National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 172
Submission to the Senate Community Affairs Committee NDIS Future Generations Bill 2026
My name is - I am writing as an extended family member of someone with a significant disability. I see the daily importance that social interaction and community involvement brings to my cousin Mel’s life. I see the weight that my uncle & auntie carry every single day. I see the exhaustion behind their smiles, the constant planning, the fear of what tomorrow might bring. I have seen them for years work at putting caring & supportive carers in place, working hard to secure Mel’s future for when they are no longer around.
The NDIS has been a lifeline not just for Mel, but for their whole family. It has allowed them to breathe, to rest, to trust that they don’t have to do everything alone. It has given them the space to be family — not just crisis managers.
These proposed reforms are causing so much distress. I’ve watched as my Uncle & Aunt and other family member stress & worry about what will happen if trusted support workers are taken away, if funding is cut, if appeals become harder. They are terrified of what Mel’s future will be. The emotional toll is real. The fear is real. And it is heartbreaking to witness.
I urge the committee to: Reject cuts to community participation funding, because connection keeps people alive and helps them feel valued and part of the community. It also gives families the respite and the help they desperately need. Guarantee meaningful appeal rights— because families should not have to beg or battle for the supports that keep their loved one safe. Preserve genuine choice of providers, because trusted carers become part of the emotional safety net for the participant and for their family, and losing them can be devastating.
If this bill passes, the impact will ripple far beyond the disabled person. It will hit the families who are already stretched thin, who are already carrying more than most people will ever understand. It will bring back the fear, the isolation, the endless battles — the feeling that the system sees their loved one as a cost, not a person. Mel is not a number she is important and deserve to live her life to its fullest.
We are only one family there are ten of thousands that are currently living in extreme fear of this Bill passing. I am asking you not to let this happen. The immediate families of disabled people are already doing everything they can. They should not have to fight harder. They should not have to break to keep their loved one safe.
Kind regards,