National Lived Experience Intelligence Report 2026 — The State of Australia's Systems | External submission

National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1129 - Supplementary Submission National Lived Experience Commission

commissioner@nlec.au | nlec.au Registered Australian Charity | ABN 79 919 184 486 | Listed on the ACNC Charity Register

ANNUAL INTELLIGENCE REPORT | FIRST EDITION National Lived Experience Intelligence Report 2026 — The State of Australia’s Systems

National Lived Experience Commission | June 2026 | Version 1.0 | Public Interest Publication | Freely reproducible with attribution

Contents

About This Report 2. Methodology and Evidence Base
National System Health Assessment 4. Cross-Cutting Findings
Domain Intelligence Summaries 6. The Co-Design Accountability Gap
National Reform Priorities 2026–2027 8. How to Use This Report
About This Report

The National Lived Experience Intelligence Report is NLEC’s flagship annual publication. It is published each year to provide a structured, evidence-based assessment of the state of Australia’s social, health, justice, housing, disability and community service systems from the perspective of the people who use them.

This is the first edition. It establishes the baseline against which future editions will measure progress. It is not a comprehensive research report — it is an intelligence summary: a structured synthesis of the lived experience evidence available to NLEC at the time of publication, designed to be useful to policy-makers, advocates, researchers, service providers and the broader community.

“The people who know most about how Australia’s systems work — and where they fail — are the people who have lived inside them. This report is their evidence.”

This report is a public interest publication. It is freely reproducible with attribution. NLEC invites organisations, researchers, advocates and individuals to use, cite, challenge and build upon its findings.

Methodology and Evidence Base

Important methodological note — First Edition: This inaugural report is based on a synthesis of publicly available evidence,

including royal commission findings, parliamentary inquiry reports, government reviews, peer-reviewed research, sector reports and submissions from lived experience organisations. It does not yet incorporate NLEC’s own primary research, which is currently in

development. Domain assessments are therefore based on secondary evidence synthesis and should be read as preliminary

intelligence assessments rather than primary research findings. NLEC will progressively incorporate primary lived experience

research into future editions as its evidence infrastructure develops. All assessments are subject to revision as new evidence becomes available. NLEC invites corrections, challenges and additional evidence from affected communities and organisations.

Evidence sources for this edition include:

Royal CommissionNational Disabilityinto Violence,InsuranceAbuse,SchemeNeglectAmendmentand Exploitation(Securingof Peoplethe NDISwith forDisabilityFuture (FinalGenerations)Report, 2023)Bill 2026 Submission 1129 - Supplementary Submission Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety (Final Report, 2021)

Royal Commission into Mental Health (Victoria, Final Report, 2021)

Senate inquiry submissions and evidence, including NDIS Amendment Bill 2026

AIHW reports on health, welfare, housing and justice system performance

Productivity Commission reports on social services, housing and disability

Sector reports from LEA, AFDO, PWDA, Mental Health Australia, Homelessness Australia, ACOSS and related organisations

Peer-reviewed research published in Australian and international journals

Government administrative data and performance reporting

National System Health Assessment

The following matrix provides NLEC’s preliminary assessment of the state of each reform domain, based on the evidence synthesis described above. Assessments use a four-level scale:

CRITICAL SERIOUS CONCERNING IMPROVING

Systemic failure; urgent reform Significant failures; major Persistent problems; reform Positive trajectory; continued

required reform needed underway but insufficient attention required

Reform Domain Status Key Driver of Assessment Trend

Persistent access barriers; coercive practice; psychosocial Mental Health & Wellbeing Critical ↔ Stalled disability support gaps; workforce shortages

Proposed 346,000 participant reduction; $13.2B cut to Disability & NDIS Critical ↓ Deteriorating participation supports; co-design failures

Social housing waitlists at record levels; homelessness rising; Housing & Homelessness Critical ↓ Deteriorating housing affordability crisis deepening

Child Protection & Out-of- Over-representation of First Nations children; post-care support Serious ↔ Stalled Home Care gaps; family preservation failures

First Nations over-representation; rehabilitation failures; mental Justice & Corrections Serious ↔ Stalled health and disability intersection

Aged care reform implementation gaps; rural and remote access; ↑ Slowly Health & Aged Care Serious cultural safety failures improving

Social Services & Income Payment adequacy below poverty line; compliance framework Serious ↔ Stalled Support harms; service access barriers

Education & Early Inclusion gaps for students with disability; early childhood access ↑ Slowly

Childhood Concerning inequity; outcomes disparities improving

Response system capacity gaps; safety planning failures; service ↑ Slowly Family Violence & Safety Serious access barriers for marginalised groups improving

Over-representation across all systems; self-determination gaps; First Nations Systems Critical ↔ Stalled culturally unsafe services

National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Assessment basis: These assessments areSubmissionbased on secondary1129 - Supplementaryevidence synthesisSubmissionfrom publicly available sources. They represent

NLEC’s preliminary intelligence assessment, not primary research findings. Four domains are assessed as Critical; five as Serious; one

as Concerning. No domain is currently assessed as Improving overall, though positive trajectories exist within specific areas of some domains.

