National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1447
SENATE SUBMISSION
NDIS Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
About our family
My name is — I am the sibling of , aged 15, who has Cri du Chat syndrome and lives with our family in . has been an NDIS participant since as long as I can remember. Her current plan funds support workers to assist her in activities of daily living, to engage in school holiday activities and community access, behaviour support, as well as necessary therapies including OT, speech, and physio. These supports are central to her development as a growing young teen, and to her safety.
Why I am concerned about this Bill
The NDIS Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 proposes changes that would cause real harm to my sister and our family. I am writing to ask the Committee to recommend amendments.
One point I am greatly concerned about is the proposed 50% cut to social and community participation funding. For children and teenagers with Cri du Chat syndrome, social and community participation funding is not just about leisure. It supports the gradual, supported development of independence, social connection, and a life outside the family home, exactly what teenagers without disability experience naturally. Over the past few years, I have transitioned from being a child to an adult. During my high school years, I worked multiple jobs in the community, attended parties, went shopping, out to eat and to the movies with my friends. This all happened with the support of my family, and with increasing independence from them. has this family support too, but she needs so much more. Being independent from our parents is a rite of passage and it’s going to look different for , but our family has tried to make her life as ordinary as possible. Social and community participation funding has increased her opportunities. I am proud to be an informal support for and an advocate for her. I got my driver’s licence last year, and and I loved that I was able to drive her to school regularly, where I handed her care over to school support staff. I enjoyed supporting her to run her first market stall last year too, but this would not have been possible without the paid support people who assisted in weeks of preparation, market research and stall design leading up to the event, as well as helping her out on the day of the market to communicate with customers and to maintain her regulation in a busy and new environment. currently attends multiple supported community activities, such as youth group, activities with school friends, and city council events. She accesses the community independently from our family with this funded support. This supports her growth toward adult life, helping her build connections and feel part of her community, with an identity outside of daughter or sister. A 50% cut would mean reducing these activities and limiting ’s opportunities. would lose the social connections she have worked hard to build and would reduce the already limited time she is able to spend away from her family.
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1447
There are no alternatives available in our community that provide the 1:1 trained support requires. This funding is what makes her inclusion possible, and will be particularly important as she leaves her mainstream highschool setting in the coming years.
What I am asking
• Ensure social and community participation cuts do not apply to young people who require 1:1 funded support for community access and independence development. • Reverse the 10% therapy funding cut, particularly for teenagers with ongoing therapy needs approaching major life transitions. • Protect the right to seek plan review when circumstances change, especially during transitions. • Revise the parental responsibility provisions to account for the reality of caring for a child or teenager with high and complex needs. • Amend or remove proposed section 34A (the Minister’s power to cut funding categories without individual assessment or right of review).
My family’s story NDIS funding is an extremely important factor adding to social and economic aspects of our family life and that of millions of other Australians. NDIS funding for social and community participation means that gets the opportunities in life that most other people get without effort and intention. It also ensures that she is given these opportunities safely and securely. Every time she comes home from youth group, swimming, or whatever activity in the community she has been supported to access, she is the happiest that I will ever see her. If these cuts are made it puts her development and interactions with her peers at an extreme risk, haltering her progression as a valued member within the community.
Sign-off Yours sincerely,
Publication preference: I am happy for my name to be published with my submission.
Submission prepared with support from the Cri du Chat Support Group of Australia. You may delete this line if you prefer. criduchat.org.au | info@criduchat.org.au