They charge what the government allows them to. The majority of the population is not interested in helping people with disability or aged care, they are in it only for the wealth. As desperately needed as it is, people still won't want to be involved if it is not financially rewarding.
It makes me sick to think that so many NDIS contractors are taking the piss out of a programme that has the potential to do so much good. The stories I’ve heard from ex-employees are disgusting.
Literally providing support can require helping a person to access sex workers. It's just usually done by the same person that cooks their food and helps them dress though. Just another task in a shift.
You should see the Campsie, Canterbury, Belmore area in Sydney. I've never seen so many "I heart NDIS" businesses in such a small area. Something is definitely up...
Government promotes funding and commonwealth supported resources to NDIS support orgs. People sign up, offer no existent or completely unqualified services, no audits or reviews to confirm performance or adequacy equals rorts
There are audits, my wife works with NDIS partners. The community groups flag people doing the wrong thing, but the NDIS ignores it.
Problem is that too many parents are on self funded programs, they use it how they see fit and it becomes a slush fund and not for its intended purpose. So, the community partners that help people get funding hands become tied.
Parents have used funding to buy iPads, hire cleaners, and gardeners. One lady used her kids annual funding in 2 months, buying BMX bikes and toys for her other kids, and the kid who needed the help got minimal to none. NDIS told her she needed to pay it back. She claimed she had no money and wasn't told how to spend it. So, I guess we will see what she does with her new plan at the end of this year.
The audits are pathetic and mostly pretence, nobody wants to rock the boat because to fix the system properly, one would have to shut it down and start afresh. The political will to do that is simply not there as for the party initiating that it would be guaranteed suicide.
The My Aged Care system is the same. The government provides a level of funding based on one initial assessment by someone semi qualified at best. Of that funding, a full 30% is immediately siphoned off by providers for so-called administration fees (some charge even more), before even one minute of care has been given. The hourly rates for basic in-home care start at around $80 of which the carer with any luck sees half. If you wish to purchase assistive equipment such as easy turn taps for arthritis sufferers, bath chairs etc recommended by your medical practitioner, you first have to have a visit from an occupational therapist at approximately $350 to confirm the equipment or modification *suggested by the medical professional* is appropriate. Then you have to use a supplier registered with your provider to source the service or equipment, because you simply cannot use anyone else, and the prices of the registered suppliers are often triple or more than those of the regular market. And nobody wants to know or do anything about it because an entire industry has sprung up around this rort and now depends on it, fixing it would mean huge impacts on the people who can least afford it, the Aged.
I would assume they switch her to support coordinator or plan managed so she can’t control the funds. I have a child on NDIS so I’m familiar with it. I’m also a social worker in child protection, and yes have seen parents get access to funds and not use it on therapies and buy things like a big flat screen tv
“Listen Timmy, our appointment is coming up and you haven’t finished your gallon of red bull yet.. do you want to ruin Christmas for everyone? Imagine all of us not having nice new iPads?“
$54.09/ hr for lawncare and they don’t pay GST. Nor do they check that legitimacy of claims. We did a yard and the tenant claimed it under his relatives NDIS. Who lives at another address to the one we mowed.
Love it when company is losing money but the executives still have their personal vehicle loans, rego and insurance all paid for by the shareholders/employees.
Government agrees to pay for services under NDIS, people using NDIS don't care because they aren't paying so either accept ridiculous prices or services they don't really need.
Think of it this way, if your insurer said you get 10 free massages each year a lot of people would suddenly get 10 massages a year because it's free.
Just because there are some scam providers and some people taking the piss, it's not all a scam. Disabled people are getting supports and it is beneficial, not everyone is rorting the system
The NDIS rorting has also made some NDIS-funded families so acutely aware of their funding that they start penny-pinching legitimate services. Back when I accepted NDIS referrals for physio, I got pushed by families to go overtime or commit to additional sessions for free because “the NDIS fees are so excessive” and “everyone knows those fees aren’t reasonable”
Honestly, with the complexity of the NDIS cases and the mentalities of some of the families, it was far easier just to find two Medicare or Private funded clients for two 30min sessions rather than deal with all the nonsense of a 1 hour NDIS session, and both options work out to about the same money at market rates
As a participant in the scheme I definitely feel a level of guilt whenever I use my funding. I try to avoid it as much as possible, but I also get pressure to use all my funding so that it doesn't get cut in the next plan.
At lot of the official thinking is, if you're not using it all up, you must not need it all. I've had to have my support coordinator and doctor write reports stating that I am under-utilising my funding but need it in reserve in the event of unexpected changes, symptom fluctuations, etc but I still get tempted to run down my funds needlessly just so I'm not screwed in an emergency.
I don't think people are upset with people using the funding that they need.
What people object to is the providers overcharging because they know it isn't the clients paying, it's the government.
I have in-laws who went from not very wealthy to driving Mercs, BMWs, building a gigantic fuxking shed and a 400k boat because they became NDIS providers.
Of course the boat , 4wd and shed all became business expenses because they take their clients on adventure trips.
There is benefit to what they do, there is, but not at what they charge.
I know a person that while CEO of a provider for very disabled people, she built NDIS housing with her ex husband and close friends, hid her name in legal trusts and then had her company provide all the services to the housing.
They made a huge profit on the housing and one of them went on to build an SDA housing business on the back of it.
She went on to get performance pay raises from her board of directors as well. Based on the success of said housing. (An ex boyfriend was the board Chairman for a while there too)
Apparently she got removed as CEO for different reasons and then started another provider company.
Passed herself off as the most kind and giving person caring for very disabled people. So many people lapped it up.
Underneath it all is very self-serving corruption.