Cross-Cutting Findings

The following findings emerge consistently across multiple reform domains and represent the most significant patterns in the 2026 national lived experience intelligence base:

FINDING 1 — THE CONSULTATION GAP

Across all ten reform domains, lived experience is routinely gathered through consultation processes but rarely converted into substantive reform outcomes. The gap between what people report experiencing and what systems are designed to deliver remains wide, persistent and largely unacknowledged by institutions.

FINDING 2 — SYSTEM-INDUCED HARM

People with lived experience of Australia’s social, health, justice and disability systems consistently report that system contact itself generates harm — through experiences of not being believed, being subjected to coercive practices, being denied access, being subjected to compliance frameworks that cause distress, and being treated as subjects rather than as people. This system-induced harm is distinct from the presenting need that brought people into contact with the system and represents a significant and under-measured form of institutional failure.

FINDING 3 — INTERSECTIONAL DISADVANTAGE

The people most severely affected by system failures are consistently those who experience multiple, intersecting forms of disadvantage — including disability, mental health challenges, housing insecurity, income poverty, First Nations identity, family violence, and involvement in the justice system. Systems designed to address single presenting needs consistently fail people whose needs span multiple domains.

FINDING 4 — THE CO-DESIGN ACCOUNTABILITY GAP

Governments and institutions increasingly claim to have co-designed policies, services and systems with people with lived experience. The evidence does not support these claims. Across all ten reform domains, NLEC finds that most processes described as co-design operate at the consultation or involvement level of the participation spectrum — not at the co-design or lived experience leadership level. See Section 6 for detailed analysis.

FINDING 5 — WORKFORCE AND CAPACITY CONSTRAINTS

Across health, mental health, disability, aged care and social services, workforce shortages and capability gaps are

consistently identified as barriers to the delivery of safe, effective and person-centred services. These constraints are particularly acute in rural, regional and remote areas, and for services required by people with complex and intersecting needs.

FINDING 6 — FIRST NATIONS OVER-REPRESENTATION

First Nations Australians are over-represented in every system examined in this report — mental health, disability, housing, child protection, justice, income support and aged care. This over-representation is not explained by individual

characteristics.National ItDisabilityreflects theInsurancecumulativeSchemeimpactAmendmentof colonisation,(Securingdispossession,the NDISintergenerationalfor Future Generations)trauma, Billsystemic2026 Submission 1129 - Supplementary Submission racism and the failure of systems designed without genuine First Nations leadership and self-determination.

Domain Intelligence Summaries

The following summaries provide a structured intelligence assessment for each of NLEC’s ten reform domains. Each summary includes: the key intelligence findings; the primary evidence gaps; the most urgent reform priorities; and the co-design quality assessment for the domain’s most significant current reform process.

D1 Mental Health & Wellbeing CRITICAL

KEY INTELLIGENCE FINDINGS PRIMARY EVIDENCE GAPS

Access to community mental health services remains Systematic national data on the prevalence and nature of

severely constrained, with wait times of months to years for system-induced harm in mental health services non-crisis support Longitudinal lived experience data on recovery outcomes

Coercive practices — including involuntary treatment, under different service models seclusion and restraint — continue at rates inconsistent Evidence on the impact of NDIS psychosocial disability with recovery-oriented frameworks support reductions on mental health outcomes Psychosocial disability supports are under threat from Lived experience data on the effectiveness of peer proposed NDIS reforms, with $13.2 billion in cuts targeting workforce integration the participation supports most critical for people with

mental health conditions

System-induced harm is well documented: people with

mental health conditions consistently report that service

contact generates anxiety, distress and disengagement (LEA

BPD research, 2026)

The peer workforce is growing but remains under-

resourced, under-valued and inadequately supported

Most Urgent Reform Priority: Establish a national moratorium on further reductions to psychosocial disability supports pending independent lived

experience impact assessment. Commission a national inquiry into system-induced harm in mental health services.

