Submission 1691

To whom it may concern,

I am writing in response to the proposed changes to the National Disability Insurance Scheme and the current uncertainty surrounding funding and reassessment processes.

I am a 52 year old female with an acquired brain injury following a virus, and I have been supported by the NDIS for approximately five years. My functional capacity is significantly limited and remains unstable, even under current supports.

On a day-to-day basis, I require assistance with essential tasks including cooking, cleaning, shopping, and maintaining my rental property. I am not able to manage these independently. I also experience severe sensory overload, which leads to significant neurological fatigue, as well as extreme physical fatigue. In addition, I have a severe heat intolerance that further limits my ability to function safely without environmental supports.

My capacity is highly sensitive to stress and instability. When I experience increased stress, my cognitive and physical functioning deteriorates significantly. The ongoing uncertainty created by repeated reviews, reassessments, and potential funding changes has had a substantial negative impact on my health and functioning.

The requirement to repeatedly “prove” a permanent disability year after year is extremely distressing and, in my experience, has been traumatising. It contributes to ongoing fear and instability, and consumes a large portion of my limited cognitive and physical capacity. The energy required to manage the administrative burden of the system directly reduces my ability to focus on maintaining basic daily functioning and recovery.

I am extremely concerned about the impact that further reassessments or funding reductions would have on my ability to remain safely housed and maintain basic daily life. I live in a rural area, approximately 20 minutes from essential services such as shops, medical clinics, and pharmacies. I rely on support workers to access groceries, medical appointments, medications, and other essential services. Without this support, I would not be able to independently meet basic survival needs.

Submission 1691

I do not have any informal support network. I have no close family, partner, children, or friends that I can rely on for assistance. My support workers and my therapist are my only consistent support systems. My current therapy support is also essential to maintaining my wellbeing and functional capacity. I am very concerned about the increasing reports of therapy funding being reduced or removed, as this would leave me without any remaining support system.

Without these supports, I would not be able to maintain my housing, access essential services, or manage daily life. I am deeply concerned that loss of support would place me at real risk of homelessness. Emergency accommodation is not a viable or safe alternative given my medical and functional needs, including severe fatigue, sensory sensitivity, and heat intolerance.

There is often an assumption that informal supports or alternative safety nets exist. In my case, they do not. My world is already extremely limited due to disability, and my supports are what allow me to maintain basic stability and safety.

I also want to emphasise the broader impact of this process on people with disabilities. The ongoing uncertainty, repeated reassessments, and fear of losing essential supports have a significant negative impact on mental and physical health. In my experience, this system is not only failing to improve outcomes, but is actively increasing distress and reducing functional capacity for many people.

Living under constant threat of losing essential supports has a direct and severe impact on my ability to function. This level of instability makes it extremely difficult to plan, recover, or build any sense of safety in my life.

I would also like to highlight that writing this submission has taken me a significant amount of time and effort over the course of more than a week, and has required substantial cognitive and emotional capacity that would otherwise have been used for basic daily functioning. This itself reflects the limited capacity I am working with.

I am making this submission because my ability to remain safely housed and function at even a basic level depends on the continuation of adequate supports. I strongly urge

Submission 1691

decision-makers to consider the real-world impact of these changes on people who are fully dependent on the system for survival.

I appreciate your time in reading this submission.