The Revolving Door

Martin Hoffman.
Set the Prices. Sells the Chairs.

He ran the NDIA while it set the price framework for the scheme. Now he runs, and owns part of, a private equity-owned company selling equipment to NDIS participants.

Before government, he moved through tech, data and media companies.

Newsprint clipping of a man in a suit walking through a revolving door.
Nov 2019

Started as NDIA chief executive.[1]

Jul 2023

Became chief executive of Aidacare.[2]

1,226,312

Management shares in Aidacare’s holding company in his name.[3]

A$540m

Borrowed by Aidacare in February 2026.[4]

The Chain

NDIA CEONovember 2019 to July 2022
Aidacare CEOFrom July 2023. Owned by Quadrant Private Equity
Equipment lobbyOn the board of the Assistive Technology Suppliers Australia (ATSA) by November 2024

Hoffman was appointed in 2019, when Stuart Robert was NDIS minister, and ran the NDIA from November 2019 to July 2022.[1] In July 2023 he became chief executive of Aidacare, which sells wheelchairs, beds and other equipment to NDIS participants.[2]

Quadrant Private Equity bought a majority of Aidacare in December 2022.[5] The Future Fund has $1,414.5 million with Quadrant.[6] In February 2026, Aidacare borrowed about A$540 million to refinance debt and pay Quadrant a dividend.[4]

Hoffman isn’t only the chief executive. Aidacare trades through QPE Alpha 1 Pty Ltd, the Quadrant company registered at Aidacare’s Moorebank head office. ASIC records show Martin Hoffman holding 1,226,312 management shares in it, beneficially owned and fully paid. Another 281,449 management shares are held, not beneficially, by Ulysses Corporation Pty Ltd. Ulysses is Hoffman’s third given name.[3]

Before government, ASIC records list him as a director of a run of research, data and information companies: AZA Research (1996 to 2000), the Cooperative Research Centre for Biopharmaceutical Research (1996 to 1999), the CRC for Asthma and Airways (1999 to 2004), Australian Property Monitors (2001), HWW (2006), Azure Health Technology (2007 to 2009), InfoChoice (2007 to 2008), Media Next (2007 to 2009), and the Australian Solar Institute (2012 to 2013).[7]

He ran ninemsn, the PBL and Microsoft internet joint venture, from January 2003 to July 2006, and sat on the board of realestate.com.au from April 2003 to April 2006. In January 2007 he became chief executive of Loop Mobile, a listed mobile social network, and was issued 2 million shares worth $400,000 under his employment contract.[8]

InfoChoice was a listed financial comparison company. Michael Traill, who later chaired the government’s Social Impact Investing Taskforce, was also one of its directors. Hoffman joined in June 2007. A month later InfoChoice sold its mortgage-processing business to Perpetual, and Hoffman left the board on 5 February 2008.[7][9][10]

By November 2024, ATSA’s newsletter listed “Martin Hoffman (Aidacare)” as a director. The same issue reports ATSA sitting down with Bill Shorten and senior NDIS staff about equipment approval delays, and setting up a monthly meeting with the NDIA.[11]

20 March 2026: Aidacare admitted to the ACCC that from January 2022 to May 2025 it likely told customers they weren’t entitled to repairs, replacements or refunds when the law said they were.

Its contracts likely had unfair terms, including only 24 to 72 hours to report a fault. Aidacare gave a court-enforceable undertaking to fix it.[12]

The Career

From company records and annual reports.

