Impact of NDIS reforms on families and clinicians | External submission

National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1058

Submission regarding the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026

Submitted by: Melinda Cassells Date of Submission: 25th May 2026

My name is Melinda Cassells. I am a Speech-Language Pathologist and Director of Speech & Language Support Services, a paediatric speech pathology practice based in Queensland that has supported children, adults and families for more than 30 years.

Introduction and Professional Background

I am writing this submission out of deep concern for the proposed NDIS changes and the potential impact on participants, families, carers, women, clinicians and small community-based providers.

I acknowledge the importance of ensuring the long-term sustainability of the NDIS. However, I believe these proposed reforms risk reducing choice and control, increasing barriers to support, and shifting the burden of care back onto families and unpaid carers, particularly women.

I am concerned that the cumulative eƯect of the proposed reforms may unintentionally reduce access to supports, increase reliance on unpaid carers, and shift signiﬁcant pressures onto families, frontline services and community systems.

My concerns relate particularly to proposed reforms surrounding eligibility pathways, functional assessment processes, access to supports, the requirement for families to exhaust alternative systems prior to accessing the NDIS, and changes that may increase future government discretion regarding eligibility and funded supports. In my view, these reforms risk creating signiﬁcant unintended consequences for participants, families, carers and the broader disability support system.

In my clinical work, I regularly see the realities that are often invisible within policy discussions and assessment tools. Families frequently adapt their entire lives around disability and communication challenges in ways that are diƯicult to quantify. Parents reduce work hours, avoid community activities, withdraw from employment opportunities, and experience signiﬁcant emotional and ﬁnancial strain in order to support their child or adult family member.

Our practice supports families across Queensland and employs clinicians and administrative staƯ within the local community. Through this work, I regularly witness both the transformative impact of appropriate supports and the signiﬁcant consequences when those supports are reduced, delayed or inaccessible.

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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1058

For many participants, appropriate supports are not luxuries; they are what allow a person to communicate, build relationships, participate in their community, access education or employment, and live with dignity and safety.

Hidden Disability and Functional Impact

Many communication and functional diƯiculties are “hidden” and may not be adequately captured through proposed functional assessment processes. The impact of disability is often seen not only in what a person cannot do, but in what families must constantly do to compensate, prevent distress, maintain safety, and help the person participate in daily life.

Communication disability is frequently underestimated because many diƯiculties are not immediately visible. A person may appear physically capable while experiencing profound challenges with understanding language, expressing needs, managing emotions, advocating for themselves, participating socially, maintaining relationships, accessing education or employment, or staying safe within the community. These impacts can place enormous strain on families and carers despite not always being easily captured through standardised assessments or brief functional observations.

Many families appear to be coping only because they have reorganised every aspect of their lives around disability and support needs.

Individuals may appear capable within short, structured assessment settings while requiring extensive support to safely participate in daily life, relationships, education, employment or the community.

For example, I currently work with a family whose child was transitioned from a special school setting into mainstream education after being considered “too capable” for special education placement. However, the mainstream school has struggled to adequately support his needs and has only been able to accommodate him for two hours each day. The consequences of this reduced attendance are absorbed by the family, particularly the child’s mother, who is attempting to balance employment alongside intensive caregiving responsibilities.

On some occasions following night shift work, she remains in the school car park attempting to sleep for short periods while her child attends school before needing to take him home again. Due to the complexity of his needs, rest is not possible once they return home, as he requires ongoing supervision and support. Over time, I have observed the cumulative physical and emotional toll this level of caregiving places on her wellbeing, exhaustion and ability to maintain employment.

This example highlights how disability impacts are often transferred onto families when systems are unable to adequately support participation. Families may appear to be

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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1058

managing only because they are operating at unsustainable levels of exhaustion and adaptation behind the scenes.

The Long-Term Value of Early Intervention and Capacity Building

I am deeply concerned that changes to funded supports and access to capacity- building interventions and community access supports may create greater long-term costs for both participants and the Scheme itself. When people are not supported to build communication, independence, regulation, social participation and daily living skills, their needs often increase over time.

Without appropriate supports, individuals can become less able to participate independently in education, employment, relationships and community life, resulting in greater future reliance on intensive supports and crisis services.