D2 Disability & NDIS CRITICAL

KEY INTELLIGENCE FINDINGS PRIMARY EVIDENCE GAPS

The proposed NDIS Amendment Bill 2026 projects the Independent lived experience impact assessment of

removal of 346,000 people from the Scheme by 2031 proposed NDIS reforms on participants with psychosocial $13.2 billion in savings — over one-third of total — targets disability Social and Community Participation and Capacity Building Evidence on the impact of participation support reductions

supports on informal carers, particularly women

Fraud and provider integrity measures account for only $1.1 Longitudinal data on outcomes for people exited from the

billion (under 3%) of total savings, contradicting claims NDIS that fraud is a primary driver of costs Evidence on the adequacy of proposed foundational

AFDO’s Senate submission argues that the Bill was supports as alternatives to NDIS funding

developed through consultation, not genuine co-design, in

breach of CRPD Article 4(3)

The NationalBill’s ownDisabilityexplanatoryInsurancememorandumSchemeacknowledgesAmendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1129 - Supplementary Submission disproportionate impact on women carers

Most Urgent Reform Priority: Commission an independent lived experience impact assessment of the NDIS Amendment Bill before passage. Establish

genuine co-design processes for NDIS reform that meet the standards of CRPD Article 4(3).

D3 Housing & Homelessness CRITICAL

KEY INTELLIGENCE FINDINGS PRIMARY EVIDENCE GAPS

Social housing waitlists have reached record levels, with Systematic lived experience data on the quality and safety

wait times of 10+ years in major cities of homelessness services

Homelessness is rising, with particular increases among Evidence on the impact of housing insecurity on health,

women, older Australians and people with disability mental health and disability outcomes

The intersection of housing insecurity with mental health, Lived experience data on the effectiveness of Housing First disability and income support creates compounding approaches in the Australian context

disadvantage that single-domain services cannot address

Lived experience of homelessness services consistently

identifies dignity, safety and continuity of support as

primary concerns

Most Urgent Reform Priority: Establish a national lived experience advisory mechanism for the National Housing and Homelessness Plan that meets genuine

co-design standards. Commission independent lived experience research on the impact of housing insecurity on health and

disability outcomes.

D4 Child Protection & Out-of-Home Care SERIOUS

KEY INTELLIGENCE FINDINGS PRIMARY EVIDENCE GAPS

First Nations children remain massively over-represented Longitudinal lived experience data on outcomes for care

in out-of-home care, at rates that have not improved leavers despite decades of reform commitments Evidence on the effectiveness of family preservation models

Care leavers consistently report inadequate preparation for from the perspective of families leaving care and insufficient post-care support Lived experience data from children and young people

Family preservation services are chronically under- currently in care

resourced relative to the evidence base for their

effectiveness

The lived experience of children and young people in care is systematically under-represented in system design

Most Urgent Reform Priority: Establish a national care leaver advisory mechanism with genuine decision-making power over post-care support policy.

Commission independent lived experience research on the impact of out-of-home care on long-term outcomes.

D5 Justice & Corrections SERIOUS

KEY INTELLIGENCE FINDINGS PRIMARY EVIDENCE GAPS

FirstNationalNations AustraliansDisability Insuranceare imprisonedSchemeat 13Amendmenttimes the (SecuringSystematicthe NDISlived experiencefor Future dataGenerations)on the qualityBill 2026and safety Submission 1129 - Supplementary Submission rate of non-Indigenous Australians — a rate that has of custodial environments worsened over the past decade Evidence on the effectiveness of diversion programmes

People with mental health conditions and cognitive from the perspective of participants disability are significantly over-represented in the justice Lived experience data on reintegration barriers and system support needs

Rehabilitation and reintegration programmes are chronically under-resourced and inconsistently delivered

The lived experience of people in contact with the justice

system is almost entirely absent from system design

processes

Most Urgent Reform Priority: Establish a national lived experience advisory mechanism for justice reform with genuine decision-making power. Commission

independent lived experience research on the drivers of First Nations over-representation and the effectiveness of diversion

programmes.

D6 Health & Aged Care SERIOUS

KEY INTELLIGENCE FINDINGS PRIMARY EVIDENCE GAPS

Aged care reform implementation is progressing but Systematic lived experience data on aged care quality from

significant gaps remain in quality, safety and person- the perspective of residents and families centred care Evidence on the impact of rural and remote health access

Rural and remote health access remains severely barriers on health outcomes constrained, with lived experience of long travel times, Lived experience data on cultural safety in health settings service gaps and inadequate culturally safe care

Patient rights and consumer-directed care principles are

inconsistently implemented across health settings

Cultural safety for First Nations peoples and people from

culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds remains inadequate across most health settings

Most Urgent Reform Priority: Establish independent lived experience monitoring of aged care reform implementation. Commission national lived experience

research on rural and remote health access barriers.

