National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 163
Personal Submission
Securing the NDIS for Future Generations Bill
Submitted by: Melissa Ryan
Capacity: Individual NDIS participant and person with disability
The supports I receive do not replace my independence; they make my independence possible.
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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 163
- Introduction My name is Melissa Ryan. I am making this submission in a personal capacity as a person with disability and an NDIS participant.
I have cerebral palsy and a speech impairment. My disability affects my mobility, communication, daily living, access to the community, and the level of support I need to live safely and independently.
I rely on NDIS supports for many parts of my daily life. These supports are not optional extras. They are what allow me to live with dignity, maintain my independence, access the community, attend appointments, maintain relationships, and participate in ordinary life.
I support genuine efforts to improve the integrity of the NDIS. Fraud, exploitation, misuse of public money and unsafe provider practices should be taken seriously.
However, I am concerned that NDIS integrity must not be understood only as stopping fraud or reducing costs. Integrity must also mean protecting genuine participants from harm, fear, unsafe decisions, reduced choice and control, and unnecessary loss of essential supports.
A scheme has integrity when it protects public money, but also when it protects the people it was created to support.
- About Me and My Support Needs I have limited informal support networks due to family trauma. This means I cannot rely on family support in the way some people may assume.
My father has dementia and resides in a nursing home. I am his Power of Attorney and I visit him at least once a week. Maintaining this relationship is very important to me, and being his Power of Attorney also means I need to remain involved, informed and connected to his care.
I rely on support workers for most daily living tasks and to access the community. Without appropriate support, my independence, safety, wellbeing and ability to participate in life would be significantly affected.
I also receive therapy supports because I have an unsteady gait and pain in my right knee and hip. I cannot walk long distances and I use a wheelchair when I am out in the community.
For me, NDIS support is part of how I live safely. It helps me manage daily life, leave my home, access services, attend appointments, participate in the community and maintain important family relationships.
- My Reliance on Support Workers I rely on support workers for most parts of my daily life. Their support helps me with daily living tasks, getting out of the house, attending appointments, accessing the community, managing fatigue and pain, and staying connected to the people and places that matter to me.
Because of my cerebral palsy, speech impairment, mobility limitations, unsteady gait, knee and hip pain, and difficulty walking long distances, I cannot simply do many things independently without support.
Support workers are not an optional extra in my life. They are part of how I live safely, maintain dignity, make decisions, participate in the community, and have some control over my own life.
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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 163
Without the right level of support, my world would become much smaller. I would be at greater risk of isolation, anxiety, falls, pain, missed appointments, loss of independence, and being unable to maintain important relationships, including my relationship with my father.
For me, support workers help turn NDIS funding into real life. They are the practical difference between having a plan on paper and actually being able to live, participate, contribute and stay connected.
The supports I receive do not replace my independence; they make my independence possible. My support workers help make my life larger, not smaller.
- Why Social and Community Access Funding Matters For me, social and community access funding is not a luxury. It is not simply about recreation or optional outings.
It is what allows me to remain connected to my father.
Because of my disability, mobility limitations, pain, unsteady gait and need for support workers, I cannot reliably visit my father in his nursing home without funded support.
If my social and community access support is reduced or removed, I may not be able to see my father regularly.
That would not only affect me. It would affect him too.
My visits help maintain our relationship, support his wellbeing, and allow me to remain involved in his life and care. Being his Power of Attorney is not just a legal role. It is a real responsibility that requires me to stay connected, informed and present.
This is why community access should not be treated as less important than other supports. For many people with disability, community access is the difference between connection and isolation.
- The Anxiety Caused by Possible Funding Reductions Because I rely so heavily on NDIS supports, I become very anxious when there is any risk of reductions to my support funding.
For many people with disability, funding reductions are not abstract budget decisions. They affect whether we can get out of bed, shower, eat properly, leave the house, attend appointments, stay connected, work, contribute and live with dignity.
When participants hear public discussion about NDIS ‘integrity,’ it can create fear that genuine participants will be treated as suspicious, excessive, or too costly.
People with disability should not be made to feel guilty for needing support. We should not have to constantly prove that our disabilities are real, our needs are legitimate, or our lives are worth investing in.
I am concerned that some approaches to integrity reform may increase fear for people who are already living with disability-related barriers, uncertainty and dependence on funded supports.
- Integrity Must Not Erode Choice and Control
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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 163
I am concerned that some proposed approaches to NDIS integrity risk eroding the choice and control of participants.
The NDIS was meant to give people with disability more control over the supports we need to live safely, participate in the community, and make decisions about our own lives.
If integrity reform results in reduced funding, fewer flexible supports, more restrictive rules, or decisions that do not reflect a participant’s real life, then choice and control are weakened.
For me, choice and control means being able to use my supports in ways that reflect my actual needs. This includes support to manage daily life, access the community, attend appointments, and visit my father in his nursing home.
If social and community participation supports are reduced, I may not simply be able to ‘adjust.’ I may lose the practical ability to see my father regularly, remain involved in his care, and maintain an important family relationship.
That is not integrity. That is a loss of independence, dignity and control.
- Informal Supports Should Not Be Assumed I am concerned that systems sometimes assume people with disability have family members or informal networks who can step in when formal supports are reduced.
That is not always true.
In my case, I have limited informal support networks due to family trauma. My father has dementia and lives in a nursing home. I am his Power of Attorney and visit him regularly.
I am not in a position where family can simply absorb the impact of reduced support.
For participants like me, reductions in funded support can create immediate and serious consequences. They can affect daily living, safety, health, access to the community, emotional wellbeing and family connection.
