National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026

Submission 1325

To whom it may concern,

I am writing about the proposed changes to the NDIS, as I am currently a disability support worker and I have seen the impacts that the funding, cuts to funding, and increased stringency from the NDIS has had on many clients I have worked with.

The NDIS has truly changed the lives of the clients and participants I know, and has given them dignity, independence, hope, and improvements to their quality of life. I have always felt grateful to live in a country that provides such supports and felt proud to be part of a community that values protecting the most vulnerable. The proposed changes withdraw these supports and send us backwards as a country and are honestly very disappointing. I am aware the NDIS system has many flaws, however the bill does not address these flaws and has the capacity to exacerbate them. I’ve seen certain clients lose more than half their funding despite no changes to their conditions, which has put immense strain on them, and if they are fortunate enough, on those who care for them who have been left with the significant burden of dealing with the difficult and inefficient appeal systems in place, which would be expected to get more congested with these changes.

There are an estimated 5.5 million people living with disabilities in Australia, and only about 770,000 participants on the NDIS, and I am really disappointed that the government has decided to remove or cut funding for this already small portion of the population. With where the world is going, I think it is important that we protect the most vulnerable in our communities, and although there are many options for reforming and improving the NDIS, simply taking away from participants and make it more expensive to become a provider is not an effective solution, and will actually give more competitive power to those who are already committing the most fraud in the first place, as they are the ones who will continue to afford to be providers and are the main sources of poor care for participants and misuse of government spending.

I think we can do better than this, and this is not a construction plans or a military submarine, thiis is a lot of people’s lives, from most importantly the participants, to all those who have dedicated their careers to this industry.

Respectfully, A concerned citizen