Submission 155

Submission to the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee

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

Submitted by: FNQ Independent Living Support Association Inc. (Trading as ILSA) Date: 27 May 2026 Contact: Leanne Denby, CEO,

About ILSA

Independent Living Support Association Inc. is a not-for-profit organisation based in Cairns, Queensland. ILSA provides in-home and community-based support to people living with disability, including NDIS participants, and older Australians receiving aged care supports.

ILSA works closely with people with disability, families, carers, support workers and the broader community. Our organisation is committed to the principles of dignity, inclusion, choice and control, and practical, person-centred support that enables people to live ordinary, connected and meaningful lives.

This submission is made on behalf of ILSA’s Management Committee, staff and service users. It reflects our concern that the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 may have significant and potentially harmful consequences for people living with disability, particularly those who already experience barriers to access, communication, advocacy, informal support and service continuity.

ILSA supports the need for a sustainable, safe and high-quality NDIS. We also support appropriate action to prevent fraud, exploitation and poor-quality service provision. However, sustainability must not be achieved by narrowing access, reducing essential supports, weakening participant rights, or shifting responsibility onto families, mainstream systems and communities that are already under strain.

Summary of ILSA’s position

ILSA is deeply concerned that the Bill, as currently drafted, risks moving the NDS away from its original purpose: to provide reasonable and necessary support that enables people with permanent and significant disability to participate in social, economic and community life.

The Bill proposes broad changes to access, planning, provider regulation, funding controls, information-gathering and scheme governance. The Government has described the Bill as focusing on eligibility, funded supports, fraud prevention and administrative arrangements. However, sector analysis and disability representative organisations have raised serious concerns that these changes could substantially reshape the Scheme and reduce access to supports for many people with disability.

ILSA’s primary concerns are that the Bill may:

• narrow access to the NDIS through stricter eligibility and permanence requirements;
• reduce or restrict supports that are essential to community participation, daily living and independence;

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3. increase Ministerial and Agency discretion without sufficient safeguards;
4. increase downstream impacts on already pressured health systems, including ED presentations, avoidable hospital admissions, mental health deterioration and crisis escalation due to reducing supports;
5. create uncertainty and distress for participants, families and providers;
6. place additional administrative and compliance burdens on small and medium providers;
7. weaken choice and control through commissioning, panels or restricted provider arrangements;
8. risk cost-shifting to families, carers, state systems and community organisations;
9. progress too quickly, without adequate consultation with people with disability and the organisations that support them.

ILSA recommends that the Bill not proceed in its current form without substantial amendment, further consultation and clear safeguards to protect participants’ rights, access to support, and continuity of care.

3. The NDIS must remain centred on people with disability

ILSA acknowledges that the NDIS must be financially sustainable. We also acknowledge that fraud and exploitation must be addressed. However, these goals must not override the Scheme’s foundational principles.

The NDIS is not simply a budget measure. It is a social insurance scheme that recognises that people with disability have the right to live with dignity, exercise choice and control, and participate in community life.

For many ILSA service users, NDIS supports are not optional extras. They are the difference between isolation and participation, instability and safety, dependence and independence.

Supports such as assistance with daily living, community access, skill development, transport, personal care and support coordination often prevent crisis, family breakdown, hospitalisation, homelessness and avoidable escalation of need.

We are concerned that the Bill appears to treat some supports, particularly community participation and capacity-building supports, as areas where reductions can be made with limited consequence. In practice, these supports are often central to a person’s wellbeing, mental health, social inclusion and ability to build independence. Furthermore, reducing supports is likely to place greater pressure on already under-funded and under-supported health systems through emergency department presentations, mental health deterioration and crisis escalation.

4. Concern about reduced access and tighter eligibility

ILSA is concerned about proposed changes relating to NDIS access, particularly where they may narrow the definition of permanence, substantially reduced functional capacity, and interaction with other service systems.

The Department has stated that the Bill is intended to clarify eligibility and the supports the NDIS funds. However, clarification must not become exclusion. Many people with disability already experience significant difficulty gathering evidence, navigating complex access processes and understanding NDIA decision-making.