D7 Social Services & Income Support SERIOUS

KEY INTELLIGENCE FINDINGS PRIMARY EVIDENCE GAPS

JobSeeker and related income support payments remain Systematic lived experience data on the impact of below the poverty line, with lived experience consistently compliance frameworks on health and wellbeing identifying payment inadequacy as a primary driver of Evidence on the effectiveness of income support adequacy hardship improvements from the perspective of recipients Compliance frameworks — including mutual obligations, Lived experience data on service access barriers for people payment suspensions and debt recovery — generate with disability and mental health conditions significant distress and harm among income support

recipients

ServiceNationalaccessDisabilitybarriers, includingInsurancedigitalSchemeexclusion,Amendmentliteracy (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1129 - Supplementary Submission requirements and complex processes, disproportionately

affect the most vulnerable recipients

The lived experience of income support recipients is

systematically excluded from the design of compliance

frameworks

Most Urgent Reform Priority: Commission an independent lived experience review of the impact of income support compliance frameworks on health,

mental health and wellbeing. Establish a lived experience advisory mechanism for income support policy with genuine

decision-making power.

D8 Education & Early Childhood CONCERNING

KEY INTELLIGENCE FINDINGS PRIMARY EVIDENCE GAPS

Inclusion of students with disability in mainstream Systematic lived experience data on inclusion quality from

education remains inconsistent, with significant variation the perspective of students with disability across states and territories Evidence on the long-term impact of early childhood

Early childhood education and care access remains service access on educational outcomes

inequitable, with children from disadvantaged families

least likely to access high-quality early childhood services

The lived experience of students with disability and their

families identifies inadequate support, exclusionary

practices and low expectations as persistent barriers

Positive reform trajectories exist in early childhood policy,

though implementation gaps remain

Most Urgent Reform Priority: Establish national lived experience monitoring of disability inclusion in education. Commission independent research on the lived experience of students with disability in mainstream settings.

D9 Family Violence & Safety SERIOUS

KEY INTELLIGENCE FINDINGS PRIMARY EVIDENCE GAPS

Family violence response systems remain under-resourced Systematic lived experience data on the quality and safety

relative to demand, with significant gaps in crisis of family violence response services accommodation, legal support and long-term safety Evidence on the effectiveness of safety planning from the planning perspective of survivors Women with disability, First Nations women and women Lived experience data on barriers for women with from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds face disability and First Nations women compounding barriers to accessing safe and appropriate

support

The lived experience of family violence survivors identifies

system navigation complexity, inadequate safety planning

and inconsistent responses as primary barriers

Positive reform trajectories exist in some jurisdictions,

though national consistency remains elusive

Most UrgentNationalReformDisabilityPriority:Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1129 - Supplementary Submission Establish a national lived experience advisory mechanism for family violence policy with genuine decision-making power.

Commission independent lived experience research on barriers for women with disability and First Nations women.

D10 First Nations Systems CRITICAL

KEY INTELLIGENCE FINDINGS PRIMARY EVIDENCE GAPS

First Nations Australians are over-represented in every Systematic lived experience data from First Nations

system examined in this report — mental health, disability, communities on the quality and cultural safety of services

housing, child protection, justice, income support and aged across all domains care Evidence on the effectiveness of self-determination models

Self-determination principles are inconsistently applied from the perspective of First Nations communities across Commonwealth, state and territory systems, with Lived experience data on the impact of Closing the Gap most systems retaining significant non-Indigenous control implementation on community outcomes over services and decisions affecting First Nations

communities

Culturally safe services remain the exception rather than

the rule across most system domains

The Closing the Gap framework has produced limited

measurable improvement across most targets

Most Urgent Reform Priority: NLEC acknowledges that First Nations lived experience intelligence must be gathered and led by First Nations people and

organisations. NLEC commits to developing a First Nations engagement framework in genuine partnership with First Nations

communities and organisations before undertaking any primary research in this domain.

The Co-Design Accountability Gap

Across all ten reform domains, NLEC finds a consistent and significant gap between the co-design claims made by governments and institutions and the quality of participation processes actually delivered. This gap — the co-design accountability gap — is one of the most significant structural failures in Australia’s approach to social policy reform.

