centre staff told to “pretend” they work for government, workers claim

Outsourced call centre workers answering NDIS phone lines say they are required to present themselves as government staff, despite being employed by a private contractor.

The claims were reported by The Guardian in an investigation by journalist Jonathan Barrett.

Read the original Guardian investigation here.

According to the report, workers employed by Serco, which holds a contract with the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), say they are not allowed to tell callers they work for a private company.

One worker told Guardian Australia:

“The fact is that we’re representing the government and we have to pretend that we’re public servants and we’re not allowed to say we’re Serco.”

Workers also claim they are issued NDIA-style email addresses, making it difficult for participants to distinguish between public servants and contracted staff.

Who answers the NDIS phone?

Serco began its most recent NDIA contract in September 2024. The three-year contract includes options for extension. At the time, Serco said it had a 1,200-person contact centre team supporting the agency.

According to interviews reported by The Guardian:

• Starting salaries for outsourced call centre workers are around $52,800 per year
• Public servants performing similar work may earn more than $72,000
• Call centre performance is closely monitored through productivity targets

Workers told the publication they do not receive specialised welfare, disability or financial training, yet may be required to screen urgent funding requests before they are passed to NDIA staff.

An NDIA spokesperson told The Guardian that only public servants with appropriate delegation can “action and progress” priority plan change requests.

Serco said it works “in seamless collaboration” with the NDIA and that staff are not directed to misrepresent themselves.

Why this matters for people living with disability

For many NDIS participants and families, the phone line is often the first point of contact when something goes wrong.

Workers told The Guardian that urgent requests can be delayed in queues. One example shared was of a participant who was bedridden because their hoist had broken and their funding had been depleted.

A worker told the publication:

“Someone may be bedridden with a broken hoist, can’t get lifted out of bed without two people and the hoist is broken, and their funds have been depleted.

The whole thing is just wrong, you can’t apply this call centre framework to the most vulnerable people in Australia.”

For participants, the issue is not who answers the phone. It is whether the person understands disability support, urgency and the real-world consequences of delay.

Union concerns about outsourcing

The Community and Public Sector Union has criticised the outsourcing model.

Deputy national secretary Beth Vincent-Pietsch told The Guardian that Australians contacting the NDIS should speak with “a trained, supported and accountable public servant, not a labour hire worker in a for-profit call centre who has been thrown in the deep end”.

She said the model risks undermining service quality and public trust.

Broader concerns about outsourcing

The Guardian investigation notes that outsourcing of government call centre functions extends beyond the NDIS, including agencies such as the Australian Taxation Office and Centrelink.

The federal government previously committed to reducing reliance on external consultants and bringing more capability back in-house. Critics say progress has slowed.

For people living with disability and their families, the core issue is simpler:

When you call the NDIS in distress, you expect clarity. You expect accountability.
You expect the person on the other end to understand what is at stake.

Whether the call is answered by a public servant or a contractor, participants need confidence that urgent cases are handled with appropriate training, authority and transparency.

The Guardian investigation has raised questions about whether the current model delivers that.