National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1219
PWDA Template: Submission to the
National Disability Insurance
Scheme Amendment (Securing the
NDIS for Future Generations) Bill
2026
Attention: Committee Secretary, Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs
Submitted by email: community.affairs.sen@aph.gov.au
Date: 28/5/2026
I welcome the opportunity to make a submission to the Senate Standing Committee
on Community Affairs about the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment
(Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026.
I am a family member of a NDIS participant/person with disability.
I want to outline the harm this Amendment Bill will cause if it passes Parliament. This
Bill is too far-reaching to pass as it stands. I believe the Bill requires further scrutiny
and amendment before it proceeds.
Parliamentary Scrutiny and Transparency
The consultation period for the Amendment Bill is two weeks, which is insufficient to
allow for appropriate consultation, considering accessibility and communication
needs. The Australian Government Guide to Policy Impact Analysis says
consultation should occur for a minimum of 30 days where possible.
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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1219
The short timeline impacts my family member by not allowing them sufficient time to
prepare documentation relating to their complex issues and needs.
Recommendation: Amend the consultation period for a best practice minimum of 30
days.
Key decisions left to ministerial instruments, not law
The issue: The Bill allows Ministers to change who gets NDIS support (Schedule 1
Parts 8 and 9) and how much funding people receive (Schedule 1 Part 4; Schedule
- by signing an instrument, without going back to Parliament. The rules that will
determine critical eligibility thresholds (Schedule 1 Parts 1, 8 and 9) have not yet
been written.
How this affects participants: The decisions that shape the lives of participants,
whether they qualify for the NDIS and what supports they can access, could be
changed without parliamentary debate or public scrutiny. Participants may not know
supports or eligibility rules have changed until their plan is affected.
My family member, a child, has complex needs relating to his very significant
disabilities. His immediate family barely hang on by threads from day to day, week to
week. They are under constant strain because of the very high needs of the child.
One of the only things that I observe giving them some relief and support is knowing
in advance exactly where they stand in relation to NDIS supports.
Recommendation: Require that all decisions affecting NDIS eligibility and funding
levels be made through primary legislation subject to full parliamentary scrutiny, with
mandatory advance notice to affected participants before any changes take effect.
Existing participants face narrower criteria and fewer rights to challenge decisions
The issue: The Bill changes the rules for existing NDIS participants and makes it
harder to challenge some decisions about supports and funding. It also restricts
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PWDA Template: Submission to the National Disability Insurance Scheme
Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1219
when you can request a reassessment, removes review rights for automatic plan
renewals, and makes funding reductions unreviewable (Schedule 1 Parts 1 and 8).
Combined with restrictions on reassessment requests (Part 2), automatic plan
renewals without review rights (Part 5), and unreviewable funding reductions (Part
4), existing participants face narrower criteria with significantly fewer avenues to
challenge decisions about their supports.
How this affects participants: This does not protect participants already on the
NDIS, who could be reassessed under stricter rules. If someone’s funding is reduced
or their plan renewed automatically, they may have limited or no ability to challenge
that decision. This could make it harder for people to get extra support when their
circumstances or disability change.
For my family member, a child with very significant disabilities, and his immediate
family, their specific NDIS supports are crucial to their ability to cope. The immediate
family very carefully manage the child’s care and needs, as well as their own needs
in supporting the child. They know exactly what is required and always provide
detailed supporting documentation and proof of the requirements. If they do not
agree with consequent decisions, it is only fair that they can challenge those
decisions. They are the ones living with the child and providing care and constantly
assessing needs. Those making the decisions do not always get things right.
Recommendation: Require a “no harm” safeguard ensuring no current participant
loses access to supports unless equivalent supports are in place, with independent
review rights before any exit decision and access to unscheduled reassessments
preserved.
Unreviewable ministerial power to cut funding across all support categories
The Minister can reduce funding for any support or group of supports by a specified
percentage through an instrument that cannot be challenged (Schedule 1 Part 4).
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PWDA Template: Submission to the National Disability Insurance Scheme
Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1219
This applies across all budget categories. Unspent funds will no longer carry over at
plan renewal (Schedule 1 Part 5).
How this affects participants: A participant’s community participation, capacity
building or assistive technology funding could be cut without warning and without any
right to appeal. Participants who save unspent funds across plan periods for high-
cost items will lose that ability entirely.
I frequently worry about the wellbeing of my disabled family member and his
immediate family (my sister’s family). I see how they are barely coping, even with
their NDIS supports. The family work so hard to ensure that their disabled child has
what he needs in order to be in his closeknit community, to build his capacity and
have the assistive technology he needs. None of that is any kind of luxury. It’s what
he needs at base level to keep him safe and having the capacity to thrive in himself
and his community and what his family needs in order to provide support. I feel quite
sick at the thought of what would happen to my family member and his immediate
family if he suddenly lost funding.