  1. 1996 to 2000Director of AZA Research, and from 1996 to 1999 the Cooperative Research Centre for Biopharmaceutical Research.[7]
  2. 1999 to 2004Director of the CRC for Asthma and Airways.[7]
  3. 2001Alternate director of Australian Property Monitors.[7]
  4. 2003 to 2006Chief executive of ninemsn, the PBL and Microsoft internet joint venture. On the board of realestate.com.au from April 2003 to April 2006.[8]
  5. 2006Director of HWW, April to August.[7]
  6. January 2007Chief executive of Loop Mobile. Issued 2 million shares worth $400,000 under his employment contract on 30 May 2007. The same day Peter Yates was issued 1 million shares worth $200,000 “in compensation for executive search service”.[8]
  7. June 2007 to February 2008Director of InfoChoice, a financial comparison company whose directors also included Michael Traill.[9]
  8. 2007 to 2009Director of Azure Health Technology and Media Next.[7]
  9. July 2008Steps back from chief executive to non-executive director at Loop, later renamed MOKO. Later founds Ulysses Ventures, a digital media advisory and investment business.[13]
  10. 14 October 2008Peter Yates, the former PBL chief executive, joins the MOKO board.[14]
  11. Late March 2009Joins the Prime Minister’s department as Executive Co-ordinator, Strategic Policy and Implementation, helping the Coordinator-General run the stimulus.[15]
  12. 31 March 2009At a meeting with Senator Mark Arbib, Hoffman and Coordinator-General Mike Mrdak propose changing the home insulation program so householders hire installers directly. The environment department’s officers later said Mrdak told them Hoffman’s private sector experience was significant.[15]
  13. 6 July to 6 August 2009Director of NBN Co for one month, while it was being set up.[16]
  14. December 2012 to March 2013Director of the Australian Solar Institute.[7]
  15. November 2019Starts as NDIA chief executive.[1]
  16. July 2022Leaves the NDIA.[1]
  17. December 2022Quadrant Private Equity buys a majority of Aidacare.[5]
  18. July 2023Becomes chief executive of Aidacare.[2]
  19. November 2024Listed as a director of the equipment suppliers’ lobby, ATSA.[11]
  20. February 2026Aidacare borrows about A$540 million.[4]
  21. 20 March 2026Aidacare admits to the ACCC it likely misled customers about their rights.[12]

The Man Next to Him: Peter Yates

Hoffman’s path runs alongside one money man for years.

Macquarie Bank15 years in investment banking, to 2001
PBL chief executive2001 to 2004, running the Packer flagship
Allco Equity PartnersListed private equity, from 2004
Regal Partners chair2026

Yates spent 15 years at Macquarie Bank, then became chief executive of Publishing and Broadcasting Limited, the Packer family’s company, in 2001.[17] He sat on the boards of PBL, Crown, Foxtel, the Nine Network, Ticketek and ninemsn.[18] Hoffman ran ninemsn from 2003. Kerry Packer sacked Yates in June 2004.[19]

From November 2004 Yates ran Allco Equity Partners, a listed private equity company later renamed Oceania Capital Partners.[20] He was a director of Veda, the credit reporting company.[18]

When Loop Mobile listed in 2007 with Hoffman as chief executive, Yates was paid 1 million shares worth $200,000 for “executive search service”. The report doesn’t say who he found.[8] Yates joined the board in October 2008 and stayed until November 2014.[14] In 2015 he held 50,163,402 shares, 6.64 per cent of the company.[21]

Since then Yates has been Deputy Chairman of Myer Family Investments and a Linfox director.[18] He sits on the board of Mutual Trust, the family office whose directors include Sidney and Rupert Myer.[22] He chairs the Shared Value Project, which promotes businesses making a profit from tackling social problems, and he chairs AIA Australia.[23]

In April 2026 he became chair of Regal Partners, the alternative investment manager.[24]

What we want to know: Who did Yates find for Loop? And who recruited Hoffman into the Prime Minister’s department in March 2009?

What We Want Released

  • Every interest Hoffman declared when he entered the public service and the NDIA, and what he sold.
  • Who recruited Hoffman into the Prime Minister’s department in March 2009, and who created his job.
  • Any contact between Hoffman, Quadrant or Aidacare while he was at the NDIA.
  • The NDIA pricing decisions on assistive technology during his time, and who lobbied on them.
  • Who will be held accountable, and what will be done to make sure this never happens again.
Rob De LucaThe CEO before him. Read itThe Buy-upsHow Aidacare fits into the buy-ups. Read it

