Tens of thousands of employed people on the National Disability Insurance Scheme are being underpaid, new data has revealed.

Key points: The Department of Social Services has said the figures did not account for workers paid more than the industry minimum

The Department of Social Services has said the figures did not account for workers paid more than the industry minimum Matthew Bowden from People with Disability Australia said some "people with disability are being paid as little as $1 an hour"

Matthew Bowden from People with Disability Australia said some "people with disability are being paid as little as $1 an hour" The National Disability Insurance Agency said the Government has established a taskforce into employment for NDIS participants

The agency responsible for the scheme has released figures revealing just 30 per cent of working people on the NDIS are being paid the industry minimum.

The figure is closer to 40 per cent for 15 to 24-year-olds.

The revelations have shocked disability advocates, with Matthew Bowden from People with Disability Australia calling on the Government to immediately examine the system.

"It's extremely concerning, and we have enormous concerns that people with disabilities continue to be forced into situations of poverty because we're not being paid fair wages.

"We have people with disability being paid as little as $1 an hour for the work they do.

"That's just unjust, and we call on the Government to review the situation."

The data breaks up the NDIS workforce into those within the general workforce, and those in Australian Disability Enterprises (ADEs) — which are government programs supporting people with disabilities to engage in work.

About half of NDIS participants aged 25 and over were working in ADEs.

In a statement, a spokeswoman for the Department of Social Services said over the last decade, Disability Employment Services had helped 850,000 people try to find jobs.

She said the figures did not account for those being paid more than the industry minimum, both within and outside the NDIS.

"According to the Department of Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business, most Australians with disability participate in the open workforce at full rates of pay with many being paid above award rates," she said.

A quarter of people on the NDIS getting paid for work

The Employment Outcomes report also revealed Australians with disabilities experience much poorer employment outcomes when compared to other high-income economies.

Only about half of people with disabilities have a job, while just 23 per cent of the 60,000 surveyed said they were working in a paid job when they transitioned into the scheme.

Mr Bowden said the difficulty in finding a job meant people with disabilities were willing to accept substandard wages and conditions.

Mr Bowden said people with disability may have been forced into situations of poverty. ( Pixabay: Klimkin )

"People are really keen to work, and that eagerness to work, and people believing these skills and support will enable them to move into employment … forces people into institutional and segregated environments," he said.

The report found Australia's employment to population ratio for people with a disability is 39.8 per cent — compared to an OECD average of 44 per cent.

But it predicted that if Australia's ratio was adjusted to the OECD average, about 117,000 more Australians would be employed and almost $12 billion would also be added to real GDP.

Mr Bowden said it was motivation for the Government to consider reform.

"We haven't got the will from Government to really look at this problem, we need there to be a national jobs plan for people with disabilities,'" he said.

"We need this to be across Government, involving all sectors, to be led by people with disabilities so together we can bring about dignified and humane work environments, and to have people with disability earning a decent wage for a day's work."

Government has already established a taskforce

In a statement, a spokeswoman for the National Disability Insurance Agency, which oversees the NDIS, said the Government had already established a taskforce into the issue of employment for NDIS participants.

She said the Government had this week announced nearly $20 million in grants to funding to help people with disabilities participate in work.

"While some of the outcomes of NDIS participants will improve relatively quickly, others will be much more long-term in nature — including employment — as participants continue to benefit from the supports provided by the NDIS," she said.