Using NLEC’s National Co-Design Standards Framework (published separately, June 2026), NLEC has assessed the co-design quality of the most significant current reform process in each domain. The results are summarised below:

Domain Reform Process Assessed Co-Design Score (/28) Assessment

Disability & NDIS NDIS Amendment Bill 2026 10/28 Consultation Only

Mental Health National Mental Health Workforce Capability Framework 14/28 Consultation Only

Housing National Housing and Homelessness Plan 12/28 Consultation Only

Social Services JobSeeker adequacy review process 8/28 Symbolic Consultation

Aged Care Aged Care Act implementation 16/28 Substantial Consultation

Family Violence National Plan to End Violence Against Women 2022–2032 18/28 Substantial Consultation

National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Note: These assessments are preliminary,Submissionbased on publicly1129 available- SupplementaryinformationSubmissiononly, and subject to revision. NLEC invites affected

organisations and individuals to contribute evidence to these assessments. See the National Co-Design Standards Framework for full

methodology.

National Reform Priorities 2026–2027

Based on the intelligence synthesis in this report, NLEC identifies the following as the highest-priority reform actions for 2026–2027:

PRIORITY 1 — IMMEDIATE

Independent lived experience impact assessment of the NDIS Amendment Bill 2026 before passage. The proposed removal of 346,000 people from the NDIS, and the $13.2 billion reduction in participation supports, represents the most significant single threat to the wellbeing of people with disability in Australia’s recent history. No reform of this scale should proceed without an independent, rigorous assessment of its impact on the people most affected.

PRIORITY 2 — IMMEDIATE

National inquiry into system-induced harm in mental health services. The evidence that mental health service contact itself generates harm — through coercive practices, dismissal, access denial and compliance frameworks — is substantial and growing. A national inquiry, led by people with lived experience, is needed to document the scale of this harm and identify the reforms required to address it.

PRIORITY 3 — SHORT-TERM

Adoption of NLEC’s National Co-Design Standards Framework as the basis for assessing co-design quality across all major Commonwealth reform processes. The co-design accountability gap identified in this report cannot be closed without agreed national standards and independent accountability mechanisms.

PRIORITY 4 — SHORT-TERM

Independent review of income support compliance frameworks from a lived experience perspective. The evidence that compliance frameworks generate harm — including distress, disengagement and deteriorating health — is substantial. A review led by people with lived experience of income support is needed to assess the scale of this harm and identify reforms.

PRIORITY 5 — MEDIUM-TERM

Development of a First Nations Lived Experience Intelligence Framework in genuine partnership with First Nations communities and organisations. NLEC commits to ensuring that First Nations lived experience intelligence is gathered and led by First Nations people, and to developing the partnerships and protocols needed to do this well.

How to Use This Report

This report is designed to be used. NLEC encourages the following uses:

Policy-makers and government departments: Use the domain intelligence summaries and reform priorities to identify where lived experience evidence should inform current policy development and review processes

Advocacy organisations and peak bodies: Use the cross-cutting findings and co-design assessments to strengthen submissions, public commentary and institutional engagement

ParliamentaryNational DisabilitycommitteesInsuranceand SenateSchemeinquiries:AmendmentUse the(Securingco-designthequalityNDIS forassessmentsFuture Generations)and reform prioritiesBill 2026 as a Submission 1129 - Supplementary Submission basis for questioning government witnesses and assessing the adequacy of consultation processes

Researchers and academics: Use the evidence gap analysis to identify priority areas for primary research and to situate new research within the national intelligence landscape

Service providers: Use the domain intelligence summaries to identify where lived experience evidence should inform service design, quality improvement and staff training

People with lived experience: Use this report as evidence that your experience is not isolated — it is part of a national pattern that NLEC is documenting and directing at the people with the power to change it

Contribute to the Next Edition

This report will be updated annually. NLEC invites contributions to the 2027 edition from:

People with lived experience who wish to contribute their experience to NLEC’s evidence base

Organisations with evidence relevant to any of the ten reform domains

Researchers with findings relevant to the intelligence gaps identified in this report

Government departments and institutions that wish to respond to NLEC’s assessments

Contributions: commissioner@nlec.au | nlec.au

The evidence in this report is not new. The people it describes have been saying these things for years.

What is new is that it is now being gathered, structured, published and directed at the people with the power to act on it

— in a form that cannot be easily dismissed, filed away or forgotten.

commissioner@nlec.au | nlec.au | Registered Australian Charity | ABN 79 919 184 486 | Listed on the ACNC Charity Register The ACNC Registered Charity Tick indicates NLEC is registered with the ACNC. It does not constitute ACNC endorsement of this document or its contents.