National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1721
I am writing as a doctor within Queensland Health with over 30 years of experience. I wish to express my strong opposition to the proposed “Securing the NDIS for Future Generations” Bill.
Despite its title, I do not believe this Bill secures the future of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Instead, it fundamentally changes the nature of the scheme and risks undermining the principles that have made it transformative for many Disabled Australians.
The NDIS was established on the basis that people with disability should have choice and control over the supports they need to participate in their communities and live meaningful lives. Central to this vision are the concepts of reasonable and necessary supports and individualised planning. The proposed legislation appears to weaken these foundations.
The Bill appears to reduce participant choice and control while increasing the powers of the NDIA. I am concerned about the introduction of expanded compliance, investigation, and penalty powers directed at NDIS participants. While accountability within the scheme is important, reforms should focus on protecting participants rather than creating an environment where Disabled people feel scrutinised, mistrusted, or punished.
The speed at which these changes are being considered is also deeply concerning. Legislation of this significance deserves thorough consultation with Disabled people, their families, carers, advocates, service providers, and the broader disability community. Changes that will affect the lives of hundreds of thousands of Australians should not be rushed through Parliament without adequate scrutiny and genuine engagement.
I urge the committee to carefully consider the potential consequences of these reforms and to listen to the voices of people with disability who will be directly affected by them.
Specifically, I ask the committee to:
Reject any measures that weaken the principles of reasonable and necessary supports and individualised planning. Protect participant choice and control as core features of the NDIS. Ensure people with permanent and significant disabilities retain secure access to the scheme. Prevent the denial of supports based on assumptions that other systems will provide them when those supports are not genuinely available. Reconsider expanded compliance and penalty powers that may disproportionately affect Disabled people. Recommend a more comprehensive consultation process before any major changes to the NDIS are enacted.
The NDIS represents a commitment to dignity, inclusion, autonomy, and equal opportunity for people with disability. Any reform should strengthen these principles, not diminish them.
Thank you for considering this submission.
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 1721
Kind regards, Dr Peta Higgs Sub-Specialist Urogynaecologist MBBS (Hons), FRANZCOG, CU
I acknowledge the Gubbi Gubbi and Jinibara people as the traditional owners of the land on which I live and work. I pay my respects to their Elders past and present. I acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded, in a spirit of reconciliation.
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