National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1231
To the Community Affairs Legislation Committee,
I am writing to express my serious concerns about the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026.
I am an occupational therapist and the owner of , a small allied health private practice in Queensland. The majority of my caseload is NDIS-funded. I employ occupational therapists and support workers, and I work directly with participants every week. I am writing from both a clinical and a provider perspective.
My concerns centre on three aspects of the Bill: the proposed funding cuts to capacity building and participation supports from 1 October 2026, the expansion of ministerial powers to reduce whole categories of supports, and the restrictions on plan reassessment.
On capacity building cuts
The proposed 10 per cent reduction to capacity building daily activity supports will directly harm participants who are making measurable, meaningful progress toward independence. I want to share two examples from my practice’s caseload.
We have supported a 30-year-old man with cerebral palsy for the past two and a half years. Through consistent, goal-directed occupational therapy funded under capacity building, he has improved his arm and hand function to the point where he is now enrolled in and attending a nursing degree. He is already employed and contributing to the community, and is now on a pathway to becoming a healthcare professional. That outcome was not accidental, it was the direct result of sustained, funded therapy. Cutting capacity building does not save the NDIS money in the long run. It removes the very supports that move people toward greater independence and contribution.
We also support a 30-year-old non-verbal man with autism. Nine months ago, he was unable to use AAC independently to communicate. He required his mother’s physical assistance for every communication attempt. Through funded capacity building, he can now point to his AAC device independently to communicate. For the first time, as a 30-year-old man, he has a voice that is his own. This progress took nine months of skilled, consistent therapy. A funding cut mid-plan could set that back significantly.
These are not exceptional cases. They are representative of what occupational therapy-led capacity building achieves, every day, in practices like mine across Australia.
On ministerial powers and system-wide funding reductions
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1231
I am deeply concerned that the Bill creates a mechanism allowing the Minister to reduce whole categories of supports without individual assessment or clinical input. Occupational therapy is not a discretionary service. It is the clinical process by which a participant’s functional capacity, environment and goals are assessed and addressed. Decisions about whether and how much therapy a person needs cannot be made at a category level. They must be made by qualified clinicians, with the participant, based on their actual needs.
On plan reassessment
Restricting unscheduled reassessments to exceptional circumstances does not reflect the reality of disability. The participants I support, including those with progressive neurological conditions, and those whose capacity is changing rapidly, need the ability to have their plans reviewed when their circumstances change. Locking people into fixed plans regardless of clinical change is not person-centred planning. It is an administrative convenience that will cost more in crisis responses down the track.
On the sustainability of the OT workforce
As a small practice owner, I am also concerned about what these cuts mean for the allied health workforce. Small providers like mine operate on thin margins. I employ therapists, pay superannuation, carry insurance, maintain registration, pay rent and other overheads, and invest heavily in experienced therapists and clinical quality that is central to supporting people with complex disability. If capacity building funding is reduced, there is a real possibility that I will not be able to continue to afford to lease a clinic space, maintain necessary equipment, or employ experienced therapists. Workforce sustainability and participant outcomes are not separate issues — they are the same issue.
What I am asking Parliament to do
I urge the Committee to recommend that the Bill be amended to:
- Reverse the proposed reductions to capacity building and community participation supports
- Remove or substantially constrain the ministerial power to impose category- wide funding reductions
- Retain practical, accessible pathways for plan reassessment when a participant’s needs change
- Ensure that all funding decisions remain based on individual, clinician-informed assessment
I support Occupational Therapy Australia’s recommendations and the No OT, No NDIS campaign. The NDIS cannot achieve its purpose without a sustainable,
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1231
well-supported occupational therapy workforce, and that workforce cannot survive funding cuts that undermine the clinical work it was built to deliver.
Thank you for the opportunity to make this submission.