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People with psychosocial disability, cognitive disability, autism, acquired brain injury, fluctuating conditions, complex trauma, degenerative conditions or limited formal diagnosis may be particularly disadvantaged by tighter access requirements. Often times it is people living with these complexities who are often disproportionately impacted by increased administrative complexity and fragmented systems. ILSA is concerned that any requirement to demonstrate that treatment options have been exhausted, or that other systems should provide support first, may create unfair barriers. Mainstream health, housing, education and community systems are often difficult to access, underfunded, delayed or not designed to provide disability-related functional support. Participants should not be left without practical support while systems debate responsibility. ILSA recommends that:

• access provisions must be clear, fair and rights-based;
• people must not be excluded because mainstream systems theoretically exist but are unavailable, delayed or unsuitable;
• functional impact should remain central to access decisions;
• people with complex, episodic or less visible disabilities must be protected from unfair exclusion;
• independent advocacy and supported decision-making should be funded and available throughout access and reassessment processes.

5. Concern about reductions to community participation and capacity-building supports ILSA is particularly concerned about proposed powers or policy settings that may reduce funding for categories of support across participants’ plans. DSC’s analysis notes that the proposed legislation would give the Minister power to reduce funding for a type of support across participants’ plans, and that announced intentions include reductions to social, civic and community participation budgets and capacity-building daily activity budgets. This is of serious concern to ILSA. Community participation is not a luxury. It is a core part of inclusion, wellbeing and citizenship. For many people with disability, support to access the community is what allows them to maintain relationships, attend appointments, participate in recreation, volunteer, learn skills, reduce isolation and build confidence. Similarly, capacity-building supports are often what enable people to become more independent over time. Reducing these supports may appear to create short-term savings, but it risks increasing long-term dependence, carer stress and crisis presentations. For participants in regional and outer regional areas such as Far North Queensland, community participation also often requires greater travel time, fewer service options and more careful planning. Blanket reductions may disproportionately impact people in regional communities. ILSA recommends that:

• there should be no blanket or category-based reductions to participant budgets without individual assessment;

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• community participation and capacity-building supports should be recognised as essential to social inclusion, wellbeing and independence;

• any funding changes must be based on individual need, goals, risk and functional impact;

• participants must have clear review and appeal rights where supports are reduced.

6. Concern about increased Ministerial and Agency discretion ILSA is concerned that the Bill appears to increase the ability of the Minister and the NDIA to make broad decisions affecting participant funding, provider arrangements and scheme administration. While government must retain appropriate oversight of public funds, broad discretionary powers can create uncertainty and reduce transparency unless accompanied by strong safeguards. Participants and providers need to know how decisions are made, what evidence is relied upon, and how decisions can be challenged. This is particularly important where decisions affect access, plan funding, support categories, provider choice or payment approval. ILSA recommends that the Bill be amended to ensure:

   • all major decisions affecting participant rights and supports are transparent and reviewable;
   • legislative instruments and rules are subject to meaningful scrutiny;
   • participants are given reasons for decisions in plain language;
   • automated or system-generated decisions are not used without appropriate human oversight;
   • people with disability are involved in the design, implementation and monitoring of any decision-making framework.

7. Provider registration, quality and safeguards ILSA supports strong quality and safeguarding arrangements. As a registered provider, ILSA understands the importance of accountability, worker screening, incident management, complaints processes, risk management and governance. The Government has indicated that reforms will include expanded mandatory registration, a new provider enrolment system, increased evidence requirements for payments, stronger investigative and enforcement powers, and improved monitoring of fraud and suspicious behaviour. ILSA supports action against fraud and exploitation. However, we are concerned that reform must distinguish between deliberate fraud and ordinary administrative error, particularly for smaller not-for-profit and community-based providers. The disability sector is already operating in a highly complex regulatory environment. Many providers are also dealing with workforce shortages, pricing pressures, thin markets, increased audit costs and reform fatigue. Additional compliance requirements must be proportionate, clearly communicated and adequately resourced.

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ILSA recommends that:

• smaller and regional providers be specifically considered in implementation design;
• compliance obligations distinguish between fraud, negligence and good-faith administrative error;
• providers be given clear guidance, templates, transition time and support;
• quality and safeguarding reforms not unintentionally reduce provider viability or participant access.

8. Concern about plan management, support coordination and commissioning The Department has stated that proposed reforms include commissioning a panel of plan management providers, commissioning a new support coordination and connection function, and consulting on commissioning approaches for home and living supports. ILSA is concerned that panel or commissioning models may reduce participant choice and control if not carefully designed. Support coordination, plan management and home and living supports are highly relational. Participants often rely on trusted providers who understand their communication style, family context, risks, preferences and history. Moving to centrally commissioned or restricted provider arrangements may disrupt these relationships. For participants with complex needs, trauma histories, communication barriers or limited informal support, continuity and trust are essential safeguards. ILSA recommends that:

• any commissioning model must preserve genuine participant choice and control;
• participants must be able to retain trusted providers where those providers meet quality requirements;
• regional and thin-market impacts must be assessed before implementation;
• transition arrangements must protect continuity of support;
• people with disability and providers must be consulted before commissioning models are finalised.

