National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1098
● What does the NDIS mean for you right now? For me, the NDIS is hope that people aren’t forced to live a life like mine. My NDIS applications were rejected, and facing the process of navigating those applications contributed to self-harm and suicidality. They were rejected because I could not afford the paperwork and treatments that were required to prove the permanence of my disability. I chose to stop applying because I couldn’t afford or access the acute mental health support I would have needed. I am very lucky that my partner can financially support both of us, and that he is not the kind of person to use this imbalance to abuse me. I can’t travel by public transport independently, and I can’t drive. Since a bit over a year ago, I’ve been able to be driven on freeways without syncope, and that took me almost five years of spending most of my waking hours trying to rewire my autonomic nervous system. I can do basic activities of daily living and some instrumental activities of daily living independently or with support from my partner, and the amount of energy that requires means I don’t have much of a life outside of that. I haven’t been able to wash or change bed linen in almost two years. I struggle to maintain any kind of hobby or personal project, and I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to have a job.
● How do you feel about the proposed changes to the NDIS Act? I am really glad that there are stronger protections for whistleblowers and penalties for providers and other organisations that abuse the system. I understand that a lot of the funding is taken by these criminals. But I feel disappointed that $36 billion is planned to be cut by 2030, and that, in terms of application, definitions for things like “permanence” are even stricter. These changes harm disabled people. It is not the fault of disabled people that there are providers taking advantage of the NDIS.