The Profitable NDIS Provider

In this special live audience episode of The Profitable NDIS Provider Podcast, hosts Tania Gomez and Paul Bryan take the stage to answer raw, unfiltered questions directly from NDIS business owners, SIL providers, and sector operators.

Rather than discussing abstract business theory, Tania and Paul address the immediate operational hurdles providers face on the ground. From building sustainable business margins without burning out to preparing for government block-funding commissioning and changing Home and Living supports, this episode delivers practical, actionable guidance for every provider.

Building Profitability Through Focus: Why attempting to launch multiple systems, audits, and CRM rollouts simultaneously leads to failure, and how mastering one project at a time builds compound momentum.

Scaling with Scissors: Why providers should simplify their operations and drop unused registration groups to cut compliance overheads and focus on core strengths.

Defining Business Success: Why matching business growth to your lifestyle goals, capacity, and personal definition of success matters more than chasing top-line revenue.

The Future of ILO Funding: Navigating stagnant Individualised Living Option (ILO) packages and preparing for broader Home and Living funding reforms.

Preparing for Government Commissioning: Strategic insights into support coordination and SIL commissioning proposals, and how demonstrating commitment, capability, and regional capacity will determine future tender success.

Forming Provider Consortia: Why small and medium providers with fewer than 10 homes should start collaborating and forming regional alliances to compete against enterprise-level providers.

Rethinking Business Development (BDMs): Why hiring a BDM without clear outcome expectations fails, and why business owners must take active ownership of relationship building.

00:00 – Welcome to the Live Audience Recording with Tania & Paul

01:30 – Audience Q&A 1 (Bella, Adapticare): How to Make an NDIS Business Profitable

03:15 – The Four Stages of Learning: Getting to Unconscious Competence and Mastery

05:40 – Avoiding Over-Extension: Focusing on One Core Service Before Branching Out

08:00 – Simplifying Registration Groups and Removing Unused Modules

10:15 – Defining Personal Success vs. Chasing Arbitrary Revenue Targets

15:00 – Audience Q&A 2 (Kin): Stagnant ILO Packages and the Future of Home & Living

17:30 – Navigating Support Coordination & SIL Commissioning Papers

19:45 – The 3 Cs of Tender Success: Commitment, Capability, and Regional Capacity

22:15 – Building Provider Consortia to Prepare for Sector Tenders

24:00 – Audience Q&A 3 (Con): Rethinking the Role of BDMs and Relationship Building

27:10 – Wrap Up and Final Audience Remarks

What Will the NDIS Look Like in 2027? Predictions, Challenges & Opportunities for Providers | Episode 92

The NDIS landscape is changing rapidly, and for providers, the big question is: what comes next?

In Episode 92 of The Profitable NDIS Provider Podcast, Tania Gomez and Paul unpack their predictions for 2027, exploring the reforms, business challenges and emerging opportunities that NDIS providers need to prepare for now.

With ongoing funding changes, increasing registration requirements, greater regulatory scrutiny and uncertainty around government timelines, many providers are questioning whether their current business models will remain viable. Tania and Paul discuss what these changes could mean for small providers, allied health businesses, SIL providers and the wider disability support sector.

In this episode, they explore:

Tania and Paul also share practical insights on thinking outside the box, generating new business options and building a business that aligns with your goals, values and desired lifestyle.

The key message? You have more options than you think.

Rather than waiting for the government to determine your future, start planning, building relationships and exploring creative ways to make your business sustainable.

If you're an NDIS provider wondering what 2027 might bring, this episode will help you think strategically, prepare for uncertainty and identify opportunities in a changing sector.

🎧 Listen now and start planning for the future of your NDIS business.

If you've been following the podcast, Tania and Paul would love to hear from you! Get in touch and share which episode has helped you learn something, solve a problem or move your business forward. And let them know how they should celebrate Episode 100!

Don't forget to subscribe, share this episode with another provider, and join the conversation.