Sources

  1. Bill Shorten, NDIA CEO Martin Hoffman to resign, 11 June 2022. https://ministers.dss.gov.au/media-releases/8261
  2. Michael West Media, Claudia Weisenberger, Inside Job: how former insiders and corporateers are cashing in on the NDIS, September 2026. https://michaelwest.com.au/inside-job-how-former-insiders-and-corporateers-are-cashing-in-on-the-ndis/
  3. ASIC, historical organisational extract, QPE Alpha 1 Pty Ltd (ACN 664 130 689), extracted 7 September 2026, held by Enough; Australian Business Register, ABN 29 664 130 689; IBISWorld, QPE Alpha 1 Pty Ltd trading as Aidacare; Aidacare, Contact us. https://abr.business.gov.au/ABN/View?id=29664130689 https://www.ibisworld.com/australia/company/qpe-alpha-1-pty-ltd/413506/ https://www.aidacare.com.au/about-aidacare/contact/
  4. Bloomberg, republished by Swissinfo, Bain, UBS lend $382 million to Quadrant’s Aidacare in Australia, 18 February 2026. https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/bain%2C-ubs-lend-%24382-million-to-quadrants-aidacare-in-australia/90961459
  5. Mergers Alliance, Aidacare transaction record, 9 December 2022. https://www.mergers-alliance.com/madds/aidacare/
  6. Future Fund, Periodic Investment Report, 30 June 2026, Table 1. https://content.futurefund.gov.au/Periodic+Investment+Report+30+Jun+2026+-+Future+Fund+(A1435346).csv
  7. ASIC person extract, Martin Paul Ulysses Hoffman, via CreditorWatch. Held by Enough.
  8. Loop Mobile Limited, Annual Report 2008, directors’ report, remuneration report and share-based payments note. https://announcements.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20080827/pdf/31bymf64gkmyx0.pdf
  9. Delisted.com.au, InfoChoice Limited (ASX: ICH), directors list. https://www.delisted.com.au/company/infochoice-limited
  10. InfoChoice Limited, Annual Report 2008, directors’ report and note 26 (NLS assets sold to Perpetual on 20 July 2007); InfoChoice Limited, AGM addresses, 8 November 2007. https://www.aspecthuntley.com.au/asxdata/20080829/pdf/00875145.pdf http://www.aspectfinancial.com.au/asxdata/20071108/pdf/00780742.pdf
  11. Assistive Technology Suppliers Australia, newsletter, November 2024. https://atsa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/ATSA-Newsletter-NOVEMBER-2024.pdf
  12. ACCC, NDIS provider Aidacare admits to misleading customers about their consumer guarantee rights, 20 March 2026. https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/ndis-provider-aidacare-admits-to-misleading-customers-about-their-consumer-guarantee-rights
  13. ANZSOG, Martin Hoffman profile. https://anzsog.edu.au/faculty-and-expert-contributors/martin-hoffman
  14. Delisted.com.au, MOKO Social Media Limited (ASX: MKB), directors list. https://www.delisted.com.au/company/moko-social-media-limited/
  15. ANZSOG, The Best Laid Plans: Australia’s Home Insulation Program (A), case 2017-190.1. https://anzsog.edu.au/app/uploads/2022/06/Best_Laid-Plans-Australias-Home-Insulation-Program-A-2017-190-1-Rev-CC.pdf
  16. NBN Co, Annual Report 2008–09, directors; NBN Co, Annual Report 2009–10. https://www.nbnco.com.au/content/dam/nbnco2/2018/documents/corporate-reports/nbn-co-annual-report-08-09.pdf.coredownload.pdf https://www.nbnco.com.au/content/dam/nbnco2/2018/documents/corporate-reports/nbnco-annual-report-09-10.pdf.coredownload.pdf
  17. AIA Australia, Our people (Peter Yates: 15 years with Macquarie Bank); Brighton Grammar, Peter Wilson Yates AM (PBL chief executive from 2001; Allco Equity Partners 2004 to July 2007). https://www.aia.com.au/en/about-aia/about-us/our-people https://www.brightongrammar.vic.edu.au/member/peter-wilson-yates-am/
  18. Linfox, Peter Yates AM (former directorships including PBL, Crown, Foxtel, Nine Network, ninemsn, Ticketek, Veda; Deputy Chairman, Myer Family Investments). https://www.linfox.com/profiles/peter-yates-am/
  19. AICD, Shared value unlocked, profile of Peter Yates AM. https://www.aicd.com.au/leadership/qualities-of-a-good-leader/skills/shared-value-with-peter-yates-am-faicd.html
  20. Delisted.com.au, Oceania Capital Partners Limited (formerly Allco Equity Partners), directors list. https://www.delisted.com.au/company/oceania-capital-partners-limited/
  21. MOKO Social Media Limited, Annual Report FY15, substantial shareholders. https://www.aspecthuntley.com.au/asxdata/20150930/pdf/01667655.pdf
  22. Mutual Trust, Our people. https://www.mutualtrust.com.au/our-people/
  23. Shared Value Project, Peter Yates AM profile. https://sharedvalue.org.au/profiles/peter-yates-am/
  24. Regal Partners, Our people; Financial Standard, Regal Partners appoints chair-elect, 13 April 2026. https://regalpartners.com/people https://www.financialstandard.com.au/news/regal-partners-appoints-chair-elect-179812163