National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1227
Submission Regarding the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
To Whom It May Concern,
I write this submission as a parent, carer, and advocate for six young people with complex disabilities and support needs. Our family lives the reality of disability support every single day, and I wish to express serious concerns regarding the proposed legislative reforms contained within the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026.
While we understand the need to ensure the long-term sustainability and integrity of the NDIS, we are deeply concerned that aspects of the proposed reforms may unintentionally reduce access to essential supports for participants with complex psychosocial disability, behavioural support needs, trauma backgrounds, intellectual disability, and high daily support requirements.
In particular, we are concerned about proposed changes that may:
• Narrow the interpretation of what is considered “reasonable and necessary” support. • Reduce flexibility in how participant funding can be used. • Increase reassessment and administrative processes for participants and carers. • Restrict access to supports that promote community participation, independence, and behavioural stabilisation. • Create additional barriers for participants with psychosocial disabilities and behavioural complexities whose support needs fluctuate significantly over time. • Increase scrutiny and uncertainty for families and providers attempting to deliver appropriate and preventative supports.
For families like ours, NDIS supports are not optional or supplementary. They are essential safeguards that prevent crisis and allow our young people to live safely, meaningfully, and with dignity.
Our young people are not simply “service users.” They are human beings with goals, emotions, friendships, aspirations, and a desire to participate in the community. The supports they receive enable them to safely access the community, maintain emotional regulation, attend appointments, develop life skills, engage socially, participate in activities, and work toward greater independence.
We are particularly concerned that tighter definitions of funded supports and reduced flexibility may disproportionately impact participants whose disabilities are not always visible or linear, including those with psychosocial disabilities and behavioural complexities.
For many participants, support workers are not simply companions or transport providers. They play a critical role in:
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1227
• Implementing behavioural support strategies. • Assisting emotional regulation. • Maintaining structured routines. • Supporting safe community access. • Reducing isolation. • Preventing escalation and crisis. • Building daily living skills. • Supporting employment and productive engagement. • Maintaining participant safety.
Without these supports, individuals can rapidly deteriorate, resulting in increased involvement from emergency departments, acute mental health services, police, homelessness systems, and the justice system.
While reforms may aim to reduce short-term expenditure, inadequate support often results in significantly higher long-term social and economic costs.
We are also concerned that increased administrative complexity and reassessment requirements may place further pressure on families and carers who are already under significant strain. Families caring for multiple individuals with complex and high-support needs frequently experience:
• Severe burnout. • Emotional exhaustion. • Social isolation. • Financial stress. • Disrupted employment. • Relationship breakdown. • Chronic stress. • Impacts to their own physical and mental health.
The sustainability of the NDIS cannot be considered separately from the sustainability of informal carers and families.
The proposed reforms must also recognise that meaningful lives cannot be measured solely through clinical outcomes or cost containment.
The original intent of the NDIS was to support inclusion, participation, dignity, choice, control, independence, and meaningful contribution to society. These goals are achieved not only through clinical interventions, but through stable daily supports that allow participants to build relationships,
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1227
routines, confidence, skills, and community connection.
For our family, these supports directly impact my son’s ability to participate in his micro-business, which provides skill development, routine, confidence, purpose, social engagement, and an opportunity to contribute meaningfully to the community. Supports that enable employment pathways, structured engagement, and productive participation should not be viewed as non-essential.
We are particularly concerned that restrictive interpretations of supports may unintentionally reduce opportunities for young people transitioning into adulthood who require intensive support to build independence and avoid long-term dependence, institutionalisation, homelessness, or repeated crisis intervention.
Participants with behavioural support needs often require:
• Consistent relationship-based supports. • Predictable routines. • Trained support staff. • Environmental regulation. • Supervision. • Proactive intervention strategies.
Reducing these supports does not remove the disability or behavioural complexity. Instead, it transfers the burden to families, emergency services, schools, hospitals, and the broader community.
We respectfully urge the Committee and Government to ensure the proposed legislative reforms:
• Preserve participant choice and control. • Maintain flexibility for complex support needs. • Avoid overly narrow interpretations of “reasonable and necessary” supports. • Properly recognise psychosocial disability and behavioural complexities. • Protect funding for community participation and skill development. • Maintain supports that promote employment pathways and productive engagement. • Reduce administrative burden rather than increase it. • Ensure carers and families remain sustainable and supported.
We also urge decision-makers to meaningfully consult with participants, carers, families, and frontline providers before implementing significant reforms that may have unintended consequences for vulnerable Australians.
The success of the NDIS should not be measured solely by reduced expenditure. It should be measured by whether people with disabilities are safer, more connected, more independent, more
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1227
included, and able to live lives with dignity, purpose, and meaning.
Families like ours are not speaking from theory. We are speaking from lived experience — from years of advocacy, crisis management, behavioural support, emotional exhaustion, sleepless nights, and ongoing efforts to keep our young people safe and connected to the community.
We ask that the Committee carefully consider whether the proposed amendments may unintentionally reduce quality of life, increase carer burnout, limit pathways toward independence and employment, and create greater long-term social and economic costs.
Thank you for considering our submission and the lived experiences of families navigating complex disability support every day.
Yours sincerely,
On behalf of our family and the young people we care for