I have worked with clients who were unable to consistently access therapy due to ﬁnancial constraints prior to obtaining NDIS funding as adults. In some cases, individuals returned to therapy in their late teens or early adulthood having experienced little meaningful progression in communication skills over many years without support.

In contrast, clients who were able to access ongoing therapy and early intervention during childhood often demonstrated signiﬁcantly stronger communication, independence, social participation and functional outcomes over time. These experiences highlight the long-term value of sustained early support and the potential future costs of reducing access to therapy and capacity-building interventions.

Reducing disability supports does not remove disability-related needs. It frequently transfers those costs to unpaid carers, emergency systems, education settings, mental health services and the broader community.

Impact on Families, Women and Siblings

The ﬁnancial impact on women must be more fully acknowledged within these reforms. Women continue to undertake the majority of unpaid caring responsibilities, often reducing paid employment, sacriﬁcing career progression, and compromising their long-term ﬁnancial security and superannuation in order to provide care. When formal supports are reduced, these costs are not removed — they are simply transferred onto families, particularly mothers and female carers, with lifelong economic consequences.

I currently work with families where the level of unpaid care being provided is equivalent to a full-time workforce role. One mother caring for her 16-year-old son provides support around the clock and has been unable to maintain employment due to the complexity of his needs. The ﬁnancial burden on the family is substantial, but equally concerning is the impact on her own health and wellbeing. She experiences signiﬁcant burnout, chronic migraines and has diƯiculty attending even routine medical appointments due to the challenge of ﬁnding appropriate care for her son. These hidden

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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1058

costs are rarely reﬂected in discussions about the ﬁnancial sustainability of disability supports, despite the enormous personal, economic and social consequences for families.

I am also deeply concerned about the increased safety risks that arise when families have no option but to leave a person with disability home alone because appropriate supports are unavailable or unaƯordable. These situations place enormous stress on families and can expose participants to signiﬁcant risks, including social isolation, neglect, mental health deterioration, and preventable harm.

The impact of inadequate disability supports also extends beyond the primary participant to siblings and the wider family unit. I have worked with families where siblings miss out on extracurricular activities, social opportunities, holidays and individual time with parents due to the signiﬁcant emotional, ﬁnancial and caregiving demands within the household. Some siblings take on caring responsibilities from a young age or adapt their own behaviour to avoid triggering distress or dysregulation within the home. These impacts are often invisible within funding discussions, yet they can profoundly shape family wellbeing, childhood experiences, mental health and long- term family functioning.

Risks of Reducing Supports and Narrowing Eligibility

I am particularly concerned about reforms that may allow future governments to narrow access to the NDIS through changing eligibility rules, assessment frameworks, or interpretations of functional impairment. People with autism, intellectual disability, psychosocial disability and complex communication needs must not become vulnerable to exclusion because they are perceived as ﬁnancially costly groups within the Scheme.

I am also concerned about reforms that may require individuals and families to demonstrate they have exhausted all alternative supports and systems prior to accessing the NDIS, without adequately considering whether those supports are genuinely available, accessible, aƯordable or appropriate. Many families already face signiﬁcant barriers including long public waitlists, ﬁnancial hardship, workforce shortages, geographical limitations and inconsistent service availability.

A system that requires families to navigate and “fail through” multiple unsupported pathways before accessing disability supports risks delaying intervention, increasing family distress and worsening long-term outcomes. It may also disproportionately disadvantage families with lower ﬁnancial resources, reduced advocacy capacity, limited health literacy or reduced access to services within their local community.

In practice, families who are already overwhelmed are often expected to coordinate complex systems across health, education, disability and community sectors while

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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1058

simultaneously managing intensive caregiving responsibilities. The ability of a family to successfully navigate these systems should not determine whether a person with disability is able to access appropriate support.

While the intention of clarifying the role of mainstream and foundational supports may be understandable, these systems are currently inconsistent, diƯicult to access, and frequently unable to meet the needs of individuals with signiﬁcant disability and communication challenges.

Prior to the introduction of the NDIS, I witnessed signiﬁcant levels of family burnout, crisis and carer overwhelm associated with inadequate disability supports. In some cases across the broader disability community, prolonged unsupported caring arrangements contributed to tragic outcomes for both carers and people with disability. These experiences remain a signiﬁcant concern when discussing reductions in support, increasing barriers to access, or transferring greater caring responsibility back onto families without adequate safeguards.

