The registration process was “very light touch”, according to UNSW researcher Natasha Cortis, who has studied both family day care and the NDIS.

“I don’t find it surprising that there are unscrupulous providers involved in both systems,” Dr Cortis said.

“Regulation wasn’t adequately considered in the design of the NDIS, despite what we’d have hoped policymakers would have learned from other social service systems.”

The government is now rolling out a $209 million Quality and Safeguards Commission, an independent statutory body set to begin work in NSW and South Australia next month and all states by mid-2020.

Money. Incentives. Lack of regulation. More demand than supply. All ways to make a quick buck. Especially when the government will pay.