Recommendation: Require that unspent funds carry over at plan renewal for
participants saving for high-cost items and require independent review rights before
any funding reduction takes effect.
Requirement to exhaust treatment options before eligibility
The issue: A person with disability will need to exhaust treatment options before
they can be eligible for the Scheme (Schedule 1 Part 8). There will also be a removal
of whole-of-person assessment, replaced by single eligible impairment consideration
(Schedule 1 Part 3). The note that previously acknowledged environmental factors
and other ineligible impairments could affect support needs will be removed
(Schedule 1 Part 3).
How this affects participants: People with disability will need to prove their
impairment cannot be treated before they access the NDIS. Once in the scheme,
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PWDA Template: Submission to the National Disability Insurance Scheme
Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1219
their supports will only be assessed against a single eligible impairment rather than
their whole experience. A person’s individual circumstances will not be considered,
including ability to pay for treatment, where they live or whether treatment is actually
available to them.
This is terrifying. My family member lives in a rural area. The family has to live there
so he has access to a school specific to his disability that provides the care and
understanding he needs. He has very complex needs, very complex behaviours that
are changing rapidly as he moves through early adolescence. One of the reasons his
family is constantly challenged with his care is that his behaviours and hence his
needs change all the time. His needs are not something that can be simply ignored,
as the behaviours often challenge his safety and that of others. Besides, like every
other human, the child deserves to be viewed as an individual who has his own
whole experience. His whole experience affects his life, every day, in different ways
to how someone else might experience life.
Recommendation: Do not proceed with a requirement to exhaust “appropriate
treatment” options – there are no safeguarding measures around participant harm
due to side effects or complications, a participant’s financial ability to pay, or their
geographic capacity to access treatments.
Unvalidated functional capacity assessment tool risks misidentifying need
The issue: The Bill shifts assessment from whole-of-person consideration to a single
eligible impairment (Schedule 1 Part 3). Read together with the eligibility thresholds
in Parts 8 and 9, the tool used to conduct functional capacity assessments must be
capable of sufficiently identifying whether a person meets the threshold for that
single impairment.
The named assessment tool is the Instrument for Classification and Assessment of
Support Needs (I-CAN). I-CAN requires validation to ensure it will sufficiently identify
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PWDA Template: Submission to the National Disability Insurance Scheme
Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1219
the needs of all people with disability, including those whose needs may be
fluctuating or episodic and may not be captured through a point-in-time assessment,
and to ensure it is culturally appropriate for First Peoples with disability.
How this affects participants: If the assessment tool does not accurately capture
the full extent of a person’s disability, including needs that fluctuate or vary over time,
a participant may be found ineligible or have their supports undercounted, with no
guarantee the result reflects their actual experience.
My family member’s needs fluctuate and vary constantly because his disabilities are
complex. He is a young adolescent and his development through puberty, for
example, means that his moods and behaviours are inconsistent and greatly affect
what supports he needs from time to time.
Recommendation: Do not proceed with I-CAN as the functional capacity
assessment tool unless it has been demonstrably validated to identify the needs of
all people with disability, including those with episodic or fluctuating disability, and
demonstrated to be culturally appropriate for First Peoples with disability.
Supports cut before replacement system is ready
The issue: From 1 October 2026, the government has announced funding for social,
civic and community participation supports will be cut by 50 per cent and capacity
building daily activities by 10 per cent for all participants, reductions that will be
implemented through the ministerial instrument power in Schedule 1 Part 4. The
Foundational Supports system intended to fill that gap has no confirmed
implementation date and is not yet operational.
How this affects participants: Supports that help participants connect with their
community, build skills and maintain independence may be cut before anything
exists to replace them, leaving carers and families with greater responsibilities and
no additional support. These supports are often what help people stay visible,
connected and safe.
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PWDA Template: Submission to the National Disability Insurance Scheme
Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1219
I cannot even express how important it is that no reductions to community
participation or capacity building supports are made until there are equivalent
resources and programs in place. I am afraid that my family member and his
immediate family who care for him simply will not cope, otherwise. The family hang
on by a thread. The child’s community participation and capacity building supports
are what keeps the child and family going.
Recommendation: Require that no reductions to community participation or
capacity building supports take effect until Foundational Supports are fully
operational, adequately funded and demonstrably able to meet the needs of those
who will lose NDIS supports.
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PWDA Template: Submission to the National Disability Insurance Scheme
Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026