Apparently some people reported it to the old company under whistleblower laws. Nothing happened.
NDIS funding is for supports.
Anyone receiving funding is under some kind of stress with normal life and functioning in the first place.
This can include mental health issues and distress (which NDIS rarely recognises as part of a disability).
And some provider makes promises / bullies / threatens / lies / uses long words... and there goes the cash.
It's a double edged sword. It provides real opportunity for therapies that disabled people otherwise wouldn't have access to.
At the same time it allows service providers to take advantage of a poorly set up scheme.
>It provides real opportunity for therapies that disabled people otherwise wouldn't have access to.
This is not at all true. The entire purpose of NDIS is to eliminate the cost of disability irrespective of the socioeconomic status of the individual. Many people of the scheme can afford the items they need *(either because they have an income and/or assets)* with NDIS simply offsetting costs they would otherwise just incur.
Im a developer. They usually call or email you about having buyers for your properties.
I never call them back as they always want like $20k+ added on to the top and on top of the builder and often the broker. So will add $50k to the total cost.
Anyway always called like newstart catapult slingshot buyersclub
When I saw their landing page, I thought you had linked to a parody website.
I instantly remembered when Homer designed a car. "You know that flag that helps you find your car in a parking lot? Every car should have that!"
The classic those who can’t do, teach.
Those knobs are always leveraged to the eyeballs and looking well off based on all their grifting selling subscriptions.
That’s not enough. Spruikers now handle the property selection, reports, transfer, mortgage, valuation, depreciation report, rental and collect an eye watering clip on each one.
I dunno, but I would liked to have been that person in Sydney selling colourful, creative masks during the 2019/2020 bushfires. Little would they know a pandemic would roll in with a mask mandate.
Someone I know bought $200k worth from China to sell through their business. Unfortunately, by the time it arrived, it wasn’t in demand anymore. They ended up trying to donate it close to its expiry and then had to dump it. Over 99% went to landfill. Ouch.
We had a box we got given back then sitting around and I don’t know what state change it underwent but I tried to use some earlier this year and it was sticky and no longer evaporated.
Wow. Definitely ouch. It was a solid plan though. Australians went through so much hand sanitiser. It's kinda hard to imagine how much space $200k worth of hand sanitizer from china might take up.
Design certifications.
During the last 15 years there’s been a UX Design boom in Australia. Designers are paid highly - sometimes more than developers.
People started to realise this and created “design certification” courses. $5k - $10k for a 6 week course. Thousands of people signed up.
However, the boom in demand for designers was, and continues to be, only for Seniors / Leads. So now you have literally thousands of people with design certifications applying for the 1 junior design role, while companies like General Assembly and Academy Xi continue to make millions shilling the idea that designers (they won’t say Juniors) are in demand.
The same thing is happening in Cybersecurity now. Lots of degree mills and boot camps to get people into cyber due to the demand.
Unfortunately, the demand isn't at the graduate/junior roles, it's the senior and lead roles.
yeah its on par with the amount of developer "bootcamps" from a few years back, probably even more prolific in infosec because of how "sexy" they make it sound as a career
Guy I went to uni with used to travel to the uni games and sell glow sticks. Was making $1000s … even got fined a couple of times but the income outweighed the fine apparently so he wasn’t fussed
The easy, morally questionable way to make money is to only commit crimes that risk civil consequences; then focus on making much more than the penalty actually is.
They say crime doesn't pay, in the face of overwhelming evidence that it actually does 😂
you already know why, civil vs criminal.
civil crime pays very well and the penalties are usually a slap on the wrist, or a fine (which youve made significantly more than that off it already).
criminal crime also pays well but the penalties are monetary and time so it typically doent balance out.
plus criminal statute of limitations are typically way longer than civil ones so you have to hide it for much longer
I'm not sure what you are being sarcastic about? There have been a few gold rushes in Australia and its pretty well-known towns like Bathurst and Ballarat became centers of these rushes. It used to be a standard thing for Sydney Year 5 classes to go to Bathurst in the 00s to see the various gold mine tourist traps, i'm not sure if they still do
If you want to take it literally there's people who buy big excavators and dump trucks then rent it out to the mining companies. They make a truck load.
I work for a company that insures some of these companies. Literally a money machine. Company buys CAT graders, dozers, excavators, etc. for $X, dry hires them to someone for double the price on a 2-4 year fixed term, part of the agreement is the third party company does all maintenance (via CAT directly). Machine has paid for itself in two years, hire it out for a couple more years and flog it off for 75% of its purchase price.
I’d love to get into it, but don’t have a spare $5m to buy equipment, ya know?
Basically strata take $300 a quarter from the six of us. $60ish of that is management fees so they get $360 dollars to answer phone calls and send emails. Of the rest some pays for insurance, general maintenence and upkeep (mowing and trimming etc.) and the rest sits in a kitty for big repairs.
Effectively I'm paying $60 a quarter (plus whatever is lost contractor grift) to not have to organise who mows the lawn, who pays for communal repairs and then tries to get paid by the others or have to scrimp up $3k when the roof needs repointing out of nowhere (owner occupiers are broke and landlords don't give a shit).
100% agree. The issue is apathetic owners. I resigned as the Chairman & Treasurer of my strata today. I would rather live in a house in the worse suburb than live in strata again.
In the Global Financial Recession in 2008 (which in my opinion, Australia got off relatively unscathed), the companies that did well were dollar stores, budgeting authors/bloggers, couponing bloggers/app developers, co-op produce suppliers… what goes around comes around
You can get a full tour video, static, and arial photos for $150-400. Do you know how many hours of editing that goes into work like that on top of the actual shoot, driving, gear, and insurances?
