National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1148
Submission Opposing Proposed NDIS Budget Cuts and Legislative Changes
I am writing this submission as the mother of and a Registered Provider, who is 32 years old and diagnosed with profound autism, intellectual disability nonverbal, focal seizures, severe OCD, and behaviours of concern requiring restrictive practices. requires 24/7 support and cannot safely live independently fully supported 24/7 living in SIL/ILO set up cannot be left alone at any time.
I strongly oppose any proposed cuts to NDIS funding, reductions in participant supports, or legislative changes that will restrict access to essential disability supports for people living with profound and permanent disabilities.
For people like , the NDIS is not a luxury, an “extra,” or a lifestyle choice. It is the difference between safety and danger, dignity and neglect, inclusion and isolation, and ultimately life and death.
requires 1:1 support within the home and 2:1 support in the community due to the significant risks she poses to herself and others when unsupported. absconds, has no awareness of danger or traffic, and has previously grabbed drivers while travelling in vehicles, creating an immediate and serious public safety risk. Without appropriate staffing ratios, , support workers, and members of the public are at risk of serious injury or death.
cannot be left unsupervised around food due to gorging behaviours and a high choking risk. She cannot perform any self-care tasks independently and requires full assistance with every aspect of daily living. Her focal seizures place her at additional ongoing risk and require constant supervision and monitoring.
Without NDIS-funded supports, would become completely housebound. Community access supports are not recreational activities — they are essential to maintaining ’s mental health, emotional regulation, wellbeing, and quality of life. Accessing the community for shopping, meals, appointments, and basic social inclusion allows to live with some degree of dignity and normality.
If these supports were removed or reduced, would face a serious decline in her mental health, emotional regulation, personal safety, and overall quality of life. Her anxiety, distress, behaviours of concern, and social isolation would increase significantly. The risks of self- injury, choking, absconding, exploitation, medical neglect, and serious harm would rise dramatically. would effectively become trapped within four walls, isolated from the community and entirely dependent on exhausted ageing carers without adequate support systems in place.
has already experienced trauma, abuse, and neglect within the disability system. One previous provider left her severely constipated for 15 days without appropriate intervention or medical escalation. This is not simply poor care — it is neglect.
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1148
These experiences have caused significant long-term trauma and have severely impacted ’s ability to trust services, cope with change, or feel safe in her environment.
Due to the severity of her disability and trauma history, cannot safely live with another participant. She requires Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA), specifically robust housing with disability-accessible modifications due to her seizures, behavioural risks, and environmental safety concerns, including the dangers associated with glass and hard surfaces. but has been denied this so she has to keep moving.
also experiences severe OCD and struggles immensely with any form of change. Every forced move due to rental instability or housing sales causes significant deterioration in her behaviours and emotional regulation. It can take close to a year for to feel safe and regulated again after being displaced.
Despite overwhelming clinical evidence outlining ’s profound and lifelong support needs, was previously forced to challenge NDIA decisions through the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (previously the ART) after her plan was reduced with no explanation or reason. This process was lengthy, traumatic, and unnecessarily adversarial.
The Government spent taxpayer funds on barristers and legal processes to fight against essential supports for a profoundly disabled woman whose medical and allied health evidence clearly demonstrated her extreme support needs. That was not only financially wasteful — it was morally wrong.
The current proposed changes to the NDIS have created enormous fear within the disability community, particularly for families caring for people with profound disabilities who cannot advocate for themselves.
cannot independently communicate complex needs, complete forms, challenge decisions, navigate legal systems, or fight for her own survival within bureaucratic systems. Families and carers are already emotionally, physically, and financially exhausted from managing extraordinarily complex care responsibilities every single day.
The proposed reforms have not been clearly explained to participants, carers, or families supporting people with severe and permanent disabilities. There is widespread fear that cost- cutting measures will disproportionately target the most vulnerable people — those who cannot survive safely without support.
Without the NDIS, I genuinely believe would be at risk of institutionalisation, severe neglect, abuse, or death in care.
Historically, people with profound disabilities were hidden away, heavily medicated, institutionalised, isolated from society, and denied dignity, autonomy, and human rights. Families like mine are terrified that Australia is slowly moving backwards toward those systems again under the guise of “budget sustainability.”
The NDIS has allowed to live safely within the community instead of being segregated from it.
The NDIS has provided with:
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1148
Safety and supervision Community participation Access to healthcare and therapies Support and guidance from behavioural therapists Stability and dignity Reduced risk of neglect and abuse The right to participate in society rather than being hidden away
Reducing supports for people like will not create independence because her disabilities are profound, permanent, and lifelong. These cuts will simply transfer the burden onto ageing families, hospitals, emergency departments, mental health systems, police, carers, and the broader community.
The financial, social, and human cost of removing supports will ultimately be far greater than the cost of adequately funding them.
People with profound disabilities matter. Their lives have value even when they cannot speak for themselves, advocate independently, work, or vote. Human rights should not depend on a person’s capacity to participate economically or politically.
I urge the Government to reconsider any proposed budget cuts or legislative changes that reduce essential supports for participants with complex and lifelong disabilities.
The NDIS was created to ensure Australians with disabilities could live with dignity, inclusion, safety, and basic human rights within the community. That commitment must not be weakened to save money at the expense of the country’s most vulnerable citizens if this is allowed you are writing a death sentence to those that need the support and blood will be on your hands to allow this cost saving measures over lives of those that are already at a disadvantaged this not the Australian way
Kind Regards