National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1352
Submission to the Senate Committee Regarding Proposed NDIS Bill Changes
Submitted by: Name Withheld Description: Single parent, unpaid carer, regional/rural family, advocate
Introduction
Thank you for the opportunity to provide this submission regarding the proposed changes to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). I write as a single parent, unpaid carer, and advocate raising and supporting three children and young adults with disability in a regional/rural area.
My family has relied on the NDIS for many years. My eldest child, now nearly 20 years old, has accessed the NDIS for approximately seven years, while my nearly 18-year-old and 14-year-old children have been participants for around twelve years.
Over that time, I have seen firsthand both the positive impact that appropriate supports can have and the harm caused when supports are reduced, delayed, or made unnecessarily difficult to access. While I understand the need for accountability and sustainability within the NDIS, I am deeply concerned that several proposed changes risk placing even greater pressure on families already operating at their limits.
I ask the Committee to carefully consider the practical realities faced by families like mine before proceeding with reforms that may unintentionally increase hardship, isolation, regression, and carer burnout.
Living in a Regional/Rural Area
Living in a rural area significantly affects our ability to access supports and services. Most therapies require travel of approximately 45–60 minutes each way. Coordinating appointments for multiple children is extremely difficult, especially when each child may require up to three appointments per person.
As a single parent and unpaid carer, I must try to organise therapies on the same day to minimise travel costs, school absences, and disruption to family life. This is not always possible due to limited provider availability and long waitlists.
Regional families already experience disadvantage when it comes to accessing disability supports. Any reduction in flexibility, funding, or available supports will impact rural families even more severely.
1
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1352
Experience Accessing and Maintaining Supports
Over the years, all three of my children have received supports including:
• Speech Therapy • Occupational Therapy • Physiotherapy (for two children) • Psychology (for two children) • Support workers for community participation and independence building
These supports have genuinely helped my children make progress toward greater independence, communication skills, and community participation.
However, accessing and maintaining supports has been extremely difficult.
My family has experienced:
• Long waitlists • Lack of therapists and providers • Therapists leaving practices with no replacement available • Frequent need to rebuild relationships with new therapists • Funding cuts • Difficult reassessments • Inconsistent NDIA decisions • Appeals and reviews that were denied without clear explanation • Significant parent and carer burnout
One of my children experienced a reduction of supports by approximately two-thirds despite still requiring the same level of therapy and assistance as under the previous plan. Attempting to challenge such decisions has been stressful, time-consuming, and emotionally exhausting.
Repeatedly having to prove the existence and impact of lifelong disabilities creates unnecessary distress for families.
Concerns About the Proposed Changes
Reducing Funding for Social and Community Participation
I am deeply concerned about any reduction in funding for social and community participation.
As a single parent and carer trying to support both my 18-year-old and 14-year-old attending activities at different locations and times, it is often physically impossible for me to manage this alone.
Support workers do not simply provide supervision. They help my children develop communication, confidence, independence, social skills, and safe participation within the community.
Without these supports, isolation increases for both my children and myself.
2
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1352
Greater Expectations on Unpaid Carers and Families
Many carers are already operating at or beyond burnout levels.
There appears to be an increasing expectation that unpaid carers will simply absorb additional responsibilities when supports are reduced. This does not reflect reality.
Single parents and carers of multiple children with disability already carry enormous emotional, physical, financial, and mental burdens. Increasing reliance on unpaid care without proper support risks family breakdown, worsening mental health, and long-term harm to both carers and participants.
Changes to “Reasonable and Necessary” Supports
The proposed changes around “reasonable and necessary” supports are unclear and concerning.
Families need transparency and consistency. Currently, there appears to be significant inequality in how supports are approved. Some participants receive funding for items or activities others are forced to fight for despite basic needs remaining unmet.
There needs to be more balanced, equal, and transparent decision-making.
Requirement to Use Mainstream and Community Supports First
Mainstream and community supports are often already overstretched and limited.
Many community programs only provide a limited number of sessions or supports per year before families are returned to waitlists. This disrupts continuity of care and forces participants to repeatedly adjust to new professionals.
Consistent therapists and support workers are extremely important for building trust, communication, and progress.
Functional Capacity Assessments
Functional capacity assessments do not always reflect the full reality of disability.
Some individuals may appear capable in certain areas while still requiring substantial support in others. Disability impacts people differently, even among individuals with the same diagnosis.
The system must recognise that functioning is not always consistent and that support needs can vary greatly.
3
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1352
Automated Decision-Making
I strongly oppose increased automated decision-making.