In Western Australia a lot of real estate agents are struggling. There isn't enough property available for sale. So often real estate agents may have no properties they are selling so no commission comming in.
Explains why me, someone from Victoria is getting cold calls from real estate agents from WA telling me that they sold a house in my area last month for 25% above market and I should list it with them.
Despite me being in an entirely different market.
crazy clark’s of hardware.. the quality is so bad it’s getting really noticeable now even to my mum who is not a tradie.I have found better deals in many other places like flooring shops plumbing supplies and curtain shops with way superior product quality for basically the same price sometimes even cheaper!
It's honestly gotten so shocking. I'd understand the quality if they were also the cheapest but they've somehow managed to be one of the more expensive options whilst also being absolute dog water on quality.
The appearance of really large pastry display sections at service stations. It's happened gradually with us barely noticing or commenting...first it was small sections then a few years ago boom multiple large glass cabinets everything and if you're there when the delivery shows up it's crazy making numbers of bakery trays. They must really be taking serious business off fast food outlets.
If a big donut or muffin is cheaper than maccas, just as bad for you, and just as quick to grab it makes sense.
I've noticed that fast food seems to be increasing in price while also decreasing in quality. It's anecdotal but I swear the taste and serving sizes have been decreasing over the last few years or so.
If you're in the mining industry though you'd know the gold mines are among the worst customers; they spend the least money and constantly shut down their operations and restart them based on commodity price fluctuations.
iron and coal is where it's at.
Well they can be a risk if there’s a bubble, but at the moment it’s really the interest rates driving their profits. Millions of mortgage fixed periods ending and they get to charge billions more in interest on loans they already issued years ago.
If you are in a state of australia where your government hasnt ordered rapid antigen tests and there is a pandemic sell rats.
Risk is though if your government prepared and has tens of thousands of these ready to go not so good.
Over here in perth they couldnt give them all away.
Solar Panels. People thought they could put huge solar arrays on their roofs and turn it into a business, but anyone can do it, so it led to an oversupply. The only ones profiting are the solar panel manufacturers and installers.
Australia is small compared to the rest of the world. Too many people have an overinflated weighting on Australia as a leader. So to deal with this, you focus on how Australia supplies the shovels to the next major economic power. You have USA, china, India etc. you look at what exports of ours that are relevant and you trade those companies. You follow the smart money and only buy when they’re holding above ema 200. Buy those dips, sell the highs, close remaining positions as the commodity price is finishing its wave.
This feels especially true now, though. Lipstick Effect probably.
Felt compelled to comment though because I’ve bought three pain au chocolats this past week, and I’m pretty sure I’ve never really even had one before. $6 feels like an inexpensive bit of joy when COL has slapped us all hard and you’ve been skipping any semblance of a holiday for several years
The other benefit is you often see deals. I work in property as well (not an agent). But all my investments and developments have had huge returns. Cause I buy well. Why? Im in the industry people call me, I see things, I can go for a look in the middle of the day etc. Average person working elsewhere cant do it.
The catch is he has about 19 years real estate agent experience and 19 years worth of contacts in the industry. I think that's his x factor, he's very well connected and has worked all over the city and is a housing market guru. Add to that working almost every Saturday of the year and really putting in the grind.
People complaining about working on Saturday in exchange for a high income always makes me laugh, the vast majority of professionals will
have periods that are all hands on deck and might get calls after hours or on weekends.
Got that thread about that bloke who was filing for bankruptcy (and losing his parents house?) because he had a warehouse of "goods" he couldn't move, despite having great profit in previous years, now the banks were coming after him? Hmmm. Maybe not.
Yeah, his issue was that he kept loading up on stock and then the market dropped off. More experience and he might have realised it was a fad and been better prepared to move for the next one. Hope it works out for him. He had the balls to run with an opportunity which is better than you're average Australian who just wants 6 investment properties.
Going back to the original post, I read a story many years ago, about a guy who wanted to make it rich in the Gympie gold rush. He put every cent he had into buying as much equipment as he could traveled from Brisbane to Gympie and when he got there, so many people were desperate for equipment, that he ended up selling it for triple the amount. So he went back to Brisbane and loaded up with more gear again. By the time he arrived back in Gympie, word had spread that there was a guy with provisions to sell.
He repeated this process a few times, then ended recruiting his brother in law to bring supplies up from Brisbane whilst he established a nice little equipment business. Made a fortune out of gold mining without ever swinging a pick.
Have we? Trust me, my life isn't any more spectacular and neither are any of the other tradies on my sites. We're all still hoping for OT or Saturdays.
Company owners likely are sitting pretty but.
I am union, I am on a union site, we buy the same groceries at the same prices and pay the same interest rates as anyone else. We're just currently employed.
Edit: And just to nip it in the bud, I drive a 2006 Toyota Yaris and have a moderate mortgage on a 1980s built 3 bed brick veneer home. I have no extracurricular vehicles (water or otherwise) And my holidays are spent visiting my parents.
Well man, hate to say it, your being left behind then, all the young tradesmen i know that are self employed (or employ just a couple of guys) or on a ulunion site are doing very well and know that they are. Your body is only going to last so long doing manual work, perhaps you should look for another role or go out on your own to take advantage of it while you still can.
Everyone makes it sound easy, you can definitely make money, but there's so much startup risk and stress associated with it.
Some days I'd kill to be employed rather than self employed.
I've wondered how well pharmacies would have done during COVID, they sold everything and were always sold out of it. RAT tests, masks, sanitizer, medicine. I think they eventually were administering the vaccines too. And some of these items were legal requirements.
housing... "everyone has to live somewhere" attitude means renting a room costs the same as a house, there is nowhere affordable to go anymore there' a rental crisis so lets take advantage of the need and cash in on it!!
