Submission 146

I’m a disabled person and NDIS participant from Melbourne in my late 20s; and in response to the NDIS Future Generations Bill (2026), I am asking you to not reduce funding for assistance with social and community participation.

To put things into context; I can’t work despite wanting to, I don’t have close friends, I barely leave my house. I don’t have a partner, and I may never have one. Nor do I get to live the life of a typical person my age. If my social and community funding were cut, the impacts would be devastating. I am not an outlier.

I’d like to tell you about the support through NDIS that has brought most meaning to my life. It is a disability art group (not art therapy), that I attended over a couple of months until I’ve had to pause it. This group gave me a place where I felt welcome, people were excited to see me, I felt safe and supported, it gave me a reason to get up once a week. It wasn’t about the art, it was having a place that I was wanted, and people care about each other. It was the only thing I had to look forward to at that time. This group was invaluable. Before this my main source of connection was scrolling through social media in bed, my pets, or people paid to support me. If I were never able to access this group again or ones like it I know the isolation would creep back in and how painful that is. To only have human contact with support workers is not a life. To be honest, before I found this group I was declining and rejecting all help and that’s exactly what happened when I had to stop.

I’ve tried community groups and programs before, and they were not accessible, and I often went home in tears or never went back. Community programs are not set up for people with disabilities even if they say we are welcome, the pace is different, they’re usually short term and there isn’t support. I need someone to walk me through things, help if I’m overwhelmed, possibly check I’ve eaten, make sure I’m able to get home okay. No one is going to replicate that. Community groups usually expect you to pay for supports to attend which also won’t be possible if this funding is cut. In the suburbs often the only option is with people often more than twice our age or traveling further (hard to do without funding) to a group a similar age who we often can’t relate to. I’ve tried both options and was left feeling lonelier and worse about myself. It is said that the intention is to create adequate spaces elsewhere, yet you also plan to cut funding before these options even exist.

Disabled people have a need for connection too. Sometimes we need each other. If you go ahead with the cuts, you will be destroying friendships, routines, people’s good places. We have found our own little communities, and you plan to tear them apart. Maybe before doing that you should visit some of these groups and programs and ask participants (or their carers) what will happen if you take away their friends, because that’s what will happen. There is a need for the NDIS groups, and they also save lives.

Submission 146

These costs will mean some people can’t access doctors’ appointments if they don’t have enough support, won’t be able to leave the house, goodbye to cafes, getting groceries in person, seeing friends, going to work for some, trying on clothes, travelling into the city, football games, concerts, movies, haircuts. It will mean forced isolation and not being able to have a life. Imagine having to ration funding just so you can go to essential medical appointments and no longer being able to access the things that give life meaning.

This isn’t an exaggeration either, a 50% cut in this budget is huge. Please consider how drastic that is. Participants are not responsible for the schemes budget blowouts, there are other ways to reduce spending that will have less impact. Most people have experienced loneliness at some point in their lives, but not everyone experiences the same number of barriers to connection.

Please remember that we are people first, before we are reduced to budget lines.

Suggestions

• Don’t cut funding from social and community participation, or otherwise ensure cuts are minimal. The current proposal is far too drastic.
• Understand the consequences, and that this will cost lives.
• Talk to the people who your changes will affect and give them enough time to respond.
• Visit NDIS groups & day programs and see firsthand the impact they are having.
• Don’t remove supports, before adequate alternatives exist. Otherwise, our needs are not protected or safeguarded.
• If savings need to be made, then the focus should be on where it is genuinely being wasted, with minimal impact on participants.

Submission 146

TO BE PUBLISHED ANONYMOUSLY. Please do not include any parts of my name if this is published online.