Is support work just "entry-level" labor, or is it the core product driving quality across the NDIS and Aged Care sectors?

In this episode of the Profitable NDIS Provider Podcast, host Paul Bryan and co-host Tania Gomez sit down with Carly, founder of the Support Worker Association of Australia (SWAA). Together, they challenge the "just a support worker" mindset and dive deep into how treating frontline staff as respected professionals directly impacts client outcomes, business growth, and staff retention.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

Changing the Narrative: Why support work is skilled, vital work—and how the industry can shift from generalist care to specialization.

Investing in Your Team: How providers can deliver practical, continuous micro-training without breaking margins or requiring full-day workshops.

Allied Health Collaboration: Why OTs, clinicians, and allied health professionals need to treat support workers as expert partners in a participant's care team.

Building Safe Workplace Cultures: Strategies for establishing open feedback loops, toolbox meetings, and psychologically safe spaces where staff feel confident asking for help.

Overcoming Burnout & Retention Leakage: How matching support workers’ passions and skill sets with the right participant dynamic leads to longevity and lower turnover.

Connect with Carly & Support Worker Association of Australia (SWAA):

Website: supportworkersassociation.org.au

Email: [email protected]

Connect with The Profitable NDIS Provider:

Enjoyed the episode? Subscribe, leave us a review, and share it with fellow NDIS providers and leaders looking to elevate their practice!

The Securing the NDIS for Future Generations Bill (amending the NDIS Act) and the Integrity and Safeguarding Act have officially passed, signaling a definitive shift toward "NDIS 2.0." But what do these legislative updates mean for day-to-day provider operations, compliance, and financial sustainability?

In this episode of the Profitable NDIS Provider Podcast, hosts Paul Bryan and Tania Gomez sit down with Shane Stewart, Principal Advisor on NDIS Home and Living at Resolv and former NDIA Director with a decade of internal agency experience.

Shane shares invaluable insider perspective on the intent behind the new legislation, why the commission is taking a "formidable regulator" approach, and how providers across all sectors—especially home and living—must adapt to tighter compliance, funding resetting, and the upcoming planning framework.

De-mystifying the Bill: Why the scheme is shifting from open-ended "choice and control" toward defined budgetary controls to secure its long-term future.

Tougher Penalties & Fraud Fusion: Where the NDIA and NDIS Commission draw the line between honest administrative errors and intentional fraud.

The "Formidable Regulator": How the Commission is using its expanded powers to target compliance breaches, ban fraudulent consultants/auditors, and uphold participant safety.

Funding Caps & Community Access: What the 1st of October funding adjustments mean for community participation budgets and why high-intensity critical care remains exempt.

The Future of Plan Reviews & The 90-Day Rule: Unpacking unscheduled plan reassessments, the push toward 21-day review turnarounds, and how the upcoming I-CAN assessment will streamline decision-making.

Duty of Care vs. Reduced Budgets: How providers can navigate plan reductions without running at a loss or compromising participant care.

Myth-Busting Home & Living: Why "ratios of support" and "rosters of care" are becoming obsolete concepts in the eyes of the NDIA, and how to navigate SIL supports in a modern framework.

00:00 – Welcome & Introducing Shane Stewart (Resolv)

01:30 – Inside the NDIA: Shane's Background & Policy Experience

03:15 – What is the "Securing the NDIS for Future Generations" Bill?

06:40 – Honest Mistakes vs. Criminal Intent: Fraud Controls & Self-Disclosure

10:15 – The Formidable Regulator: Auditing, Banning Orders, and Quality Standards

13:10 – Impact of Community Access Funding Caps (Starting Oct 1)

16:00 – The I-CAN Assessment Framework & Streamlined Decision-Making

18:30 – The 90-Day Unscheduled Review Rule & Evidence Requirements

21:15 – Managing Funding Reductions: What Happens When Budgets Shrink?