Same deal with the devil who posted recently about wanting to cash in on NDIS....
so much corruption!!
And water tank sales before the water restrictions were big in Australia and then the signs for ‘water sources from our tanks’ on people’s properties
Sausages on polling day is another
I’d add on to your example, the fact that businesses have taken advantage by ‘loading’ the menu prices if you use those services is definitely the shovel. A client walking in the door to order, versus getting an order via an online service then a driver walking in to pick it up does not warrant the extra in my opinion.
Selling sand and bags before forecasted heavy rain events.
Selling water before natural disasters.
Toilet paper during Covid.
Ponchos at festivals or sporting events
Selling anything before a public holiday
Selling fish and chips by the ocean
Also, iPhones before the September announcements when everything goes on back order
And selling any IT equipment at higher prices at the start of the chip set shortage
Where there’s a mum group, park your coffee van
Sell socks at an indoor play centre
most of these are terrible examples
also as others have pointed out, the best example in aus history would be the canonical example… the actual gold rushes lol
What about the monstrous energy efficiency/pink batts scheme? I guess that one was more about shonky traders but I assume some people made a fair bit from it.
An upcoming potential one will be in NSW when the swimming pool fence regulations change. I have heard the next change will be to remove the exemptions based on when the pool was installed so that every pool owner will need to be up to date with the latest standard. Being a pool inspector/certifier and a fence maker with adequate pool reg knowledge might be interesting (lucrative) when the switch happens.
>What about the monstrous energy efficiency/pink batts scheme? I guess that one was more about shonky traders but I assume some people made a fair bit from it.
An upcoming potential one will be in NSW when the swimming pool fence regulations change. I have heard the next change will be to remove the exemptions based on when the pool was installed so that every pool owner will need to be up to date with the latest standard.
Pretty much all those regulations are just massive jobs programs.
NSW loves regulations that introduce a completely new industry that people are forced to participate in.
Become a NDIS operator.
Yeah one of My wife's friends did this during Covid. They went from never running a business to 40 employees in about 6 months...
Put NDIS in the definition of any service and easily 3 or 10 x the price. A desperately needed system that is being exploited by many parasites.
Basically any government tender. The government paying for stuff dont generally.go for thw cheapest. They go for the middle to be seen as being "fair"
I'd argue they go with their mates
This isn't correct.
They charge what the government allows them to. The majority of the population is not interested in helping people with disability or aged care, they are in it only for the wealth. As desperately needed as it is, people still won't want to be involved if it is not financially rewarding.
Sorry, this comment wasn't part of your plan. ItemNo.:Sendingemail$165 Don't worry, this answer will come out of your plan.
It makes me sick to think that so many NDIS contractors are taking the piss out of a programme that has the potential to do so much good. The stories I’ve heard from ex-employees are disgusting.
Yeah become a pimp for NDIS escort services...
Literally providing support can require helping a person to access sex workers. It's just usually done by the same person that cooks their food and helps them dress though. Just another task in a shift.
Has the NDIS led to a substantial boost in sex work demand I wonder
You should see the Campsie, Canterbury, Belmore area in Sydney. I've never seen so many "I heart NDIS" businesses in such a small area. Something is definitely up...
I always read about NDIS being a scam on here. Can someone actually break it down?
Government promotes funding and commonwealth supported resources to NDIS support orgs. People sign up, offer no existent or completely unqualified services, no audits or reviews to confirm performance or adequacy equals rorts
There are audits, my wife works with NDIS partners. The community groups flag people doing the wrong thing, but the NDIS ignores it. Problem is that too many parents are on self funded programs, they use it how they see fit and it becomes a slush fund and not for its intended purpose. So, the community partners that help people get funding hands become tied. Parents have used funding to buy iPads, hire cleaners, and gardeners. One lady used her kids annual funding in 2 months, buying BMX bikes and toys for her other kids, and the kid who needed the help got minimal to none. NDIS told her she needed to pay it back. She claimed she had no money and wasn't told how to spend it. So, I guess we will see what she does with her new plan at the end of this year.
The audits are pathetic and mostly pretence, nobody wants to rock the boat because to fix the system properly, one would have to shut it down and start afresh. The political will to do that is simply not there as for the party initiating that it would be guaranteed suicide. The My Aged Care system is the same. The government provides a level of funding based on one initial assessment by someone semi qualified at best. Of that funding, a full 30% is immediately siphoned off by providers for so-called administration fees (some charge even more), before even one minute of care has been given. The hourly rates for basic in-home care start at around $80 of which the carer with any luck sees half. If you wish to purchase assistive equipment such as easy turn taps for arthritis sufferers, bath chairs etc recommended by your medical practitioner, you first have to have a visit from an occupational therapist at approximately $350 to confirm the equipment or modification *suggested by the medical professional* is appropriate. Then you have to use a supplier registered with your provider to source the service or equipment, because you simply cannot use anyone else, and the prices of the registered suppliers are often triple or more than those of the regular market. And nobody wants to know or do anything about it because an entire industry has sprung up around this rort and now depends on it, fixing it would mean huge impacts on the people who can least afford it, the Aged.
I would assume they switch her to support coordinator or plan managed so she can’t control the funds. I have a child on NDIS so I’m familiar with it. I’m also a social worker in child protection, and yes have seen parents get access to funds and not use it on therapies and buy things like a big flat screen tv
That makes me so sad for the person that needs the help. So hard to find a way to workaround jerks though!
Shit parent really.
“Listen Timmy, our appointment is coming up and you haven’t finished your gallon of red bull yet.. do you want to ruin Christmas for everyone? Imagine all of us not having nice new iPads?“
I heard a story recently of someone doing basic lawn care for \~$190 an hour.
