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

Submission 145

23rd May, 2026

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

I am writing to you as the Director of The Social Confidence Collective, a Melbourne-based service that provides therapist-led social groups and 1:1 support for teens and young adults to connect and build confidence around others.

Every day at the Social Confidence Collective, our team of Occupational Therapists witnesses the transformational power of support that centres social connection as a key ingredient for health and wellbeing. Many of the young people we work with are multiply neurodivergent, and have experienced significant mental health challenges, school disengagement and disconnection from the social world. Only a few weeks back, we met with a young person who had emerged from their house for the first time in months.

Here, young people can find an inclusive space to connect, belong and thrive. They can receive specialist therapy support to target goals around social confidence, anxiety management, and peer connection, helping them re-engage in community, education or employment pathways.

As a therapist, a mum of two boys, and a business owner who understands the importance of balancing fiscal and social responsibility, I urge you to consider the imminent risks and long-term impact of this Bill.

I am particularly concerned about the ministerial power to slash funding across entire support categories, with zero risk assessment for the individuals involved. The funding allocated for “Social, Civic and Community Participation” is targeted for 50% cuts within months, with this funding set to be discontinued altogether. This is the very funding that covers groups like ours, and funds support workers who help people access those services, take part in the community, attend important appointments, do their shopping, build relationships and contribute to society.

This policy direction contradicts the growing mountain of public health research highlighting the risks of social isolation and loneliness. Social isolation is now recognised globally as a public health emergency - one that carries a greater mortality risk than many well-known factors, such as smoking and obesity. Persistent loneliness is associated with high psychological distress, social anxiety, depression and suicidality.

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

Submission 145

Those of us who lived in Melbourne during the COVID-19 lockdowns have experienced just a small taste of what prolonged social isolation does to the human psyche - and our health and education systems are still seeing the long-term impacts today in rates of school disengagement and mental ill health.

This Bill may slash costs - but will create downstream pressure on our already strained public health care system and workers. As NDS participants lose access to their support workers, we will likely see more and more families buckle under the strain of increased carer roles - impacts that directly hit their own health, wellbeing and capacity to work.

But more than anything, behind these numbers and budgets are people and relationships. People won’t just lose funds; they will lose long-standing relationships with support workers who have become an integral part of their lives.

Investing in social and community participation is not a luxury “extra”, but an evidence-based, health promotion investment.

I strongly urge you to:

1. Vote against the Bill in its current form, or actively support amendments that fully protect Social, Civic and Community Participation funding.
2. Repeal ministerial power to make sweeping funding cuts without rigorous,
    individualised risk assessments.
3. Require that the promised "Inclusive Communities Fund" be fully co-designed,
   funded, and established before any existing supports are dismantled.

Thank you for your time, your leadership, and your consideration of this urgent matter. I welcome the opportunity to speak with you or your policy advisers directly to share our frontline insights.

Yours sincerely,

Sonya Vargas Stagg BaOT(Hons) BBNSc Director | Occupational Therapist The Social Confidence Collective www.socialconfidencecollective.com.au