Senior NT public servant's secret NDIS business raises conflict concerns

A senior Northern Territory public servant responsible for child and family services in Central Australia spent nearly three years as the sole director of a private National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) provider in Alice Springs, and for 15 months also owned a 50 per cent stake in the business's parent company.

The Department of Children and Families plays a significant role in the NDIS system in the NT, with the most recent figures showing more than 300 children in its care had active NDIS plans.

Public servant Kudzai Mutsunge ran the NDIS business Life Aspects while holding senior roles in the Department of Children and Families, and held shares in the business's parent company, Japhin The Teacher Pty Ltd, from December 2024 to February 2026.

Life Aspects is registered to provide a range of disability services, including assistance with independent living and support coordination, an area that involves arranging other providers for people with disability.

Kudzai Mutsunge was the sole director of Life Aspects for almost three years.

The department has referred a complaint about a potential conflict of interest to an internal integrity process.

Ms Mutsunge wound up her directorship and shareholding in Life Aspects earlier this year, one week before an anonymous complaint was sent to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission in March.

A separate complaint went to the Department of Children and Families in August, from the Alice Springs-based Disability Advocacy Service (DAS).

On August 21, the department told the service it had referred the information "through the appropriate internal integrity processes" and was coordinating with the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) "where relevant". The outcome of that process, if any, is unknown.

In response to questions, the department declined to say whether Ms Mutsunge had declared a potential conflict of interest or sought approval for outside work, saying it could not comment on individual employment or conduct matters.

Kudzai Mutsunge ran the NDIS business Life Aspects while holding senior roles in the Department of Children and Families.

Ms Mutsunge said she did not "endorse or agree to the allegations or characterisations" put to her about whether her roles presented a potential conflict of interest, and said she could not respond to further questions within the timeframe provided.

Under the NT public service code of conduct, employees must declare any perceived, potential or actual conflicts of interest in writing to their chief executive.

The department's acting chief executive Karen Broadfoot said it had "zero tolerance" for a failure to declare a conflict.

Ms Broadfoot said that where integrity matters involved the NDIS, the department would also coordinate with the Australian Federal Police when relevant.

DAS chief executive Scott Richardson said government officials needed to be held to a higher standard on potential NDIS conflicts, to ensure they "don't have access to participant information that they could then benefit from, or family could benefit from".

In a meeting in March, Ms Mutsunge reportedly told DAS staff that she was "operationally removed" from placement decisions, and denied any role in referring children to NDIS providers.

The Department of Children and Families has recently changed its conflict of interest policy.

Then on June 12, 2026, three months after Ms Mutsunge had offloaded Life Aspects, the department policy was updated.

The updated version created a tougher rule, which is being phased in, that all staff must complete an annual declaration covering any business or financial interests, including any jobs outside of the department, and submit paperwork saying "nil" if they have none.

The updated policy also includes extra measures for "higher risk" staff, specifically identifying staff who could influence referrals to NDIS providers.

Ms Mutsunge held senior roles in the department before she quit.

In June 2024, a document published by the NT government said she was Director of Remote Families for the Central Australia region.

By March this year, she was using an email signature that described her as Director, Youth and Family Support for the same region.

The NT's Public Guardian and Trustee, which acts for adults under guardianship orders, told that two of the people it represents had been clients of Life Aspects in the past.

Restructure and the business with no identifiable owner

ASIC documents reveal that Life Aspects was restructured over four days in late February and early March this year.

They show Ms Mutsunge set up two new companies and then signed away her directorships on the day each was registered.

She also transferred her stake in the parent company back to Japhin Nyengera, the man who owned the other 50 per cent of its shares, and who recorded the same Alice Springs address as her in ASIC filings.

The Life Aspects companies then passed to Freejoy Murukayi, a New South Wales man whose LinkedIn profile describes him as an electrical technician working for mining giant BHP.

He now holds the sole share in Life Aspects Investments, which owns Life Aspects, but ASIC documents show his shareholding is "non-beneficial", meaning he holds the business for someone else.

Internet domain records show Ms Mutsunge remains the registrant and technical contact for the Life Aspects website, using a private, non-government email address, at the time of publication.

Life Aspects is still listed as an active provider.

'Did not think disclosure was required'

On March 12, two disability advocates from DAS held a meeting with Ms Mutsunge to discuss the matter.

In a complaint sent to the department in August, obtained , they set out what they say she told them.

"Ms Mutsunge confirmed she has not lodged a formal conflict of interest declaration regarding her interest in Life Aspects through any Departmental system," DAS advocate Lachlan Imhof wrote.