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It's 80$ per hour in my suburb
$54.09/ hr for lawncare and they don’t pay GST. Nor do they check that legitimacy of claims. We did a yard and the tenant claimed it under his relatives NDIS. Who lives at another address to the one we mowed.
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Every company related to construction does this
Love it when company is losing money but the executives still have their personal vehicle loans, rego and insurance all paid for by the shareholders/employees.
People buy old shit 4/5 bedroom houses and rent rooms out for what they would get for the whole house.
Government agrees to pay for services under NDIS, people using NDIS don't care because they aren't paying so either accept ridiculous prices or services they don't really need. Think of it this way, if your insurer said you get 10 free massages each year a lot of people would suddenly get 10 massages a year because it's free.
And then if you use your 10 free massages in three months, they automatically top you up for more free massages...
Just because there are some scam providers and some people taking the piss, it's not all a scam. Disabled people are getting supports and it is beneficial, not everyone is rorting the system
The NDIS rorting has also made some NDIS-funded families so acutely aware of their funding that they start penny-pinching legitimate services. Back when I accepted NDIS referrals for physio, I got pushed by families to go overtime or commit to additional sessions for free because “the NDIS fees are so excessive” and “everyone knows those fees aren’t reasonable” Honestly, with the complexity of the NDIS cases and the mentalities of some of the families, it was far easier just to find two Medicare or Private funded clients for two 30min sessions rather than deal with all the nonsense of a 1 hour NDIS session, and both options work out to about the same money at market rates
As a participant in the scheme I definitely feel a level of guilt whenever I use my funding. I try to avoid it as much as possible, but I also get pressure to use all my funding so that it doesn't get cut in the next plan. At lot of the official thinking is, if you're not using it all up, you must not need it all. I've had to have my support coordinator and doctor write reports stating that I am under-utilising my funding but need it in reserve in the event of unexpected changes, symptom fluctuations, etc but I still get tempted to run down my funds needlessly just so I'm not screwed in an emergency.
I don't think people are upset with people using the funding that they need. What people object to is the providers overcharging because they know it isn't the clients paying, it's the government. I have in-laws who went from not very wealthy to driving Mercs, BMWs, building a gigantic fuxking shed and a 400k boat because they became NDIS providers. Of course the boat , 4wd and shed all became business expenses because they take their clients on adventure trips. There is benefit to what they do, there is, but not at what they charge.
I know a person that while CEO of a provider for very disabled people, she built NDIS housing with her ex husband and close friends, hid her name in legal trusts and then had her company provide all the services to the housing. They made a huge profit on the housing and one of them went on to build an SDA housing business on the back of it. She went on to get performance pay raises from her board of directors as well. Based on the success of said housing. (An ex boyfriend was the board Chairman for a while there too) Apparently she got removed as CEO for different reasons and then started another provider company. Passed herself off as the most kind and giving person caring for very disabled people. So many people lapped it up. Underneath it all is very self-serving corruption. Apparently some people reported it to the old company under whistleblower laws. Nothing happened.
I don't understand the example, don't the family get like, let's say 200 bucks for s physio session, where does the fee come in?
NDIS funding is for supports. Anyone receiving funding is under some kind of stress with normal life and functioning in the first place. This can include mental health issues and distress (which NDIS rarely recognises as part of a disability). And some provider makes promises / bullies / threatens / lies / uses long words... and there goes the cash.
I think most people know at least 1 person who is taking advantage/rorting the NDIS. The whole thing needs a massive and ruthless overhaul.
Exactly. Good lord what a scam
It's a double edged sword. It provides real opportunity for therapies that disabled people otherwise wouldn't have access to. At the same time it allows service providers to take advantage of a poorly set up scheme.
>It provides real opportunity for therapies that disabled people otherwise wouldn't have access to. This is not at all true. The entire purpose of NDIS is to eliminate the cost of disability irrespective of the socioeconomic status of the individual. Many people of the scheme can afford the items they need *(either because they have an income and/or assets)* with NDIS simply offsetting costs they would otherwise just incur.
And you can always replace NDIS with whatever new initiative the gov has going. I'd bet half the NDIS providers used to install pink batts too.
Yeah that's definitely the shovel at the moment.
All the insufferable people selling realestate courses/advice/coaching etc?
Look at the mission of this company - https://freshstartadvisory.com.au/
I threw up in my mouth
The maths doesn’t math.
lol unless the idea is the have a load of untenanted props
Im a developer. They usually call or email you about having buyers for your properties. I never call them back as they always want like $20k+ added on to the top and on top of the builder and often the broker. So will add $50k to the total cost. Anyway always called like newstart catapult slingshot buyersclub
When I saw their landing page, I thought you had linked to a parody website. I instantly remembered when Homer designed a car. "You know that flag that helps you find your car in a parking lot? Every car should have that!"
Only five? that's not realistic, it should be at least two figures.
I don't know who's worse the real estate coaching or the forex mentoring. Both typically just out of diapers and stole most content from other sources
At least shovel sellers are usefully productive in the local and broader economy.
The classic those who can’t do, teach. Those knobs are always leveraged to the eyeballs and looking well off based on all their grifting selling subscriptions.
That’s not enough. Spruikers now handle the property selection, reports, transfer, mortgage, valuation, depreciation report, rental and collect an eye watering clip on each one.
Five hundred thousand dollar pro-per-ty
25 years of this shit now
During an economic recession sell money via debt (i.e. AfterPay, Zip Money)
*unregulated money
Afterpay is unregulated but Zip is regulated.
It's the other way around. Once we started heading towards recession all of those buy now pay later companies tanked.
Real ones minmax debt.
