National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1083
To whom it may concern,
Re Submission in response to National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
I write this submission as both a person living with significant disability and as an almost-qualified Occupational Therapist completing my Master of Occupational Therapy. I also write as a mother, a community volunteer, and someone who has spent years navigating the realities of the National Disability Insurance Scheme from both personal and professional perspectives.
At 6am this morning, I sat waiting for a FaceTime call from my family so I could watch my son compete in his first half marathon. I should have been there. Instead, I remain isolated at home because ongoing NDIS delays in accessing essential assistive technology - including my power wheelchair and vehicle modifications
- continue to prevent me from safely participating in my community, family life, education, and employment.
I have only nine placement days remaining before completing my Occupational Therapy qualification, yet I face the very real prospect of unemployment, not because I lack capacity, skill, or motivation, but because systems intended to support participation are instead creating barriers to it .
The delays associated with the NDIS are no longer isolated incidents. Providers increasingly avoid working with NDIS participants because of excessive administrative burden, delayed approvals, inconsistent decision- making, repeated requests for further reports, and prolonged payment timeframes. This creates a dangerous cycle where participants cannot access services, clinicians experience burnout, and critical supports are delayed or abandoned altogether.
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1083
As someone who has lived with disability for more than 30 years, including six years on the NDIS, I have watched the public narrative around disability become increasingly hostile and economically framed. I also hold concerns regarding the current legislative reforms being progressed without what many within the disability community perceive to be adequate co-design, consultation, transparency, or long-term systems analysis.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), to which Australia is a signatory, recognises the right of people with disability to full participation, autonomy, inclusion, mobility, employment, education, and community life. These are not luxuries. They are human rights.
The proposed changes to Section 34A and the increasing shift toward rigid impairment classifications, computerised functional assessments, and ministerial decision-making powers raise serious concerns regarding procedural fairness, occupational justice, and human rights protections.
Occupational justice recognises that all people have the right to engage in meaningful occupations and participate fully in society. Restricting access to supports, transport, assistive technology, social participation, or therapeutic intervention does not reduce disability – it increases isolation, deteriorating health, hospital admissions, family breakdown, mental health decline, and long-term economic burden across other government systems.
There is significant concern within the disability and allied health sectors that decisions are increasingly being made about people with disability rather than with them. The disability community has consistently advocated the principle of “Nothing About Us Without Us,” yet many reforms appear rushed through without meaningful consultation with those most impacted.
I fully acknowledge that the NDIS requires reform and long-term sustainability measures. Fraud reduction, improved governance, stronger auditing processes, provider accountability, and more efficient administrative systems are all necessary. However, sustainability cannot come at the expense of human dignity and safety.
Before reducing supports to vulnerable Australians, there must first be:
- Comprehensive internal auditing of administrative inefficiencies and duplication;
- Greater transparency regarding evidence requirements and decision-making frameworks;
- Investment in accessible and functional IT systems;
- Appropriate provider registration proportional to financial and clinical risk;
- Genuine co-design with people with disability, families, clinicians, and advocacy organisations;
- State and territory consultation regarding any expansion of ministerial powers under Section 34A;
- Independent safeguards and accountability measures for automated or computer-assisted functional assessment systems.
Disability support is often portrayed as an isolated budget burden, yet disability intersects with almost every other government portfolio including health, housing, education, transport, employment, justice, and aged care. Poor disability policy does not reduce costs – it shifts them elsewhere.
I also ask that consideration be given to the damaging public narrative increasingly directed toward people with disability. Media portrayals suggesting widespread misuse of supports fuel stigma, division, and misinformation. The overwhelming majority of participants are simply trying to survive, participate, raise families, work, study, and contribute meaningfully to society.
People with disability are not budget lines. We are human beings.
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1083
I ask all decision-makers, media representatives, and elected officials to carefully consider the long-term human consequences of these reforms and to work collaboratively with the disability community toward sustainable solutions that uphold dignity, participation, and human rights.
Thank you for taking the time to read this submission and consider the lived realities behind these policy decisions.
Kind regards,
Master of Occupational Therapy Student Person with lived experience of disability-Volunteer and disability advocate