I am also concerned about the growing imbalance between participants and the resources available to government agencies during appeals and tribunal processes. Many families already feel overwhelmed navigating complex systems while simultaneously managing disability, caring responsibilities, ﬁnancial pressures and emotional stress. Any reforms that reduce participants’ ability to seek independent review or challenge decisions risk further disempowering vulnerable Australians who may already struggle to advocate for themselves.

Sustainability of the Workforce and Small Providers

I am increasingly concerned about the sustainability of small community-based therapy providers and the loss of experienced clinicians from the sector. Within my local area alone, multiple small therapy practices employing several therapists and administrative staƯ have recently closed or signiﬁcantly changed operations. I am also aware of highly experienced clinicians with decades of expertise choosing to step away from private practice due to increasing pressures and instability within the sector.

The loss of these providers has signiﬁcant consequences for participants and families. Many families build long-term therapeutic relationships based on trust, safety and deep understanding of a person’s communication, regulation and support needs. When experienced clinicians leave the sector or practices close, families often experience distress, disruption to care, longer waitlists, reduced service availability and the loss of highly specialised knowledge that can take many years to rebuild within the workforce.

It is important that future reforms do not unintentionally create a disability support market dominated by large organisations at the expense of smaller community-based

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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1058

providers. Diversity within the provider market is critical to maintaining participant choice, continuity of care, innovation and access to experienced clinicians.

Many smaller practices provide highly individualised support, long-term therapeutic relationships and strong continuity for families over many years. Families often report that consistency, trust and clinician experience are essential to achieving meaningful outcomes, particularly for participants with complex communication, behavioural or emotional needs.

High workforce turnover, limited access to experienced senior clinicians and disruptions to therapeutic relationships can signiﬁcantly aƯect participant progress, family conﬁdence and long-term outcomes. Policies that reduce the sustainability of smaller providers may unintentionally reduce the quality, diversity and stability of supports available to participants and families.

The sustainability of the NDIS cannot be considered solely in terms of participant numbers or budget expenditure. It must also consider the long-term sustainability of the skilled workforce and community-based services that participants rely upon to access meaningful support.

The success of the NDIS should not be measured solely by short-term budget reduction, but by long-term human, social and economic outcomes.

Conclusion

I urge all Members of Parliament, Senators, and relevant decision-makers to carefully consider the real-world consequences of these reforms for people with disability, their families, and the broader community. I also encourage stronger advocacy and consultation with frontline clinicians, participants, carers, and small providers who witness these impacts every day and can provide valuable insight into the practical realities of disability support.

While individual reforms may appear administrative or technical in isolation, the cumulative eƯect of the proposed changes may signiﬁcantly increase pressure on participants, carers, families and frontline systems.

The sustainability of the NDIS should not be measured solely by reducing expenditure, but by whether Australians with disability and their families are able to live safely, participate meaningfully in society, and access the supports required to achieve their potential.

Recommendations
Maintain strong protections around participant choice and control within all future assessment, planning and funding processes.

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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1058

Ensure eligibility criteria and access pathways cannot be substantially narrowed through future rule changes, assessment frameworks or delegated decision- making without full parliamentary scrutiny and public consultation.
Ensure participants are not required to exhaust alternative or foundational supports where those supports are unavailable, inaccessible, delayed, geographically limited or ﬁnancially unaƯordable.
Protect access to early intervention, therapy, communication and capacity- building supports, recognising their role in improving long-term participation, independence and community outcomes.
Ensure functional assessment processes adequately capture hidden disabilities, communication needs, cumulative caregiving demands and the lived realities of families and carers.
Maintain accessible, aƯordable and independent review pathways for participants seeking to challenge NDIA decisions.
Increase consultation with frontline clinicians, participants, carers and small community-based providers prior to implementing signiﬁcant reforms to eligibility, assessment or funded supports.
Ensure reforms are evaluated against long-term participant wellbeing, workforce participation, family sustainability and community outcomes, rather than short- term ﬁnancial savings alone.

Kind regards,

Melinda Cassells

Senior Speech-Language Pathologist

Director – Speech & Language Support Services

Clontarf, Queensland

Email:

I would welcome the opportunity to provide further information if required.

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