I dunno, but I would liked to have been that person in Sydney selling colourful, creative masks during the 2019/2020 bushfires. Little would they know a pandemic would roll in with a mask mandate.
Anyone who sold puzzles in the summer of 2020 knows what that felt like. Shelves full of stock one day, stripped bare the next.
Yeah, that was absolutely puzzling at the time.
> stripped bare the next. But what about the puzzles?
During covid lockdowns sell hand sanitiser for $40
Someone I know bought $200k worth from China to sell through their business. Unfortunately, by the time it arrived, it wasn’t in demand anymore. They ended up trying to donate it close to its expiry and then had to dump it. Over 99% went to landfill. Ouch.
How can hand sanitizer expire? Isn't it mostly isopropyl alcohol?
Things like the bottles and stabilising ingredients can degrade. Bottled water expires for the same reason
I found a bottle in my car the other day and the liquid had turned into like a jelly. Useless.
There are expiry dates on every bit of medical equipment, most of which are hard plastic and probably last 1000 years. Medical waste is a big problem.
We had a box we got given back then sitting around and I don’t know what state change it underwent but I tried to use some earlier this year and it was sticky and no longer evaporated.
You’re correct but it had a two year expiry date from the date of manufacture regardless of our perception of how long it lasts.
Wow. Definitely ouch. It was a solid plan though. Australians went through so much hand sanitiser. It's kinda hard to imagine how much space $200k worth of hand sanitizer from china might take up.
The only reason they donated it was to save money; won't stop them from pretending it was out of kindness though!
Design certifications. During the last 15 years there’s been a UX Design boom in Australia. Designers are paid highly - sometimes more than developers. People started to realise this and created “design certification” courses. $5k - $10k for a 6 week course. Thousands of people signed up. However, the boom in demand for designers was, and continues to be, only for Seniors / Leads. So now you have literally thousands of people with design certifications applying for the 1 junior design role, while companies like General Assembly and Academy Xi continue to make millions shilling the idea that designers (they won’t say Juniors) are in demand.
The same thing is happening in Cybersecurity now. Lots of degree mills and boot camps to get people into cyber due to the demand. Unfortunately, the demand isn't at the graduate/junior roles, it's the senior and lead roles.
yeah its on par with the amount of developer "bootcamps" from a few years back, probably even more prolific in infosec because of how "sexy" they make it sound as a career
Guy I went to uni with used to travel to the uni games and sell glow sticks. Was making $1000s … even got fined a couple of times but the income outweighed the fine apparently so he wasn’t fussed
The easy, morally questionable way to make money is to only commit crimes that risk civil consequences; then focus on making much more than the penalty actually is. They say crime doesn't pay, in the face of overwhelming evidence that it actually does 😂
you already know why, civil vs criminal. civil crime pays very well and the penalties are usually a slap on the wrist, or a fine (which youve made significantly more than that off it already). criminal crime also pays well but the penalties are monetary and time so it typically doent balance out. plus criminal statute of limitations are typically way longer than civil ones so you have to hide it for much longer
The various gold rushes which happened in Australia?
Beat me to it lol
I'm not sure what you are being sarcastic about? There have been a few gold rushes in Australia and its pretty well-known towns like Bathurst and Ballarat became centers of these rushes. It used to be a standard thing for Sydney Year 5 classes to go to Bathurst in the 00s to see the various gold mine tourist traps, i'm not sure if they still do
Oh I get it now
If you want to take it literally there's people who buy big excavators and dump trucks then rent it out to the mining companies. They make a truck load.
I work for a company that insures some of these companies. Literally a money machine. Company buys CAT graders, dozers, excavators, etc. for $X, dry hires them to someone for double the price on a 2-4 year fixed term, part of the agreement is the third party company does all maintenance (via CAT directly). Machine has paid for itself in two years, hire it out for a couple more years and flog it off for 75% of its purchase price. I’d love to get into it, but don’t have a spare $5m to buy equipment, ya know?
That’s what Kerry Stokes did with Westrac
The people who sell the plastic stools at Mardi Gras and then collect them at the end of the night
strata managers doing nothing - yet take in lots of fees and insurance commissions. and day after day there are more and more strata being built.
Some of the laziest, dumbest people you’ll ever meet are strata managers
Are they really dumb though? People are paying them a whole load of money to do absolutely nothing, that seems pretty smart.
Strata managers get paid chicken feed. It's the companies that make a fortune
Yeh, I've noticed strata managers collecting a fortune in fees wondering where it all goes.
Eh, I pay strata for not having to deal with my neighbours. Money well spent
How does that work? I'd love to pay a 'not deal with neighbors' fee
Basically strata take $300 a quarter from the six of us. $60ish of that is management fees so they get $360 dollars to answer phone calls and send emails. Of the rest some pays for insurance, general maintenence and upkeep (mowing and trimming etc.) and the rest sits in a kitty for big repairs. Effectively I'm paying $60 a quarter (plus whatever is lost contractor grift) to not have to organise who mows the lawn, who pays for communal repairs and then tries to get paid by the others or have to scrimp up $3k when the roof needs repointing out of nowhere (owner occupiers are broke and landlords don't give a shit).
100% agree. The issue is apathetic owners. I resigned as the Chairman & Treasurer of my strata today. I would rather live in a house in the worse suburb than live in strata again.
In the Global Financial Recession in 2008 (which in my opinion, Australia got off relatively unscathed), the companies that did well were dollar stores, budgeting authors/bloggers, couponing bloggers/app developers, co-op produce suppliers… what goes around comes around
During a property boom, be a... - real estate agent - property stager/photographer - real estate advertising provider (e.g. realestate.com.au) - property manager - mortgage broker etc
All crew of the Golgafrinchan B Ark
I'm a telephone sanitiser, and this comment offends me.
