National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1309
I am a current participant, however I have not been able to use my funding that was approved in (date) as I would no longer be eligible to receive support services through my local council for shopping assistance, meal preparation, home care, personal care and these services were not replaced in my funding. I have done 2 internal appeals and I am waiting for my case to be reviewed externally and the whole process has been extremely traumatic.
I am extremely concerned about the impact this bill will have on disabled people like myself who already can’t leave the house without support, are socially isolated and either have no support or very limited support from family or friends. In 2024 I waited 6 months for crisis care and I am really concerned about the impact these changes will have on community services which already have detrimental wait times, are a limited resource and lack adequate funding. These changes push the responsibility of care back onto a society that is already struggling and many who are functioning outside of their capacity just fighting to survive. Mental health services have long wait times to see a psychiatrist or a psychologist which has very limited bulk billing options and mental health care plans only give you 10 session a year, which severely underestimates the amount of support someone may need. Accessing mental health care is financially inaccessible and having to exhaust all treatment options to be eligible is an unreasonable request because there are barriers some of us can not overcome. The changes being made are a death sentence to some and a life sentence to suffering, alone and silent, out of the public eye so the rest of Australians don’t see our governments systemic violence - to say the least.
I ask the committee to consider my lived experience when reviewing this Bill. I am a single parent with 100% custody and no family support. My child is Autistic and has ADHD, anxiety and CPTSD. They need significant support at home and school. I have been deterred from applying for NDIS for them due to the bill and because of my own traumatic experience with the NDIS. My NDIS funding did not provide any supports for parenting, which feels cruel. I need significant daily support for myself, which I do not have and I also need support with parental responsibilities and my child needs their own personal support. Despite accessing multiple support services over the last couple of years, there are no long term options for the type of support we need and is causing psychological distress for both of us. Some of the people I love are chronically ill and disabled, yet it wasn’t until I became disabled and dependent on a life sustaining government payment (that is below the poverty line), did I really understand how inaccessible our world is and the financial burden that comes with it. I don’t believe people who aren’t disabled can truly comprehend what our lives are like and they definitely shouldn’t be the ones making decisions about our lives, especially when it comes at the cost of our lives. These changes are violent and it feels like a calculated attempt to remove us from society. Moving to automated systems will remove compassion and understanding of individual circumstances when making decisions and the non-contactable rules reflect that the people making these changes really have no idea about the lives of disabled people as this is an unreasonable and does not take into consideration our capacity or the process and time to arrange support to be able to interact with services. The Bill will have so many detrimental impacts on society as a whole, that it cancels out anything “good” that you think will come from it.
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1309
What I want the committee to understand is that behind every participant is a person grieving for a life we once had, grieving friendships we lost at the cost of our health, grieving the future we imagined and complexed grief for the big and small ways our daily lives needed to change. I want the committee to find the compassion to throw this bill in the bin, stop the NDIS cuts and please listen to our voices. I hope you choose radical compassion over business as usual. Politics is personal. My life and my child’s life are in your hands. It’s personal.