9. Impact on families, carers and informal supports ILSA is concerned that the Bill may increase reliance on families and informal supports. Many families and carers are already under significant pressure. Some participants have no reliable informal support. Others live in households where relationships are strained, ageing carers are involved, or family members are already providing care beyond what is sustainable. If access is narrowed or supports are reduced, the practical impact will often fall on families, unpaid carers, emergency services, hospitals, housing systems and community organisations. This is not true sustainability. It is cost-shifting. This false economy can have significant impact where reductions in community-based disability supports may ultimately increase demand across acute health, mental health, housing and emergency systems as informal supports are not able to cope with greater expectations placed on them.

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ILSA recommends that the Committee consider the real-world impact of the Bill on families and carers, including:

• increased unpaid care;
• reduced workforce participation by carers;
• increased risk of carer burnout;
• higher risk of crisis placements, hospitalisation or family breakdown;
• reduced safety for participants without strong informal networks.

10. Regional and thin-market impacts

ILSA operates in North Queensland, where participants can face additional barriers including workforce shortages, transport limitations, fewer specialist services, fewer provider options and longer distances. Policy changes that may be manageable in metropolitan areas can have very different effects in regional communities. For example, reduced community participation funding, tighter provider registration, restricted provider panels, or additional administrative burdens may significantly reduce available support options in areas where markets are already thin.

ILSA recommends that:

• regional, rural and remote impacts be specifically assessed;
• implementation timelines be adjusted for thin-market areas;
• provider viability be considered as a participant safeguard;
• regional participants are not disadvantaged by reduced provider choice or service availability.

11. Need for genuine consultation and co-design

ILSA is concerned about the short timeframe for submissions and the scale of the proposed reforms. The Senate inquiry was referred on 14 May 2026, with submissions closing 29 May 2026. This is an extremely limited timeframe for a Bill with significant implications for people with disability, families, providers and the future of the Scheme. People with disability must have meaningful opportunity to understand, respond to and shape reforms that affect their lives. Consultation should be accessible, culturally safe, trauma-informed and available in plain language, Easy Read, Auslan and community languages.

ILSA recommends that:

• the Bill does not proceed on a rushed timeline;
• further consultation and co-design be undertaken with people with disability;
• disability representative organisations be resourced to support community input;
• providers, especially regional and not-for-profit providers, be consulted on implementation impacts;
• implementation be staged, evaluated and adjusted based on participant outcomes.

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Recommendations

ILSA recommends that the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee:

• Recommend that the Bill not proceed in its current form without substantial amendment and further consultation.
• Protect access to the NDIS by ensuring eligibility provisions do not unfairly exclude people with complex, episodic, psychosocial, cognitive, developmental or less visible disabilities.
• Reject blanket reductions to support categories, particularly community participation and capacity-building supports.
• Ensure all funding decisions remain individualised, based on functional need, goals, risk and participant circumstances.
• Strengthen safeguards around Ministerial and Agency powers, including transparency, review rights, human oversight and parliamentary scrutiny.
• Ensure fraud and integrity measures are proportionate, targeted and do not punish participants or good-faith providers for administrative complexity.
• Preserve participant choice and control, particularly in relation to plan management, support coordination, home and living supports, and provider selection.
• Assess regional and thin-market impacts before implementing provider registration, commissioning or funding changes.
• Fund independent advocacy and supported decision-making so participants can understand and respond to access, planning, review and reassessment decisions.
• Require genuine co-design with people with disability before major reforms are implemented.

Conclusion

ILSA supports a sustainable, safe and high-quality NDIS. We support efforts to address fraud, improve provider quality and ensure public funds are used appropriately. However, the NDIS must be secured by strengthening the Scheme, not by narrowing access, reducing essential supports, limiting participant choice or increasing uncertainty for people with disability. The NDIS exists because people with disability have the right to live ordinary lives with the support they need. This includes the right to be safe, to participate in community, to build independence, to maintain relationships, and to exercise choice and control over their lives. ILSA urges the Committee to recommend substantial amendments to the Bill and to ensure that any reform is developed through genuine consultation with people with disability, families, carers, providers and communities. The future of the NDIS must be secured in partnership with the people it was created to support.

Submitted by: Independent Living Support Association Inc. on behalf of the ILSA Management Committee, staff and service users.