National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1004
Johanna Rouse
Registered Occupational Therapist
Community Affairs Legislation Committee
24th May, 2026
Re: National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
I am writing to you as the Director of a small Occupational Therapy practice in Melbourne, Victoria. My practice provides therapist-led social groups and 1:1 support for teens and young adults to connect and build confidence around others.
Every day in our work our team of Occupational Therapists witnesses the transformational power of support that centres social connection as a key ingredient for health and wellbeing. Many of the young people we work with are Autistic and have experienced significant mental health challenges, school disengagement and disconnection from the social world. Only a few weeks back, we met with a young person who had emerged from their house for the first time in months.
In our groups young people can find an inclusive space to connect, belong and thrive. They can receive specialist therapy support to target goals around social confidence, anxiety management, and peer connection, helping them re-engage in community, education or employment pathways.
As a therapist, a mum of two small children, and a business owner who understands the importance of balancing fiscal and social responsibility, I urge you to consider the imminent risks and long-term impact of this Bill. I agree the NDIS system is long overdue for reform, however, the proposed changes are not based in evidence about what is helpful for the disability community, nor has clinical input been adequately considered.
I am particularly concerned about the ministerial power to slash funding across entire support categories, with zero risk assessment for the individuals involved. The funding allocated for “Social, Civic and Community Participation” is targeted for 50% cuts within months, with this funding set to be discontinued altogether. This is the very funding that covers groups like ours, and funds support workers who help people access those services, take part in the community, attend important appointments, do their shopping, build relationships and contribute to society.
This policy direction contradicts the growing mountain of public health research highlighting the risks of social isolation and loneliness. Social isolation is now recognised globally as a public health emergency- one that carries a greater mortality risk than many well-known factors, such as smoking and obesity. Persistent loneliness is associated with high psychological distress, social anxiety, depression and suicidality.
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1004
In particular, I am extremely concerned about the Autistic community, and those with associated psychosocial disabilities being targeted by these significant cuts to funding. These people have accessed the NDIS in part because there is a lack of services available our country to provide them with the support they require to live, thrive and actively participate in society. The proposed Thriving Kids and other yet to be defined Foundational Supports for Psychosocial Disability risk leaving our young people without supports. In addition, Autistic people are between 7 – 9 times more likely than non autistic people to die by suicide, with a significant mitigating factor to this being the factor of loneliness. These NDIS changes will likely further increase loneliness for the autistic community, and thus I am gravely concerned will increase the suicide rates in this community even further.
Those of us who lived in Melbourne during the COVID-19 lockdowns have experienced just a small taste of what prolonged social isolation does to the human psyche - and our health and education systems are still seeing the long-term impacts today in rates of school disengagement and mental ill health.
These cuts are also in direct contradiction with the Federal Government’s own roll out of the National Autism Strategy which has developed a Mental Health Roadmap with a focus on quality of life and wellbeing for the Autistic community. The government has spent millions of dollars on the strategy, with minimal tangible outcomes being seen for the Autistic community. The money spent on this strategy could have been actively re-directed to support the NDIS, instead people’s plans will now be cut.
This Bill may slash costs- but will create downstream pressure on our already strained public health care system and workers. As NDIS participants lose access to their support workers, we will likely see more and more families buckle under the strain of increased carer roles- impacts that directly hit their own health, wellbeing and capacity to work.
But more than anything, behind these numbers and budgets are people and relationships. People won’t just lose funds; they will lose long-standing relationships with support workers who have become an integral part of their lives.
Investing in social and community participation is not a luxury “extra”, but an evidence-based, health promotion investment.
I strongly urge you to:
- Vote against the Bill in its current form, or actively support amendments that fully protect Social, Civic and Community Participation funding.
- Repeal ministerial power to make sweeping funding cuts without rigorous, individualised risk assessments.
- Require that the promised “Inclusive Communities Fund” be fully co-designed, funded, and established before any existing supports are dismantled.
Thank you for your time, your leadership, and your consideration of this urgent matter. I welcome the opportunity to speak with you or your policy advisers directly to share our frontline insights.
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1004
Yours sincerely,
Johanna Rouse
Registered Occupational Therapist