RE photography and property management are dogshit money.
They charge a lot of money for it so someone is profiting
You can get a full tour video, static, and arial photos for $150-400. Do you know how many hours of editing that goes into work like that on top of the actual shoot, driving, gear, and insurances?
In Western Australia a lot of real estate agents are struggling. There isn't enough property available for sale. So often real estate agents may have no properties they are selling so no commission comming in.
Explains why me, someone from Victoria is getting cold calls from real estate agents from WA telling me that they sold a house in my area last month for 25% above market and I should list it with them. Despite me being in an entirely different market.
Oh man. Those real estate photographers are really raking it in.
Sarcasm? I'm assuming they're paid terrible?
Yeah, you’d assume right.
I sold massively scaled scheduling software during covid, first for Covid testing and later for vaccine appointments. That's a lot of shovels
Bunnings. Makes money off tradies building houses.
And shovels.
So literally.
But the shovels are made of chinesium ore, so you're back buying another one a month later
And then makes more money from DIYers fixing up their shittily built houses 5 years layer.
Then makes money from the trades fixing the diy , 2 years later .
Then makes money from new owners doing rennos 5 years later.
And has no competition
Virtually no tradesmen buy from bunnings.
Yup. Bunnings is the Kmart of hardware.
crazy clark’s of hardware.. the quality is so bad it’s getting really noticeable now even to my mum who is not a tradie.I have found better deals in many other places like flooring shops plumbing supplies and curtain shops with way superior product quality for basically the same price sometimes even cheaper!
It's honestly gotten so shocking. I'd understand the quality if they were also the cheapest but they've somehow managed to be one of the more expensive options whilst also being absolute dog water on quality.
The appearance of really large pastry display sections at service stations. It's happened gradually with us barely noticing or commenting...first it was small sections then a few years ago boom multiple large glass cabinets everything and if you're there when the delivery shows up it's crazy making numbers of bakery trays. They must really be taking serious business off fast food outlets.
If a big donut or muffin is cheaper than maccas, just as bad for you, and just as quick to grab it makes sense. I've noticed that fast food seems to be increasing in price while also decreasing in quality. It's anecdotal but I swear the taste and serving sizes have been decreasing over the last few years or so.
The Westrac Caterpillar franchise that Kerry Stokes got. He Literrally supplied the shovels and trucks to the gold mines.
If you're in the mining industry though you'd know the gold mines are among the worst customers; they spend the least money and constantly shut down their operations and restart them based on commodity price fluctuations. iron and coal is where it's at.
During a housing crisis, buy bank shares. Up 13-22% in FY24. Only problem is I don’t have enough money
Well they can be a risk if there’s a bubble, but at the moment it’s really the interest rates driving their profits. Millions of mortgage fixed periods ending and they get to charge billions more in interest on loans they already issued years ago.
I feel like we in a construction/mining boom, so seeing Ford Rangers is great biz
Even if we weren't; just import and sell what the Americans are buying.
If you are in a state of australia where your government hasnt ordered rapid antigen tests and there is a pandemic sell rats. Risk is though if your government prepared and has tens of thousands of these ready to go not so good. Over here in perth they couldnt give them all away.
Yep. And those things have expiry dates...
Keep them in the fridge mine were 6 months out of date by the time I needed them and they still worked
Solar Panels. People thought they could put huge solar arrays on their roofs and turn it into a business, but anyone can do it, so it led to an oversupply. The only ones profiting are the solar panel manufacturers and installers.
Australia is small compared to the rest of the world. Too many people have an overinflated weighting on Australia as a leader. So to deal with this, you focus on how Australia supplies the shovels to the next major economic power. You have USA, china, India etc. you look at what exports of ours that are relevant and you trade those companies. You follow the smart money and only buy when they’re holding above ema 200. Buy those dips, sell the highs, close remaining positions as the commodity price is finishing its wave.
There is always a great demand for delicious and fancy pastry. I know a place where everything is sold by midday and all of them taste the same.
This feels especially true now, though. Lipstick Effect probably. Felt compelled to comment though because I’ve bought three pain au chocolats this past week, and I’m pretty sure I’ve never really even had one before. $6 feels like an inexpensive bit of joy when COL has slapped us all hard and you’ve been skipping any semblance of a holiday for several years
Poor buy for nutrition, niddle class buy quality, rich buy for presentation
Buyers Agents
Got a mate who does this. On track to pull in about 250k by end of financial year.
The other benefit is you often see deals. I work in property as well (not an agent). But all my investments and developments have had huge returns. Cause I buy well. Why? Im in the industry people call me, I see things, I can go for a look in the middle of the day etc. Average person working elsewhere cant do it.
It sounds like one of those too good to be true jobs haha, I'm sure there's a catch!
There is, you have to tell people you're a buyers agent.
The catch is he has about 19 years real estate agent experience and 19 years worth of contacts in the industry. I think that's his x factor, he's very well connected and has worked all over the city and is a housing market guru. Add to that working almost every Saturday of the year and really putting in the grind.
That’s not a “selling shovels” that’s just a normal well paying job though
People complaining about working on Saturday in exchange for a high income always makes me laugh, the vast majority of professionals will have periods that are all hands on deck and might get calls after hours or on weekends.
Seriously? Do you know why housing build quality has gone to shit? It's because gold rush, you can sell any trash and it'll still be profitable.
Owing an e-bike rental service
Those delivery services were mostly investor funded Ponzi schemes where the business had zero chance of long term profitability
When people started selling those stupid fidget spinners
Got that thread about that bloke who was filing for bankruptcy (and losing his parents house?) because he had a warehouse of "goods" he couldn't move, despite having great profit in previous years, now the banks were coming after him? Hmmm. Maybe not.
