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

Submission 1398

I have worked in the disability sector for a few years now and I am also aunt to a young man who has Down Syndrome. I understand the NDIS both professionally and personally, and I want to be very clear about the consequences of cutting social and community access funding for participants like my nephew.

Like my nephew, many participants cannot be left alone. He cannot work, study, or participate independently in the community. Social and community access funding is the only mechanism he has to fill his days with meaningful activity, connection, and purpose.

Without it, he is housebound. Not figuratively — literally. Apart from his mum’s availability.

My sister is already providing a high level of care around the clock. If my nephew’s community access hours do not cover the times she needs to work, then she simply cannot work. There is no alternative. There is no one else to step in. There is no “informal support network” waiting in the wings. I live hours away myself.

The system cannot simultaneously reduce his supports and expect her to maintain employment.

If the NDIS removes the supports that allow her to work, rest, and function, then she will be pushed back onto welfare — not by choice, but by necessity.

And what about her weekends? Without adequate support, she will be providing full-time care seven days a week, with no break, no downtime, and no ability to sustain her own wellbeing. I will point out that there are also 2 younger children that need care in this picture.

This is not sustainable for any carer, let alone a parent with no extended family available to share the load.

Professionally, I can tell you: When you cut community access, you don’t save money. You shift the cost onto carers, Centrelink, and crisis services.

Personally, I can tell you: When you cut community access, you take away the only structure, purpose, and connection my nephew has.

Please reconsider the cuts to social and community access funding. For my nephew, it is not optional. For my sister, it is the difference between employment and forced welfare. I fear for her family, it is the difference between coping and collapse.

We value the NDIS highly and we need it to be sustainable, but cuts to social and community access will be unsustainable for my sister’s family and many of the similar families I work with.

Please reconsider these cuts.

Yours sincerely,

27.5.2026