In May 2025, I warned that unpaid wages, safety breaches and insolvencies were pushing NDIS providers to the brink. That article resonated because it reflected what many workers, participants and families were already experiencing: fragile business models, weak governance and growing risks being carried by the workforce.

Last week, another major labour‑hire provider collapsed. United Employment, an NDIS workforce company in New South Wales, entered voluntary administration, leaving workers more than $6 million short in unpaid wages, superannuation and entitlements, and the Australian Taxation Office owed more than $5 million in unpaid tax (Australian Broadcasting Corporation [ABC], 2026).

This newsletter updates readers on the United Employment collapse, compares it with major provider failures over the past two years, and analyses the common structural issues driving these failures — and what they mean for participants, families, workers and the sector.

The ABC reported that United Employment employed around 480 disability support workers and collapsed after months of financial distress (ABC, 2026). Key issues included:

This is not simply a business failure. It is a workforce and safeguarding failure with direct consequences for participant safety, continuity of care and confidence in the Scheme.

Core & Capacity Disability Support (Queensland)

Core & Capacity was wound up in insolvency in March 2025 after failing to pay $507,782 in tax, with serious concerns raised about care quality, restrictive practices and governance (ABC, 2025a). Shortly after liquidation, a near‑identical provider, Care and Compassionate Disability Support, was established by the same family at the same address, prompting questions about phoenix behaviour and regulatory oversight (ABC, 2025b).

Key pattern: tax debt, governance failure, and rapid re‑badging to a “new” entity while risk is transferred to workers and participants.

Annecto (National)

In July 2025, Annecto — one of Australia’s largest disability and aged‑care providers — entered voluntary administration, affecting more than 1,000 staff and 4,400 clients across four states (ABC, 2025c). Workers described reduced hours, loss of continuity for participants, and significant distress as services were rapidly transferred to other providers.

Key pattern: financial fragility leading to abrupt workforce disruption and loss of therapeutic relationships.

Cocoon SDA Care (National)

Cocoon SDA Care faced regulatory action, allegations of charging for services not provided, and widespread concerns about unpaid wages and superannuation before ultimately entering liquidation (The Australian, 2024). Investigations highlighted weak governance, poor compliance and serious safeguarding failures.

Key pattern: compliance failure and workforce underpayment accelerating collapse risk.

1. Unpaid superannuation: the early warning sign

Across United Employment, Cocoon and Core & Capacity, missing superannuation emerged as an early indicator of financial distress. Superannuation is often one of the first obligations to be delayed when cashflow tightens, yet it is easily hidden from workers until they check their fund statements.

This matters because the Fair Entitlements Guarantee (FEG) does not cover unpaid superannuation if a company collapses; employees must pursue recovery through the ATO, which can take years (Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, 2025; Australian Taxation Office [ATO], 2025).

2. Tax debt and poor cashflow management

Large unpaid tax liabilities are a recurring feature:

This reflects a deeper structural issue: many providers are busy but insolvent — operating with unsustainable pricing, weak rostering models, and poor financial governance.

3. Phoenix behaviour and rapid re‑badging

The rapid emergence of “new” entities after collapse, seen in both United Employment and Core & Capacity, preserves service continuity on paper but shifts risk downstream to workers and participants when the same governance failures persist (ABC, 2025b; ABC, 2026).

4. Workforce instability becomes a safeguarding risk

Financial distress translates quickly into clinical risk:

Even when collapses are framed as “financial”, the downstream effect is increased safeguarding risk for participants.

For participants and families: red flags

For workers: protect yourself

For providers and managers: the uncomfortable truth

Most collapses are not random. They are the predictable end‑stage of:

United Employment shows that when workforce obligations fail, everything fails (reputation, continuity and trust).

 The collapse of United Employment confirms what many in the sector already know: the NDIS workforce is carrying the financial risk of fragile business models. When workers are not paid, participants are next to be exposed.

This is not a series of isolated failures. It is a systemic pattern that demands stronger governance, smarter pricing, and far more serious attention to workforce sustainability.

References

Australian Broadcasting Corporation. (2025a). NDIS provider Core & Capacity wound up owing more than $500,000 in tax amid care concerns. ABC News.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation. (2025b). ‘Same family, same address’: New disability provider emerges after Core & Capacity collapse. ABC News.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation. (2025c). Major disability and aged‑care provider Annecto enters voluntary administration. ABC News.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation. (2026). United Employment collapse leaves disability workers $6 million short in missing pay, super and entitlements. ABC News.

Australian Taxation Office. (2025). Report unpaid super contributions.

Department of Employment and Workplace Relations. (2025). Fair Entitlements Guarantee: Employee information.

The Australian. (2024). Cocoon SDA Care under investigation amid wage and super concerns.