Frequently Asked Questions

Small providers (<$30M); they are feeling under-represented in the NDIS ecosystem and under-valued by Government. Conversely, they are highly valued in their respective communities by participants who demand and value the type of bespoke, dependable, adaptable service that small providers deliver.

Small providers have responded to what they consider is an urgent need, based on their belief that participants will ultimately be the ones who lose if the incredibly diverse, vibrant range of services offered by small providers is diminished.

Brendon Grail and Annette Andersen have responded to the call by small providers to do something. Brendon and Annette each have a long and varied history in the disability sector. Brendon lives in Adelaide and Annette in regional Victoria. Brendon and Annette are deeply committed to getting the Movement off the ground, but acknowledge that Members will steer it in whichever direction Members choose.

The Movement is a member-driven not for profit, with elements of a Mutual/Co-operative i.e. power in numbers, consistency of purpose. No single person or group of people will 'own' or run DSX. A Code of Conduct will articulate the importance of respecting that every member has an equal voice. One member, one vote.

A Governing Committee of 7 people will be voted when we reach 100 Members. The Committee will then seek Member feedback to develop an updated Constitution that contains detailed rules regarding membership and governance. Questions such as quorum, decision-making, how disagreements are resolved, delegation schedule etc, will all be addressed in the Constitution developed by those 100 Foundation Members. Members will use a custom portal to vote on key decisions.

DSX's Constitution, Strategy and first 100 day Action Plan will be co-designed by Foundation Members, but the current intent is that there will be 5 planks to the value proposition:

1. To have a united voice to Government, using verified data and evidence to influence decisions on key levers such as pricing, provider registration and support worker regulation.
2. To very publicly and overtly shine a light on ethical service provision – currently NDIS participants have no information about quality of any given provider that is either verifiable or publicly available
3. To (indirectly) squeeze unethical and sub-standard services out of the market
4. To support members with benchmarking of non-core tasks (finance, tech, CRM, marketing, admin, compliance etc). Longer term, to open up discussions about potential collaboration or Shared Services, in order to reduce costs and increase the efficiency of non-core tasks.
5. Include participants/families, frontline workers and medical practitioners as Associate (non-voting) Members. We believe these three groups are also under-valued in the current NDIS ecosystem.

The Movement. No individual Member has more power than any other. Where DSX is invited to meet with Government, an expression of interest will be called amongst all Members seeking nominations to attend and to represent all Members, including Associate Members. Detailed briefings and support will be provided to any Member who engages with Government or any other key stakeholder group.

This will be co-designed by Foundation Members and is expected to be finalised in August 2025

As little or as much as you like. Foundation Members' input will be critical in the first few weeks to co-design the Constitution, Strategy and first 100 day Action Plan. Input will be sought using best-in-class survey tools. Survey results will be published for all Members to see. There will be no long meetings. Decisions will be made and actions initiated swiftly. We would expect Foundation Members may contribute around 1 hour per week initially, then perhaps as little as 30 minutes per month thereafter. A monthly 'Results' report will be distributed to all Members. The Governing Committee (voted in by Members) will contribute significantly more time in the initial phases.

There will be no CEO of DSX. The Members hold the power, and will recruit a Coordinator who will be responsible for delivering on the members' Action Plan. The Coordinator must be independent, unconflicted and not eligible for membership. Until such time as a Committee is elected and a Coordinator recruited, Brendon Grail is acting as Coordinator on a full-time basis, and will draw an interim wage of $6,000 per month after the entity is registered. Annette Andersen as AI/Tech Enabler will build and deliver all AI-enabled tech for DSX, and will also draw an interim wage of $6,000 per month.

Brendon's disability (anxiety) is his super-power and makes him driven and focussed on problem-solving. As an ex-consultant and CEO in the sector, Brendon is used to delivering quality output with tight timelines. Annette's disability (autism) is her super-power and makes her hyper-focussed and diligent. Annette is carer for her son Axel, who is unfortunately a case study in how well-intentioned Government systems can and regularly do fail people with profound disability.

