National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1147
SUBMISSION AGAINST NDIS BUDGET CUT’S
What does the NDIS mean for you right now?
The NDIS is essential for ’s survival, safety, dignity, and quality of life. is 32 years old and lives with profound autism, intellectual disability, severe OCD, focal seizures, and behaviours of concern requiring restrictive practices. She is nonverbal and requires 24/7 support in a SIL/ILO environment, as she cannot safely be left alone at any time.
For , the NDIS is not a luxury or optional support system. It funds the essential care and supervision required to keep her safe from serious harm. requires 1:1 support within the home and 2:1 support in the community due to the significant risks associated with absconding, lack of danger awareness, seizures, choking risks, and behaviours that place herself and the public at risk.
Without the NDIS, would be at serious risk of neglect, institutionalisation, abuse, medical deterioration, or death in care. The NDIS has allowed to live safely in the community rather than being segregated from society.
How do you feel about the proposed changes to the NDIS Act?
I strongly oppose the proposed cuts and legislative changes to the NDIS. These reforms have created enormous fear and distress within the disability community, particularly for families caring for people with profound and permanent disabilities who cannot advocate for themselves.
The proposed changes appear focused on cost-cutting rather than protecting vulnerable Australians. For people like , reducing supports will not create independence because her disabilities are lifelong, severe, and permanent. Instead, it will place her safety, health, and life at risk.
If these reforms result in reduced supports, the consequences will be catastrophic for people with complex disabilities and for the families already carrying enormous caring responsibilities every day.
Do you feel these changes have been explained clearly enough?
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1147
No. The proposed changes have not been clearly explained to participants, families, carers, or providers supporting people with severe disabilities.
There is widespread confusion and fear about:
What supports may no longer be funded How decisions will be made What “reasonable and necessary” will mean moving forward Whether people with profound disabilities will continue to receive essential supports
Families are already exhausted managing extraordinarily complex care needs. The lack of transparency and clarity has created significant anxiety and uncertainty throughout the disability community.
What would these changes mean for you, your family, friends, carers, or community?
These changes would place overwhelming pressure on our family, carers, and support systems.
cannot independently communicate complex needs, navigate systems, complete forms, challenge decisions, or advocate for herself. Every reduction in support shifts additional responsibility onto ageing and exhausted carers already managing extreme daily care demands.
Without adequate supports:
Families will experience severe emotional, physical, and financial strain Carer burnout will increase Mental health impacts on families and support workers will worsen Pressure on hospitals, emergency services, mental health systems, and police will increase People with disabilities will become more isolated and vulnerable
The broader community is also impacted when vulnerable people lose access to safe and appropriate disability supports.
What would happen if your social and community supports were reduced or removed?
If ’s social and community supports were reduced or removed, she would become effectively housebound and socially isolated.
Community access is not recreational for . It is essential for:
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1147
Emotional regulation Mental health Stability and routine Basic human dignity Social inclusion Accessing appointments, shopping, meals, and everyday life experiences
Without these supports, ’s anxiety, distress, obsessive behaviours, and behaviours of concern would escalate significantly. The risks of absconding, self-injury, choking, exploitation, and medical neglect would increase dramatically.
would lose the limited opportunities she has to participate safely in society and would become isolated within four walls, entirely dependent on exhausted carers without adequate support.
What would happen if your capacity building supports were reduced or removed — or if you never had access to them in the first place?
Capacity building supports are critical for maintaining ’s safety, wellbeing, emotional regulation, and stability.
Support and guidance from behavioural therapists and specialised professionals help reduce risks, manage behaviours of concern, maintain routines, and improve ’s ability to function safely within the community.
Without these supports:
’s behaviours of concern would likely escalate Emotional regulation would deteriorate Trauma responses and OCD symptoms would worsen Risks to herself and others would increase Hospitalisations and crisis situations would become more likely
has already experienced trauma, abuse, and neglect within the disability system, including severe neglect by a previous provider who left her severely constipated for 15 days without appropriate medical intervention. These experiences have had lasting impacts on her ability to trust services and cope with change.
also desperately requires Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA), particularly robust housing with disability-accessible modifications due to her seizures, behavioural risks, and environmental safety concerns. However, despite overwhelming clinical evidence, this has been denied, forcing her into repeated housing instability that severely impacts her emotional regulation and behaviours.
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1147
The NDIS was created to ensure Australians with disabilities could live safely, with dignity and inclusion, within the community. Weakening these supports for people with profound disabilities places lives at risk and moves Australia backwards toward systems of institutionalisation, neglect, and exclusion that should never return.