Office of the Public AdvocateWintringham, Australia’s largest aged care provider for the homeless, was a joint-winner at the 2021 Victorian Homelessness Achievement Awards in the excellence in ending homelessness among adults category for its work looking after the former Hambleton House residents at The Base.
Wintringham Cief of Staff, Jane Barnes, hopes the Hambleton House saga is also a wake-up call for the National Disability Insurance Agency, amid concerns the NDIS has led to the potential for conflicts of interest, rorting and exploitation in supported residential services.
The Victorian Public Advocate and Mental Health Legal Centre have both raised concerns with federal and state authorities that some supported residential services proprietors may be “double-dipping” – using residents’ NDIS funding to pay for services already covered by room and board fees.