A computer program cannot fully understand the lived reality of disability, the complexity of family circumstances, or the emotional and practical impact of support reductions.
Even people without lived experience often struggle to understand these realities. Expecting automated systems to make fair and compassionate decisions is deeply concerning.
More Frequent Reassessments and Shorter Plans
Frequent reassessments create stress, uncertainty, and instability.
Families should not have to repeatedly prove permanent disabilities and ongoing needs. The administrative burden involved in reviews, paperwork, reports, and reassessments takes time and energy away from actually caring for children and supporting their development.
Shorter plans also make it harder to maintain stable therapeutic relationships and long-term progress.
Reduced Choice and Control
Choice and control are central principles of the NDIS.
Families need flexibility to find therapists and support workers who genuinely understand the participant and work well within the family structure.
In regional areas especially, provider options are already limited. Further restrictions risk leaving families without suitable supports.
Positive Outcomes Achieved Through Supports
The supports my children have received through the NDIS have made meaningful differences in their lives.
Regular therapy with consistent professionals has helped improve:
• Speech clarity • Communication skills • Emotional expression and understanding • Community participation • Independence within the home • Ability to complete chores and daily tasks • Social confidence
4
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1352
Individual support workers have also helped my children safely attend social and community activities while continuing to build independence.
These improvements did not happen overnight. They required time, consistency, trust, and ongoing support.
Risks if Supports Are Reduced or Delayed
If supports are reduced or delayed, I believe my children would experience significant regression.
The likely consequences include:
• Increased isolation • Loss of independence • Decline in communication and social skills • Increased behavioural challenges and violence risks • Mental health decline • Greater stress within the family • Increased parent/carer burnout • Worsening depression for myself as the primary carer
There have been times where support workers and therapies helped prevent crisis situations and reduced pressure on the entire family.
Removing or reducing supports does not remove needs. It simply shifts the burden onto already overwhelmed families.
What Policymakers Often Misunderstand
People without disability experience often misunderstand that:
• Individuals with the same disability can be affected very differently • Support needs do not disappear as children grow older • Independence is something that must be continually developed and maintained • Families caring for multiple people with disability face unique and ongoing pressures • Carer stress and burnout do not simply lessen over time
Disabled children and young adults are individuals with feelings, goals, dignity, and the same desire for belonging and independence as everyone else. They simply require additional support to achieve and maintain these outcomes.
Public Discussion and Lack of Clarity
One of the most frustrating aspects of public discussion around the NDIS is the lack of clarity about proposed changes before they occur.
5
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1352
Families deserve clear explanations about:
• What is changing • Why it is changing • How decisions will be made • What safeguards exist • How participants can challenge decisions fairly
The current uncertainty creates fear and anxiety for families already under considerable pressure.
Recommendations
I respectfully ask the Committee to reconsider aspects of the Bill and implement stronger safeguards to protect participants and carers.
Recommendation 1: Strengthen Fraud Prevention Without Punishing Genuine Participants
Introduce stronger penalties and controls targeting fraudulent practices while ensuring legitimate participants and families are not subjected to excessive administrative burden or unnecessary suspicion.
Recommendation 2: Increase Recognition and Support for Carers Supporting Multiple People With Disability
Provide additional recognition, flexibility, and practical supports for parents and carers responsible for two or more people with disability, particularly in single-parent households and regional areas.
Recommendation 3: Ensure Fair and Consistent Interpretation of “Reasonable and Necessary” Supports
Improve transparency and consistency in decision-making to ensure participants have fair access to supports genuinely required for independence, safety, community access, and wellbeing.
Human Rights, Dignity, and Inclusion
The NDIS should continue to uphold the principles of dignity, inclusion, equality, and human rights.
People with disability deserve opportunities to participate fully in their communities, develop independence, maintain relationships, and access consistent supports that allow them to live meaningful lives.
Families and carers also deserve recognition and support for the essential role they play.
6
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1352
Policies that increase barriers to support risk undermining these principles and causing long-term social and emotional harm.
Conclusion
The NDIS has provided important supports that have helped my children build independence, communication skills, confidence, and community participation.
However, the system is already difficult to navigate, particularly for regional families and unpaid carers supporting multiple participants.
I urge the Committee to carefully reconsider changes that:
• Increase reliance on unpaid carers • Reduce flexibility and community participation supports • Increase reassessment burdens • Expand automated decision-making • Restrict choice and control • Create additional barriers to accessing essential supports
The focus of the NDIS should remain on improving quality of life, supporting independence, preventing crisis, and recognising the dignity and individuality of people with disability.
Thank you for considering my family’s experiences and concerns.
Submitted by: Name Withheld
7