A support worker has claimed the NDIS is ‘years behind’ where it should be after breaking down and revealing the heavy toll her job takes on her.
Roma Daly, 25, looks after young people with disabilities and regularly posts videos to TikTok where she talks about the good and the bad of the job she loves.
In a post that has been viewed tens of thousands of times, an upset Ms Daly spoke through tears as she claimed the job had been taking its toll.
In August, NDIS Minister Bill Shorten announced the state and territory governments had agreed to amendments which will help significantly lower the ballooning cost of the scheme by $14.4billion over four years.
Ms Daly is happy with the recent, massive overhaul of the NDIS after a series of fraud scandals and concerns about the huge cost, which was $44.3billion in the 2023–24 financial year alone.
She told Daily Mail Australia one of the biggest issues with the NDIS was the lack of funding assigned to young people living with a disability.
‘I think they’re not recognising what their participants actually need,’ she said.
‘I work with young people, they’re the people on the NDIS that get the least amount of funding, and they’re the ones that need it the most.
NDIS support worker Roma Daly (pictured) broke down in tears on social media while speaking about the toll her job – she works with young people with disabilities – can take
‘They are growing, they’re going through school, and they need the support workers, they need their allied health providers, and they can’t get that without funding.’
She believes that if NDIS spent more money on children and young adults, it would save the government millions in the long run.
‘That is why I’m studying to be an occupational therapist, so I can help as many young people as I can in that early intervention phase and nip that in the bud.
‘(Support workers) help them with their daily living and their daily tasks such as self-care going through adolescence, becoming a teenager and then entering the real world.’
Ms Daly said this support in the early years ‘will give them so many more opportunities and provide them with so many more skills’.
She said there are days where she needs to sit back and remind herself that ‘I’m doing this for the right reasons, and that’s where I talk about a lot on my TikTok about self-care and preventing burnout.
‘Because as a support worker, we need to provide a lot of energy and attention and support to our participants, but we can’t forget about ourselves.
‘We need to make sure that we’re looking after ourselves. And if we’re not, we can’t provide the best care.’

Ms Daly (pictured) regularly posts videos to TikTok where she talks about the good and the bad of the job she loves
Ms Daly said she works with a lot of participants with autism spectrum disorder and ‘it’s that emotional regulation and that pushback that I receive’.
‘It can be quite overwhelming as a support provider, working with meltdowns,’ she said.
‘That’s probably one of the biggest challenges that I’ve been facing, as I work with a lot of young people.
‘There’s so many highs. It’s such a rewarding job, but it comes with the lows and it can obviously have an impact as it did that day.
‘It doesn’t detract from the fact that it is so rewarding and it’s so enjoyable. But there are definitely low points as we give so much to our participants,’ she said.
The young people she works with range in age from 11 to 25 and have conditions such as autism, cerebral palsy, ADHD and neurological issues.
Raised in Tasmania, Ms Daly moved to Queensland in 2019 to study exercise science at Griffith University, which ultimately led to her chosen career.
After her degree, she was working as an admin assistant at an exercise physiology clinic on the Gold Coast, but said was ‘really lacking purpose’.

Raised in Tasmania, Ms Daly moved to Queensland in 2019 to study exercise science at Griffith University
‘Then I met this incredible participant (who) came to get exercise physiology from our clinic, and we built this incredible relationship.
‘It just started there, and I started doing support with him, taking him to soccer on a weekend. It kind of grew from there and I found my passion,’ she said.
This work led to her making more connections and getting more participants.
‘And now I have an incredible business and I’ve got some employees working for me. It’s just blossomed, which is so amazing.’
Ms Daly said she decided to create a business rather than just be an independent support worker because of the NDIS, a $42billion program with 650,000 participants that is rapidly growing.
‘I think the changes that are coming are going to be really good and will wean out the dodgy providers,’ she said.
‘My values around my business is providing the right care to my participants.
‘The registration processes that are coming will be awesome and ensure that we are providing exceptional care for the people in the community.’
Despite her passion for what she does, Ms Daly feels the NDIS is ‘years behind’ where it should be.
Ms Daly’s TikTok video was met with sympathy as social media users shared their own experiences.
‘As a support worker myself I’ve definitely figured out were the most resilient, strong willed and caring people in the world,’ one wrote.
‘No one else could fathom doing our job.’
‘I really am feeling this way right now also I feel so defeated, drained and mentally exhausted,’ a second added.
‘Stuck on nights and active care it takes it out of me by the time I get home and 14 hour shifts at a time for minimum wage. So much pressure is put on me.’
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