Yes, all provider members must commit to 2 key principles:

1. Transparency, and 2. Ethical service delivery

What this means is that every member will agree to:

• Self-assess against a range of criteria that are indicators of ethical practice – these criteria will be determined by foundation Members in July 2025.

• Agree that responses to the criteria are listed on the DSX website for all to see i.e. shining a light on good practice

• Agree that random peer review of responses may be undertaken by the Coordinator at any time, and evidence requested if any response is questioned by another Member or a member of the public

• Agree to publish details about their organisation that cannot be found on the NDIS Provider Finder e.g. post codes where service is currently available, waiting time for service and pricing.

• Abide by a DSX Code of Conduct.

To do so would require a significant team of auditors that would make membership too costly. Self-assessment, trust and transparency will minimise misrepresentation. If any Member intentionally misrepresents facts on their profile page, this would be a breach of the Code of Conduct and result in the membership being terminated

There is a lot that a Movement like ours can achieve, with a small budget. Member collaboration - between voting Members (providers) and Associate Members (participants + workers + medical practitioners) is one of our points of difference. The DSX Movement won't look or feel anything like other representative groups/peaks, and we will not attempt to replicate their work. We will collaborate with any representative body or organisation that operates on similar principles and has a goal of a better NDIS for all Australians.

Because this Movement was created from the value-driven models and community-centred passion of small providers, many of whom tell us they don't feel represented.

Because there is no representative body for either profession and therefore no regulation of quality. Therapists and practitioners who are paid-up members of their professions' Representative Body, incur significant costs related to systems, compliance, professional development and quality, therefore sole trader Therapists are welcome to join as Members.

Any business or organisation whose annual revenue is less than $30M from NDIS is eligible to become a Member.

If your organisation exceeds $2.5M NDIS revenue in any given month, and you are on a revenue growth trajectory, you are required to inform the Coordinator that you no longer meet eligibility criteria. You will receive a pro-rata refund of your Membership Fee from that date. We will of course hope you remain committed to the principles and goals of DSX after exiting as a Member.

A Company Limited by Guarantee (not for profit) is the simplest form of legal entity suited to the Movement's purpose. The ethos of Cooperatives and Mutuals will be embraced, but the word that best describes DSX is a Movement.

Because Members exist to serve participants. A vast majority of the 730,000 NDIS participants seem currently to have little to no voice in the NDIS marketplace.

Because Support Workers, Therapists and other Practitioners are under-valued and under-supported in the sector. As an example, Support Workers represent two-thirds of NDIS spend, and are undeniably the most important and trusted humans in the lives of many NDIS participants/families, by virtue of being side-by-side with participants for the greatest amount of time. Ironically, they have the least representation of any group in the NDIS market.

Because we believe that mainstream Health (e.g. GPs, medical specialists) has a critical role to play, particularly for people with profound disability who have co-occurring health or medical conditions.

The Comms strategy will be co-designed by Members, with the assistance of PR/media specialists.

No. The more Members, the greater the impact.

Every full member has 1 vote. Majority vote will carry wherever decisions are required, however we cannot foresee that any of the many professions in the NDIS marketplace would be diametrically opposed on a decision by virtue of how niche their profession is.

No, sorry. We expect to establish the legal entity in the first half of July, so the earliest date we could reasonably expect to open memberships is mid-July 2025. Until such time as the legal entity is established, we are accepting only registrations of interest to become a member.

Axel's scripts are created using an AI specifically trained with extensive, detailed information about Axel's daily life, communication style, personality, and lived experiences. The AI functions as an assistive technology, providing Axel—an autistic advocate with complex communication needs—a powerful voice and the opportunity to share a unique lived perspective. Axel's insights represent a cohort that is severely underrepresented yet disproportionately affected by abuse and neglect, offering invaluable awareness and advocacy. All AI-generated scripts are reviewed for accuracy and clarity but are typically used exactly as generated, preserving Axel's authentic voice and message. Axel actively participates in consent processes regarding the sharing of his avatar videos, and he greatly enjoys watching himself and hearing about his growing audience. In fact, Axel now effectively uses his avatar to deliver capacity-building therapy, engaging through a medium he deeply connects with, opening doors to both social and economic participation in ways previously unimaginable.