National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1026
Dear Committee,
My name is , and I am writing to express my emphatic opposition to the NDIS Future Generations Bill 2026.
As the mother of an autistic son who has benefited from NDIS funding for the better part of a decade, and as a professional researcher whose work has platformed the voices of disabled people, I am uniquely positioned to recognise the damage this bill will cause to the lives of disabled people like my son and the countless others I have listened to and learned from.
While there are numerous problems with the bill as I see it, the unfortunate reality is that not enough time has been provided for me to address them all, so I will focus on an especially egregious provision: the 50% cut to social and community participation funding from October 2026. People like my son, whose disabilities are often not visible, nonetheless struggle with social interaction and involvement in the community—and such involvement has been cited as a crucial indicator of quality of life (WHO, 2001). Ignoring, and defunding, aspects of life that contribute to overall well-being is a stunning choice to make at a time when autistic life expectancy rates are 20 to 36 years shorter than average life expectancy in Australia, and autistic Australians’ depression rates are two to four times higher than the general population. Social programs that impact quality of life have been proven to lower depression rates (Schiltz et al., 2018) and provide a sense of belonging for autistic people who are hard-pressed to find it elsewhere.
This has been the case for my son, whose involvement with a social program for autistic youth (FutureTech) has led to the development of friendships, a growing sense of confidence and mentorship, and a source of belonging and hope. Removing funding for such programs would leave these youth and their families without that hope, and with a bleaker future.
I am asking you to reject this bill and listen to autistic voices, who are the true experts on what they need to thrive and live meaningful lives rather than be edged out of society by the provisions of this regressive policy.
Sincerely,