NDIS integrity should include a proper understanding of informal support. It should not rely on unrealistic assumptions about family capacity.
- Reducing NDIS Supports Can Shift Costs Elsewhere I am also concerned that reducing NDIS supports can shift costs onto other systems.
When people with disability lose the supports they need, the need does not disappear. It may show up elsewhere - in hospitals, health services, mental health services, crisis services, aged care systems, unpaid family care, or increased pressure on support workers and informal networks.
In my own life, if my supports were reduced, this could increase my isolation, anxiety, pain, risk of falls, difficulty accessing appointments, and reliance on other services.
What may look like a saving to the NDIS can become a cost to the health system, the aged care system, families, carers and the person with disability.
A reform is not truly an integrity measure if it saves money in one part of government by creating harm, isolation or higher costs somewhere else.
Integrity should not mean pushing costs and risks out of the NDIS and onto other systems. It should mean making fair, safe and realistic decisions that support people with disability to live safely and with
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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 163
dignity.
- Concern About People Being Moved Off the NDIS Before Alternatives Exist I am also deeply concerned about public reports that more than 160,000 current NDIS participants may lose access to the Scheme or be moved off the Scheme under proposed eligibility changes.
This is frightening for many people with disability.
The issue is not only whether people are technically eligible for the NDIS. The issue is where people are meant to go if they lose access to supports they currently rely on.
Foundational supports are often discussed as the alternative. However, these supports are not yet fully developed, widely available, or proven to be able to meet the needs of people who may be moved off the NDIS.
People with disability should not be removed from one system before another system is actually in place.
If foundational supports are not ready, people may be left with nowhere to go. Their needs will not disappear. They may simply be pushed onto families, health systems, mental health services, aged care services, crisis services, charities, or no support at all.
That is not integrity.
A reform is not safe or fair if it removes people from the NDIS before there is a real, accessible and properly funded support system available to meet their needs.
I am concerned that this approach risks creating a new gap - one where people are considered not eligible enough for the NDIS, but still have real disability-related needs that cannot be met elsewhere.
For people with disability, this is not just a policy transition. It is about daily life, safety, independence, relationships, and survival.
People with disability should not be pushed out of the NDIS into a system that has not yet been built.
- Disability Support Enables My Work and Contribution I have been a disability advocate for more than 30 years. I also run my own business, Disability Voices in Healthcare.
My work is important to me. It gives me purpose, allows me to contribute to the community, and enables me to use my lived experience and advocacy experience to speak up about disability, healthcare, dignity and safety.
But my ability to do this work does not happen in isolation. It is connected to the support I receive.
Support workers assist me to manage daily life, access the community, attend commitments, conserve energy, and maintain the routines that allow me to keep working and contributing. Therapy supports also help me manage mobility, pain and function.
If my supports were reduced, it would not only affect my personal care or community access. It could also affect my ability to keep running my business, continue my advocacy, and contribute meaningfully to issues that matter to people with disability.
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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 163
Disability support does not make me dependent in a negative way. It helps make independence, participation and contribution possible.
The NDIS should recognise that appropriate support can help people with disability work, lead, advocate, care for family members, participate in civic life, and give back to the community.
With the right support, I am not only receiving assistance - I am contributing to my community.
When supports are cut, the impact is not only practical. It can reduce a person’s confidence, opportunities, relationships, purpose and contribution.
The NDIS should not only be judged by how much money it saves. It should also be judged by whether it enables people with disability to live safer, fuller and more equal lives.
- What Integrity Should Mean I believe NDIS integrity should mean more than protecting the Scheme from fraud.
It should mean protecting participants from exploitation and unsafe providers; protecting public money; making fair and transparent decisions; recognising the real-life impact of funding reductions; preserving participant choice and control; not assuming informal supports are available; not shifting disability-related costs onto health, aged care, families, carers or crisis systems; ensuring people with disability can live safely, participate in the community and maintain important relationships.
Integrity should not be used as a reason to make genuine participants feel suspected, blamed, burdensome or afraid.
People with disability should not have to live in fear that essential supports will be reduced because of broad public concern about fraud or Scheme costs.
- Conclusion I support a strong, fair and accountable NDIS.
I support action against fraud, exploitation and misuse.
But I ask the Committee to remember that the NDIS exists because people with disability need support to live safely, equally and with dignity.
For me, NDIS supports are not luxuries. They are what allow me to manage daily life, access the community, attend appointments, maintain my wellbeing, do my work, contribute to my community, and visit my father in his nursing home.
If supports are reduced without understanding the reality of my life, the impact would be serious. It would increase my isolation, anxiety and dependence, and it could prevent me from maintaining regular contact with my father.
I am also concerned about the broader direction of reform, including public reports that more than 160,000 current participants may be moved off the NDIS. If foundational supports are not yet fully developed and available, people with disability may be left with nowhere to go. Integrity reform should not create a gap where people lose NDIS support before another safe, accessible and properly funded system exists.
That is why integrity must be about more than stopping fraud. It must also be about protecting people with disability from being left unsupported, isolated, fearful, or unable to participate in family and community life.
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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 163
A scheme has integrity when it is fair, safe, respectful, accountable and humane.
That is the kind of NDIS people with disability need and deserve.
Melissa Ryan
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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 163
Notes Note on public context: The reference to more than 160,000 current NDIS participants being moved off the Scheme reflects public reporting and public debate about proposed NDIS eligibility changes and the development of foundational supports. The NDIS Review described foundational supports as supports needed outside the NDIS because broader supports for people with disability can be hard to find or not available.
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