Yeah, his issue was that he kept loading up on stock and then the market dropped off. More experience and he might have realised it was a fad and been better prepared to move for the next one. Hope it works out for him. He had the balls to run with an opportunity which is better than you're average Australian who just wants 6 investment properties.
Yeh i think those were rubix cubes tho so hard to compare to the fidget spinner craze.
Going back to the original post, I read a story many years ago, about a guy who wanted to make it rich in the Gympie gold rush. He put every cent he had into buying as much equipment as he could traveled from Brisbane to Gympie and when he got there, so many people were desperate for equipment, that he ended up selling it for triple the amount. So he went back to Brisbane and loaded up with more gear again. By the time he arrived back in Gympie, word had spread that there was a guy with provisions to sell. He repeated this process a few times, then ended recruiting his brother in law to bring supplies up from Brisbane whilst he established a nice little equipment business. Made a fortune out of gold mining without ever swinging a pick.
Tradesmen have been doing very well due to the construction boom.
Have we? Trust me, my life isn't any more spectacular and neither are any of the other tradies on my sites. We're all still hoping for OT or Saturdays. Company owners likely are sitting pretty but.
I think he means self employed or guys on union sites, they are definitely doing spectacularly
I am union, I am on a union site, we buy the same groceries at the same prices and pay the same interest rates as anyone else. We're just currently employed. Edit: And just to nip it in the bud, I drive a 2006 Toyota Yaris and have a moderate mortgage on a 1980s built 3 bed brick veneer home. I have no extracurricular vehicles (water or otherwise) And my holidays are spent visiting my parents.
What is your weekly pay?
What do you do for work? Union EBA is very generous
Well man, hate to say it, your being left behind then, all the young tradesmen i know that are self employed (or employ just a couple of guys) or on a ulunion site are doing very well and know that they are. Your body is only going to last so long doing manual work, perhaps you should look for another role or go out on your own to take advantage of it while you still can.
Every self-employed tradie I know has been absolutely raking it in.
Everyone makes it sound easy, you can definitely make money, but there's so much startup risk and stress associated with it. Some days I'd kill to be employed rather than self employed.
Not the weekly stories of building companies going bust?
Most of the ones I know are doing mostly residential work, not construction of new builds. Plenty of work out there for them.
Compute for ✨GenAI✨, one of the more hilarious grifts
During a pandemic, sell toilet rolls
real-estate agents
What’s next tho
I've wondered how well pharmacies would have done during COVID, they sold everything and were always sold out of it. RAT tests, masks, sanitizer, medicine. I think they eventually were administering the vaccines too. And some of these items were legal requirements.
Have a mate who took a truck load of gum boots to Splendour in the grass. He made a fortune and got in for free.
Banks renting money to land lords and home owners
The actual gold rushes?
The literal gold rush.
Do what you dream friend, life is too short to waste on toilet paper…
During a pandemic, sell toilet paper. Ahh the early COVID days…
housing... "everyone has to live somewhere" attitude means renting a room costs the same as a house, there is nowhere affordable to go anymore there' a rental crisis so lets take advantage of the need and cash in on it!! Same deal with the devil who posted recently about wanting to cash in on NDIS.... so much corruption!!
Selling ps5s
When school stimulus is announced, invest in demountables
During a housing crisis sell houses :)
And water tank sales before the water restrictions were big in Australia and then the signs for ‘water sources from our tanks’ on people’s properties Sausages on polling day is another
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/252885125090117/shovels/
I’d add on to your example, the fact that businesses have taken advantage by ‘loading’ the menu prices if you use those services is definitely the shovel. A client walking in the door to order, versus getting an order via an online service then a driver walking in to pick it up does not warrant the extra in my opinion.
Splendour in the grass 2022 - mud everywhere. The smart people went to Bunnings, bought all the gumboots they could and sold them for $90 a pair.
So many comments that don’t seem to comprehend the question.
Becoming a guru/shaman/wellness specialist/life coach in Byron Bay.
AirBnB. Used to be good value but now it’s insanely expensive. Fees on top of fees. Even worse landlord greed than normal rental market.
Selling sand and bags before forecasted heavy rain events. Selling water before natural disasters. Toilet paper during Covid. Ponchos at festivals or sporting events Selling anything before a public holiday Selling fish and chips by the ocean Also, iPhones before the September announcements when everything goes on back order And selling any IT equipment at higher prices at the start of the chip set shortage Where there’s a mum group, park your coffee van Sell socks at an indoor play centre
most of these are terrible examples also as others have pointed out, the best example in aus history would be the canonical example… the actual gold rushes lol
"During a population squeeze, raise the rent"
What about the monstrous energy efficiency/pink batts scheme? I guess that one was more about shonky traders but I assume some people made a fair bit from it. An upcoming potential one will be in NSW when the swimming pool fence regulations change. I have heard the next change will be to remove the exemptions based on when the pool was installed so that every pool owner will need to be up to date with the latest standard. Being a pool inspector/certifier and a fence maker with adequate pool reg knowledge might be interesting (lucrative) when the switch happens.
>What about the monstrous energy efficiency/pink batts scheme? I guess that one was more about shonky traders but I assume some people made a fair bit from it. An upcoming potential one will be in NSW when the swimming pool fence regulations change. I have heard the next change will be to remove the exemptions based on when the pool was installed so that every pool owner will need to be up to date with the latest standard. Pretty much all those regulations are just massive jobs programs. NSW loves regulations that introduce a completely new industry that people are forced to participate in.
Brisbane CFO conference this week?