Submission 1451

Submission to the Australian Parliament – Concerns Regarding the NDIS Amendment Bill and the Removal of Support Coordination

To: Members of the Australian Parliament Re: Proposed legislative changes affecting Support Coordination within the NDIS

I am writing to express significant concern regarding elements of the proposed NDIS Amendment Bill, particularly the intention to remove or substantially reduce Support Coordination from participant plans. As someone who works directly with NDIS participants, families, and service providers, I see firsthand the essential role Support Coordination plays in ensuring the scheme functions as intended.

1. Support Coordination is not an optional extra — it is a core safeguard

Support Coordination is one of the few mechanisms within the NDIS that actively protects participants from system complexity, service gaps, and exploitation. Removing or limiting this support will disproportionately impact:

• Participants with cognitive disability
• Participants with psychosocial disability
• Families experiencing carer burnout
• Participants with limited literacy or digital capacity
• People without informal supports

These groups rely on Support Coordination to navigate the scheme, understand their rights, and connect with safe, appropriate services. Without it, many will be unable to implement their plans effectively, leading to poorer outcomes and increased long-term costs to the scheme.

2. The NDIS is already complex — removing Support Coordination increases risk

The NDIS Review itself acknowledged that the system is difficult to navigate. Participants frequently struggle with:

• Finding qualified providers
• Understanding budgets and line items
• Managing service agreements
• Coordinating multiple therapies
• Responding to crises or changes in need
• Ensuring compliance with NDIS rules

Support Coordinators are often the only professionals helping participants interpret NDIA decisions, understand plan flexibility, and avoid misuse of funds. Removing this support will increase administrative burden on families, escalate crisis situations, and ultimately shift costs back onto the health, housing, and justice systems.

3. Removing Support Coordination will worsen carer burnout

Submission 1451

Many families are already at breaking point. Carers are providing high levels of unpaid support because they cannot secure or coordinate the services their loved ones need. Without Support Coordination, carers will be forced to take on even more administrative, advocacy, and crisis-management responsibilities.

This is not sustainable. Carer burnout leads to:

• Increased hospital admissions
• Family breakdown
• Loss of employment
• Higher long-term NDIS costs due to unmanaged needs

Support Coordination is a preventative investment that reduces crisis expenditure and keeps families stable.

4. Support Coordination strengthens scheme integrity

There is a misconception that Support Coordination contributes to overspending. In reality, Support Coordinators are often the only professionals ensuring:

• Correct use of funds
• Prevention of overservicing
• Identification of unethical provider behaviour
• Accurate reporting of participant needs
• Early intervention when risks emerge

Removing this layer of oversight will create more opportunities for fraud, not fewer.

5. Participants need independence, not abandonment

The NDIS was founded on principles of choice and control, community inclusion, and individualised support. Removing Support Coordination undermines these principles by placing unrealistic expectations on people who cannot safely or effectively self-manage complex disability supports.

Independence is not achieved by withdrawing assistance — it is achieved by providing the right support at the right time.

6. Recommendations

I respectfully urge Parliament to:

1. Retain Support Coordination as a funded support within NDIS plans, particularly for participants with high or complex needs.
2. Improve quality and accountability within the Support Coordination sector rather than removing it or restructuring it so only large organisations can tender for these roles. Large organisations are often less connected to, and less aware of, individual circumstances.

Submission 1451

• Ensure any new “navigator” model is adequately funded, skilled, and accessible, and does not replace individualised support with generic, under-resourced services with huge caseloads such as the NDIS partners ’local area coordinators.

• Consult directly with participants, carers, and frontline workers before implementing structural changes that will significantly impact daily life.

• Recognise Support Coordination as a critical safeguard, not an administrative luxury.

Conclusion

The NDIS exists to support people with disability to live ordinary, meaningful lives. Removing Support Coordination will not simplify the scheme — it will make it harder to navigate, less safe, and more inequitable. Participants deserve a system that supports them, not one that leaves them to manage alone.

I urge Parliament to reconsider the proposed changes and protect the essential role of Support Coordination within the NDIS.

Thank you for considering this submission.

Yours sincerely,