National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 101
Good evening
I am writing as both a family carer and someone closely involved in supporting a participant navigating the NDIS system. Over the past several years I have seen firsthand how essential properly funded supports are, not only for participants themselves, but for the stability of entire families.
The NDIS has allowed people to access therapies, daily living support, community participation, and care that would otherwise be impossible to afford. These supports do not simply improve quality of life. In many cases they prevent hospitalisation, family breakdown, mental health deterioration, homelessness, and long-term dependence on already overwhelmed emergency systems.
I am deeply concerned about the speed and scale of the proposed changes contained in this bill, particularly given the very limited timeframe for public consultation on such significant legislation. Many families and carers are already exhausted from navigating increasingly complex reviews, funding uncertainty, and administrative pressure. Major structural changes to a scheme this important should not proceed without extensive consultation and transparency.
I am also concerned that foundational supports discussed in the 2023 review are not yet fully established, despite being described as an essential part of broader reform. Many people currently rely on the NDIS precisely because adequate mainstream and foundational supports do not exist in practice. Removing or restricting supports before those systems are operational risks leaving vulnerable people with nowhere to turn.
There also appears to be significant public confusion regarding the justification for these changes, particularly around fraud figures and projected cost savings. I believe the public deserves transparent evidence and clear modelling showing not only projected savings within the NDIS itself, but the likely downstream impacts on hospitals, mental health systems, carers, housing services, and unpaid family support.
In my own experience, when supports are reduced or delayed, the burden does not disappear. It shifts onto families, many of whom are already financially and emotionally stretched. In many cases this burden falls disproportionately on women who reduce work hours or leave employment entirely to provide unpaid care.
I ask the committee to carefully consider the long-term human and economic consequences of proceeding with major eligibility and funding changes before foundational supports are fully established and independently assessed.
I respectfully ask the committee to:
reject or delay this bill until foundational supports are genuinely in place, require the release of downstream cost modelling and supporting evidence, and ensure that people with disability, carers, and families are meaningfully consulted before changes of this magnitude proceed.
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 101
Thank you for considering my submission.
Regards
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