Outsourced call centre workers on the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) phone lines must pretend to be public servants, say the workers. They decide which funding requests get priority, even though they lack welfare or financial training. Serco, a big private contractor, issues them government email addresses. This blurs lines between direct public servants and contractors, despite differences in pay, support, and training. A Serco employee told Guardian Australia that staff cannot reveal they work for Serco and feel distanced from the public service. "The fact is that we’re representing the government and we have to pretend that we’re public servants and we’re not allowed to say we’re Serco," they said. Serco holds multi-billion-dollar government contracts across health, defence, and community services but lost an immigration contract in 2024. The workers said team leaders decide if urgent funding requests are prioritized. However, these leaders are not welfare or disability trained and do not understand participant budgets. They monitor call stats closely. An NDIA spokesperson said only public service staff can action priority plan changes. Calls from vulnerable people often face delays. One worker said, "People call in asking how their urgent plan change request is going and we have to tell them it is still in the queue, and is overdue, but we are not allowed to admit we are not the public service so cannot give them a reason why." They gave an example of a bedridden person with a broken hoist whose funds ran out. Serco’s latest NDIA contract started in September 2024, expected to last three years with possible extensions. It employs about 1,200 staff in its contact centre. Starting pay at outsourced centres is around $52,800 yearly against over $72,000 for many public servants on the same lines. Experts and union leaders warn that outsourcing sacrifices quality for profit. Beth Vincent-Pietsch, deputy national secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union, said the current model "is failing Australians who need sometimes urgent help from the NDIA, and it is failing the workers who are asked to carry it." She called for core government services like the NDIA to be handled by trained public servants to restore quality and trust.