National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1244
To the Senate Standing Committees,
I write to strongly oppose the proposed NDIS Amendment Bill.
This Bill represents a fundamental shift away from the principles the NDIS was created upon — individualised support, participant choice and control, and decisions based on actual disability needs rather than cost-cutting measures. My concerns include:
- The erosion of individualised funding and supports tailored to a person’s actual circumstances.
- Excessive powers being granted to the Minister without adequate safeguards or transparency.
- Reduced participant choice and control, particularly regarding how supports are accessed and managed.
- The likelihood of significant cuts to supports that enable community participation, independence, and quality of life.
- The apparent move toward standardised assessments and automated decision-making processes instead of relying on qualified clinicians and individual evidence.
- The narrowing of disability recognition in ways that fail to reflect the complexity and reality of many participants’ lives.
- Reduced avenues for review and appeal, leaving participants with little meaningful recourse when incorrect decisions are made. The NDIS was designed to support people with disabilities to live with dignity, autonomy, and inclusion. Reforms that prioritise administrative efficiency or financial savings over participant wellbeing undermine the purpose of the Scheme. I am deeply concerned about the speed at which these changes are being progressed and the lack of genuine consultation with participants, families, carers, advocates, and frontline providers.
As a parent of a child with Autism, who also works in the sector, the system already made it difficult for parents to even get the help or even GET their children a diagnosis. My child was not diagnosed until he was 12 despite showing issues from a young age. Knowing what I know about the system I was already reluctant to apply for NDIS despite being eligible for it for him, and also myself (I have a number of chronic health issues which make me eligible for it). These new changes will directly impact parents like myself who are already burnt out, exhausted and struggling to find support, especially with programs like thriving kids, which, without a doubt, will cause serious issues for people in rural areas where we already don’t have the wraparound services we need for that system to be successful. The answer is not to make the system harder to navigate and it’s most certainly not trying to make being part of society less accessible for people with disabilities which this bill will directly do.
People with disabilities deserve a system that listens to them, respects expert clinical evidence, and protects their right to individualised support. This Bill does not achieve that.
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1244
I urge the Committee to reject the Bill in its cmTent fo1m and undertake proper consultation with the disability community before any fmiher changes are made.
Wann Regards