National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1092
Submission to the Senate Inquiry National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Introduction
I am the parent of a young adult who is an NDIS participant.
My daughter has Autism Spectrum Disorder requiring very substantial support, an intellectual disability confirmed through cognitive assessment, ADHD, anxiety and depression. She also has an undiagnosed genetic condition, which contributes to the complexity of her presentation and support needs. Her disabilities affect all areas of daily life, including communication, understanding, learning, emotional regulation, coping with change, social interaction and independence. As a result, she requires substantial and ongoing support to participate safely, consistently and meaningfully at home and in the community.
I make this submission to address the provisions of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 relating to eligibility, functional capacity, support determinations, plan renewal, reassessments, permanence, reliance on other service systems, and compliance and administrative arrangements. I am concerned that these provisions may narrow access to essential supports for people with significant and permanent disability, including people with autism and intellectual disability.
Concerns About the Provisions of the Bill
I am concerned about provisions in the Bill that define functional capacity and strengthen the link between impairment and the need for support. While this approach may appear reasonable in principle, there is a real risk that, in practice, it will disadvantage people whose disabilities are lifelong, complex and not always accurately reflected in narrow assessments or administrative decision-making. For my daughter, autism and intellectual disability affect not only what she can do, but how consistently, safely and independently she can function in everyday life. Her ability to cope depends heavily on routine, familiar environments, structured support and emotional regulation. A narrow interpretation of functional capacity would not reflect the reality of her daily support needs.
I am also concerned about the Bill’s provisions relating to support determinations and the practical meaning of reasonable and necessary supports. For my daughter, support workers and social and community participation supports are essential. These supports are not optional extras. They are what make it possible for her to build independence, develop social skills, maintain friendships, regulate emotions and participate in the community with confidence and safety. If the Bill narrows the supports that may be funded, people like my daughter may lose access to supports that are fundamental to wellbeing, inclusion and development. Any apparent savings achieved by reducing these supports are likely to be
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1092
illusory, because the resulting financial and practical burden will be shifted onto participants, families and other already stretched service systems.
The provisions relating to plan renewal, reassessments and planning settings are also of serious concern. People with permanent and significant disabilities need stability and continuity. If plans become shorter, more restrictive, or subject to repeated scrutiny, this creates fear and instability for participants and families. In my daughter’s case, routine and consistency are central to her functioning. Disruption to supports can quickly lead to distress, regression in independence and increased reliance on family.
I am deeply concerned about any tightening of permanence or eligibility that may suggest a person should lose access to supports simply because they benefit from therapy, routine or structured assistance. Improvement with support does not mean the underlying disability has resolved. For a person with autism and intellectual disability, progress is often only possible because appropriate supports remain in place.
I am further concerned about provisions that may require greater reliance on mainstream or other service systems before NDIS support is available. Families should not be forced into inadequate or inaccessible systems in circumstances where those systems cannot meet complex disability-related needs. If these provisions shift responsibility away from the NDIS in practice, they risk creating delay, confusion and unmet need.
Finally, while I recognise the importance of protecting the NDIS from fraud and misuse, I am concerned that stronger compliance and administrative measures may place additional burden on participants and families already dealing with stress, complexity and uncertainty. These measures must be proportionate, transparent and implemented in a way that does not unfairly disadvantage vulnerable participants.
The Positive Impact of NDIS Supports
NDIS support has had a genuinely positive and meaningful impact on my daughter’s life. With the right supports in place, she has been able to build confidence, develop social skills, make friends, attend groups and participate in community activities in ways that would otherwise be much more difficult for her. These supports have helped her feel included rather than isolated and have provided opportunities for her to participate in group settings safely and successfully.
The most essential supports for my daughter are support workers and social and community participation supports. They help her build and maintain independence, develop social confidence, form and sustain friendships, maintain routine, and participate meaningfully in the community. They also assist with emotional regulation and with coping with changes, transitions and social demands that would otherwise be overwhelming.
These supports are particularly important because my daughter lives with both autism and intellectual disability. She requires assistance not only with practical participation and safety, but also with understanding situations, managing social expectations and navigating
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1092
environments that can otherwise be confusing or distressing. The supports she receives are therefore central to her wellbeing, development and dignity.
The Risks of Reducing Supports
If my daughter’s supports were reduced, or if the Bill operated in a way that made essential supports harder to access, the impact on her would be significant. She would be at real risk of increased isolation, loss of friendships, withdrawal from the community, heightened anxiety, emotional dysregulation and regression in the independence and confidence she has worked hard to develop.
Because my daughter has significant difficulty with change, social interaction, emotional regulation and sensory processing, continuity of support is essential. If community participation became harder to fund, if reassessments became more restrictive, or if plans became shorter and less stable, it would undermine the progress she has made and increase her dependence on family.
For our family, reduced or more restrictive supports would mean greater caring responsibilities, increased emotional strain, financial pressure and ongoing uncertainty. If essential supports are reduced, the costs do not disappear; they are transferred elsewhere. Families may be forced to reduce paid employment, absorb additional transport and participation costs, and provide increased unpaid supervision, care and coordination. This is not a genuine saving. It is a transfer of cost from the NDIS to individual households, with further downstream costs likely to arise in health, mental health and other community systems if reduced supports contribute to crisis, deterioration, family breakdown or loss of participation. Families cannot absorb unlimited unpaid care and unplanned financial burdens because legislative changes narrow access to support. Stable supports are a sound investment because they prevent crisis, sustain participation and reduce the need for more costly interventions later.
Experiences With the NDIS System
My experience of the NDIS system has often involved significant stress and uncertainty. Reviews and reassessments can be extremely stressful, and there is often fear before plan reviews because of the risk that essential supports may be reduced, changed or delayed. The process can be confusing, inconsistent and emotionally exhausting, particularly when families feel they must repeatedly prove permanent disability and ongoing support needs.
Delays, poor communication and uncertainty around funding create additional pressure and instability. For families already managing substantial disability-related needs, these processes can intensify emotional exhaustion rather than provide confidence and support. I am concerned that, unless carefully amended, aspects of this Bill may worsen these experiences rather than improve them.
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1092
Recommendations
I also urge the committee to recognise that reducing or restricting supports may create cost shifting rather than genuine savings, including increased financial pressure on families, reduced workforce participation by carers, and greater demand on health, mental health and other community systems.
Conclusion
The most important point I ask the committee to understand is that these supports are essential, not optional. For people like my daughter, who lives with autism and intellectual disability, NDIS supports make independence, community participation, friendships, confidence and stability possible.
If the provisions of this Bill narrow access to support, tighten eligibility, create instability in planning, or shift responsibility onto families and inadequate mainstream systems, the result will not be mere inconvenience. It will be increased isolation, distress, regression in independence and much greater pressure on families and carers.
Stable supports prevent crisis. Community participation is essential to wellbeing and development. Families cannot absorb endless unpaid care. Disability legislation must be guided by lived experience, fairness and real-world consequences, not solely by administrative control or cost containment. Reforms that reduce essential supports may appear to save money in the short term, but in practice they risk creating a false economy by transferring costs onto families and generating greater expense elsewhere in the service system.