What Can Be Learned at the Intersection of Crisis Management and Administrative Burdens? Evidence From a Systematic Review of the Governance of Australia's National Disability Insurance Scheme During COVID-19

Crisis management is a field that evaluates and solves crisis and disaster responses. Whilst the effectiveness of the ideal-type parameters of crisis management and administration has been well examined, crisis responses create administrative burdens, particularly for marginalised groups, that must be navigated. This paper brings together the administrative burden and crisis response literature, presenting a systematic review of research into Australia's National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) during COVID-19 to answer: What burdens emerged during the COVID-19 response for people with a disability? Why did these burdens arise? Were they potentially avoidable? And who was harmed by these burdens? We find that NDIS workers and participants experienced considerable administrative burdens during the implementation of the Australian pandemic response and co-produced the limited successes found in NDIS COVID-19 measures. Consequently, we argue that a crisis equity agenda should anticipate multiplied burdens for marginalised populations, plan to mitigate them and prioritise and assist the most disadvantaged in navigating stressed policy systems during a crisis response.