24:45 – Myth-Busting: Ratios of Support, Rosters of Care, and "SIL Homes"

28:30 – Wrap Up

In this episode, Tania and Paul are joined by Tommy Trout to unpack a glaring issue across the disability support sector: why does provider marketing often feel so generic, outdated, and uninspired?

Tommy shares his belief that people with disabilities deserve branding that is bold, human, and genuinely cool—moving away from overuse of stock photos, inspiration porn, and stereotypical heart imagery. Together, the group explores:

The Current State of Marketing: What a review of dozens of provider websites reveals about repetitive language and how the sector ended up in this routine.

Branding Foundations: Where to actually begin when improving messaging, who a brand is really for, and why getting it right matters so much.

Real Transformations: Case studies of providers who overhauled their brand identity and the tangible business and client results that followed.

Actionable Growth: Details on Tommy’s program designed to teach providers how to apply these core branding principles to their own services.

Tune in for a practical discussion on how providers can break out of the cookie-cutter mold and build authentic connections through better marketing.

How do you build a sustainable business when the ground beneath you is completely shifting?

In this episode of the Profitable NDIS Provider Podcast, hosts Tania Gomez and Paul Bryan tackle the massive elephant in the room: the impending transition toward mandatory registration, tighter regulations, and the introduction of "NDIS 2.0."

Tania and Paul unpack why the good old days of the NDIS are behind us as the scheme shifts its focus from "choice and control" to strict budgetary constraints. From the exit of plan managers and support coordinators to the rise of commissioned models and the potential consolidation of SIL (Specialist Disability Accommodation) providers, this episode is a crucial wake-up call.

If you are a small to mid-sized provider, this is not the time to freeze. It is time to make sober, strategic decisions, explore other options outside the scheme, and find the innovation that always breeds in times of difficulty.

The Transition to NDIS 2.0: Why Treasury interventions and new integrity acts are shifting the NDIS from a social-access model to a strictly budgeted scheme.

The Commissioning Wave: An in-depth look at how plan managers, support coordinators, and early childhood providers are being transitioned out of the traditional provider model into centralized, commissioned arrangements.

Is the Small Provider Viable? Why rising administrative burdens and high regulation costs mean small businesses must consider consolidating, merging, or executing a strategic exit.

Branding and Trust in SIL: How mid-to-large providers who choose to stay can position their brands to successfully absorb market share as unregistered and smaller players exit.

Life Beyond the Scheme: Utilizing the Ikigai framework (combining what you love, what you are good at, and what people will pay for) to build thriving, non-funding-dependent services that families will gladly pay for out-of-pocket.

00:00 – Welcome & Tackling the Elephant in the Room

02:00 – Welcome to NDIS 2.0: The Shift from Choice to Budgetary Control

04:00 – The Commissioning Model: The Future for Plan Managers, Support Coordinators, and Early Childhood Providers

06:20 – The Scale Problem: Why Small NDIS Businesses Face a Viability Crisis

10:30 – Strategic Consolidation, Mergers, and Leadership Opportunities

14:10 – How Larger Providers Can Build Trust and Safely Scale

17:30 – Is SIL Safe? What Internal NDIA Metrics Say About "Medium" vs "Small" Providers

19:50 – Creating Opportunities Outside the Scheme: The Rise of Private-Pay Services

23:25 – Applying the Ikigai Principle to Innovate in the Disability Sector

The NDIS landscape is undergoing significant transformation, leaving many providers wondering what the future holds for their businesses. In this episode, hosts and industry experts Tania Gomez and Paul Bryan dive deep into the latest NDIS reforms to help you separate the noise from the facts.

From shifts in compliance and registration requirements to changing operational frameworks, Tania and Paul break down the practical impacts of these legislative updates. Whether you are an established registered provider, a sole trader, or navigating the sector as an unregistered provider, this conversation offers valuable insights into staying compliant, protecting your business, and adapting to the evolving scheme.

Co-Hosts: Tania Gomez and Paul Bryan

Guest: Jonathon Salgo