General News
21 September, 2026
Trip home delayed
A FAR North Queensland mother has postponed her planned return from Bali with her adult daughter as a dispute over disability support and accommodation arrangements continues.
“Rachel”, whose identity has been protected along with that of her daughter “Sophie”, confirmed she cancelled their 11 September flights and moved their return to a later date.
The decision came despite the National Disability Insurance Agency granting an extension that kept Sophie’s NDIS plan available while she was overseas, up to and including 11 September.
Correspondence from the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) on the day of the planned return stated that Australian supports were ready for Sophie.
Principal guardian Simone Hunter said that supports with a disability provider were “in place in readiness” for Sophie’s return and asked Rachel to advise whether the arrangement had changed.
The correspondence also addressed Rachel’s proposal to return to Far North Queensland and live with Sophie, with paid disability workers providing support in a private home.
Ms Hunter said the earlier proposal involved alternating six weeks in Cairns with four weeks in Indonesia and that OPG had previously identified “many barriers” to its feasibility.
However, she said she was willing to discuss the arrangement if Rachel intended to reside permanently in Cairns.
Rachel subsequently told OPG she intended to return to Australia and establish a home with Sophie, while continuing to dispute whether the alternative accommodation and staffing arrangements adequately addressed her daughter’s assessed needs and safety risks.
A central disagreement remains about the evidence required to seek increased NDIS supports.
Ms Hunter said an incident spreadsheet provided to the current support coordinator covered January 2025 to July 2026, with seven incidents recorded in 2026. She said an NDIA planner had advised at a July meeting that current evidence would be required to support a request for increased supports.
Rachel has also lodged supplementary material with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission concerning the conduct of Sophie’s former support coordinator.
The complaint asks the commission to examine whether incident evidence, updated clinical material and funding requests were adequately developed and escalated. No finding of wrongdoing has been made.
A commission spokesperson said it took “all allegations concerning participant safety and service quality seriously”.
“Where evidence indicates that individuals or providers have failed to meet their legal obligations or have placed participants at risk, we will take proportionate regulatory action,” the spokesperson said.
The commission said, on background, that it was looking into the matter and that requesting additional information could form part of its standard assessment practices.
In a fresh statement, OPG declined to answer case-specific questions about Sophie’s proposed accommodation, staffing arrangements or current return pathway, citing privacy and confidentiality obligations.
OPG said it sought to make decisions in line with an adult’s “views, wishes and preferences”, but this was not always possible when an option posed what it considered an “unacceptable level of risk”.
Rachel maintains that she will return with Sophie once she has established an arrangement, she considers safe, adequately funded and properly coordinated.
Editor’s note: Pseudonyms have been used for the mother and daughter to protect their identities. Individual disability service providers have also not been named.
