National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1154
Submission Regarding Proposed NDIS Amendment Bill
Introduction and background
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has been something that Australians can be proud of. Giving Australians with disability the chance to live to their maximum potential, to be independent, to work or study, and to support those with complex needs. NDIS is not just a cost to the nation, it adds value not only personally, to the participants and their families, but also gives back economically: by keeping people in work, study and volunteering, preventing people from needing more complex and costly supports
I am an NDIS participant, the funding I receive has given me a second chance at life when I thought I had lost everything. I was in an old secondhand wheelchair. I was the only wage earner in the house suddenly unable to work, unable to drive, unable to so much as get into my garden let alone out of the house by myself.
What NDIS Funding has Meant to Me
Capacity Building therapies
Occupational Therapist organised practical items such as a new wheelchair and ramps, gadgets to assist with things that were diƯicult.
Through massive hard work with a Physiotherapist I am no longer dependent on the wheelchair. I can walk some of the time. I can drive, I can access my community.
I am at risk of choking, of aspirating food and drink. My Speech Pathologist helps find ways to manage this and lessen the risks.
I had very limited use of my hands, working with a Hand Therapist has improved my hand coordination and strength so that I can do more household and everyday tasks independently.
Capacity building is my most vital support. Thanks to the combination of therapeutic supports I have managed a little paid work (self employed) and have started some local volunteering. I can live mostly independently without needing constant support workers.
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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1154
Risk from Cuts to NDIS Funding for Capacity Building
Using myself as an example. My condition is progressive, it is and will get worse. Without constant work with my therapists this progression will be quicker and more severe. My GP wrote that without the required amount of therapies I would lose the capacity that I have worked so hard for and need full time support or nursing. My specialist said that there are no further treatments that can help me, the best or only thing I can do is keep working with my physiotherapist.
I do not have the luxury of family support, my husband also has a serious medical condition but is not receiving NDIS. If I can’t look after us then we will both need a team of paid carers and support workers. I do not want to live like that, surely it is better to keep people functioning as well as they can.
I am just one of so many people that rely on the NDIS so that we can live, so that we can contribute. So that we can be independent. These therapies are vital to so many, cutting them will cause so much harm to the participants, to their families, to the community and to the country as we lose the capacity to work, study, volunteer and look after ourselves.
This will lead to greater inequality, exclusion and increased reliance on a health system, which is not designed for, or suitable for our needs.
Risks from Reducing Social and Community Supports
Thanks to the therapists I do not currently use much social and community support. However I see friends frequently miss out on both medical and social appointments when there isn’t a support worker to drive them. They may miss their one outing that month. We live in a regional area, we do not have the same services or options as in large towns or cities.
Rollovers and Reviews
Annual reviews are incredibly stressful, which can lead to both physical relapses and mental health problems. These are our lives that someone, who doesn’t know us, is making decisions on. The lack of clear information on how the new review process will work is adding to our stress and fears of being treated just as a number to be given as little support as possible.
Reviews cost time and money, if the participant is happy with the plan and using funds appropriately why not roll it over? I believe currently if a plan is rolled over remaining funds are also rolled over and that this won’t be allowed under the changes. This will
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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1154
lead to the use it or lose it attitude where people will just use funding up before the end of the plan.
Reducing the number of participants
Early intervention by giving some support now to prevent needing much more expensive support later makes sense. Why wait till they deteriorate and need a team of support workers everyday.
Cutting people out of supports they need is horrifying and terrifying to those of us relying on NDIS. There isn’t suƯicient information on who or why people will be removed and we aren’t convinced that suitable support will be provided elsewhere. I can’t see the States providing an equitable level of care and support.
NDIS support based on functional needs rather than diagnosis. That sounds ok as long as everything is taken into consideration. Many of us have multiple conditions which overlap, some fluctuate, some are progressive. Some treatments are not suitable for an individual. Some treatments are not available in regional or remote areas. All of these need to be considered.
Fraud, Cost of Supports
Like many on NDIS I have had suppliers admit that they charge more if they know it will be invoiced to NDIS. I have refused to use these services. I have queried the cost of necessary items like ramps and wheelchairs which to me seemed excessive, but I was assured by plan managers they were normal. I check all invoices before they are paid by my plan manager and have had to reject some for services that were not provided or a longer or more expensive service being charged. Not everyone is able or willing to do this.
These are all areas that need to be addressed before removing essential supports from participants.
Legal Fees
I don’t understand why NDIA pays so much out in legal fees fighting the very people they are supposed to be helping or why this doesn’t seem to be getting attention in the cost cutting. I am not referring to fraud but to cases where participants have to go to external review processes to get the support they actually need. An external review process is necessary, but why do NDIA use private lawyers. Cut costs by actually listening to the participants needs in the first place and not paying out huge legal fees. My experience is
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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1154
that I was given supports that I did not need or ask for but had to go to tribunal to get the supports that I needed, that multiple doctors and medical specialists said I needed and these are the supports that have been of most benefit to me.
The value of the NDIS
The NDIS is not perfect, change is needed in order to keep it working for those of us who need it. Drastic cuts will leave us without access to appropriate supports, it will mean more people unable to achieve their potential, more people unable to work, more people in financial stress many of whom are already struggling to survive on the disability pension. NDIS returns value to the country, both financially and socially it is not just a cost.
“The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.“ — Mahatma Gandhi
I am incredibly grateful for what the NDIS has given me and the progress that I have made with the appropriate supports. Please don’t take my life away from me again.
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