National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1313
Submission to the Senate Inquiry – National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
I am a 47-year-old single mother, small business owner, and sole primary carer for my two neurodivergent children, aged 17 and 8.
I am writing this submission because I believe the proposed changes to the NDIS risk shifting the burden of disability support away from systems and onto already exhausted families, particularly single mothers and low-income households.
I have no local family support, no respite from other parents, and no second income in my household. I run a small business around my children’s therapy schedules, school needs, emotional regulation, medical appointments, and crises. I also manage chronic health conditions myself, yet frequently cannot afford my own healthcare because all available resources go toward supporting my children.
One of my greatest concerns about the proposed changes is the assumption that families can simply “do more” if supports are reduced.
We cannot.
I am not a psychologist, speech therapist, occupational therapist, behaviour support practitioner, teacher, or social worker. I am one person already carrying the role of parent, advocate, coordinator, administrator, emotional regulator, transport provider, sole income earner, and carer.
My two children demonstrate very different disability presentations, but both remain highly dependent on me in ways that significantly impact daily functioning and my own ability to participate in society, work sustainably, or care for my own health.
My older child was never eligible for NDIS support despite significant lifelong functional impairments including ADHD, dyslexia, severe dyscalculia, anxiety, sensory processing difficulties, auditory processing difficulties, and executive functioning challenges.
Because we were a single-income household, I simply could not afford the level of intervention she needed throughout childhood and adolescence.
We accessed psychology when she reached acute levels of anxiety or depression, but many developmental supports were financially out of reach. We could not continue speech therapy beyond primary school. We could not afford regular occupational therapy. We could not afford tutoring for dyslexia and dyscalculia. Outside of a handful of short therapy intensives across childhood, she largely grew up without the level of intervention many children require to build functional independence.
The outcome is now a nearly adult young person who remains highly reliant on me in many aspects of daily functioning. Her Maths level is that of an 8 year old, and in her YARC testing last year at the end of her HSC: Reading Comprehension - 07:03yrs, Fluency - Below 11:04yrs.
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1313
She struggles with written or email communication, administration, appointments, organisation, planning, emotional regulation, and independent living skills.
I manage almost all practical life administration on her behalf including appointments, work communication, educational communication, reminders, banking support, and interpreting written information. She cannot do contracts, or even complete onboarding documents for work.
Her anxiety has compounded over many years of living with disability with minimal external support. The ongoing strain of trying to function in systems not designed for neurodivergent people has had a cumulative emotional impact.
She experiences severe separation anxiety and emotional distress if I am away more than one night. If I travel, I generally need to return within a 24-hour period due to escalating anxiety, panic symptoms, vomiting, and dysregulation when separated from me.
My younger child has a very different profile. He is a twice-exceptional (2e) child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (PDA profile), ADHD combined type, dyspraxia (developmental coordination disorder), Generalised Anxiety Disorder, and Separation Anxiety Disorder. He is highly intelligent and verbally capable, but experiences significant challenges with emotional regulation, executive functioning, anxiety, social interaction, behavioural rigidity, transitions, and daily functioning.
His disability presentation is visible in a very different way to his sister’s at the same age (she masked most of the time and wouldn’t have public meltdowns), but his long-term risks are also substantial.
Through access to NDIS early intervention supports, he has been accessing regular therapy with Psychologist, and OTs who help him try to understand and navigate feelings, social dynamics, safe behaviours and peer interactions. However, his greatest challenges remain social, behavioural, emotional, and functional capacity. These are the areas most likely to impact his future ability to remain engaged in education, maintain relationships, participate in employment, and function independently within society.
Without support, children with profiles like his do not simply “grow out of it.”
Many children with PDA-style autism profiles ultimately disengage from school entirely because families cannot sustain the emotional, behavioural, educational, and nervous system demands without substantial support systems in place.
If he loses access to NDIS supports, I do not have the financial resources, qualifications, time, or capacity to replace those therapies myself.
I cannot privately fund the level of therapy he requires. I cannot become his multidisciplinary team while also caring for another high-needs child and running a business to keep our household afloat.
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1313
His emotional dependence also significantly restricts my daily functioning. Even when supervised by a trusted long-term sitter, he becomes highly distressed if I am out beyond approximately 8:00 PM. This effectively prevents me from attending evening work functions, networking opportunities, social activities, or maintaining normal adult participation outside the home.
The reality is that reducing supports does not remove the need. It simply transfers the cost and burden onto families already operating beyond capacity.
I am also deeply concerned about proposed changes around “permanence” and expectations that families pursue all possible treatments before eligibility is recognised.
For many families, treatments may technically exist but are financially inaccessible, geographically unavailable, or impossible to sustain long term.
A treatment is not truly “available” if a single-income family cannot realistically afford it.
The Medicare Safety Net and broader healthcare systems also fail to recognise the realities faced by single-parent carers. A two-income household with shared caregiving responsibilities is treated the same as a single parent household carrying all emotional, financial, therapeutic, and practical responsibilities alone.
The long-term cost of reducing early intervention and disability supports will not disappear. It will simply emerge later through increased mental health crises, school refusal, unemployment, carer burnout, family breakdown, and greater long-term dependence on systems.
My younger child has had access to opportunities and interventions my older child never received. That difference matters. It has the potential to significantly alter the trajectory of his life.
Early intervention is not wasteful spending. It is an investment in future functioning, independence, wellbeing, and participation in society.
I ask the Committee to carefully consider the real-world impact these changes will have on families like mine, particularly single parents caring for children without informal support systems or financial resources.
Thank you for considering my submission.