National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 1747
To whom it may concern,
I am writing as an early career Speech Pathologist working in metropolitan private practice, with a caseload spanning autism, developmental delay, psychosocial disability, and complex paediatric presentations. I offer this submission constructively, in the hope that it contributes to a reform process that is both fiscally responsible and genuinely centred on the children and families the NDIS exists to serve.
The evidence for early intervention is clear: consistent, timely allied health support during key developmental windows produces significantly better long-term outcomes, and when those supports are delayed or disrupted, the consequences accumulate. For the neurodivergent children I work with, progress in communication, social navigation, and community participation depends not just on the right therapy, but on the continuity of trusted therapeutic relationships. That connection is not incidental to outcomes. For many children, it is the very thing that makes progress possible.
I am concerned that snapshot-style reassessments will not reliably capture the real-world complexity of these children’s needs. Autistic children frequently mask their difficulties in structured or unfamiliar settings, performing well in an assessment room while struggling significantly at school, at home, and in the community. The burnout that follows sustained masking can be significant and long-lasting, and it rarely shows up in a single assessment. Children with psychosocial or fluctuating disability also have good days and hard days, and a point-in-time measure may capture neither the full picture nor the genuine level of support required. A funding model that cannot account for this risks withdrawing support from children who genuinely need it, and inadvertently rewarding visible crisis over the preventative support that keeps things stable.
I am particularly concerned about children whose needs are real and significant, but who may not appear severe enough to meet more restrictive access thresholds. In my clinical experience, these children are among the most vulnerable to falling through service gaps. Their difficulties are often cumulative across environments, and the absence of support does not mean their needs have resolved. It typically means those needs go unmet, quietly compounding over time until they present as something more acute and far more costly to address.
I also want to name the toll that repeated reassessment and plan uncertainty places on families. The administrative and emotional burden of continually proving disability is substantial. It is exhausting to gather evidence, navigate reviews, and manage plan uncertainty, all while caring for a child with complex needs. Many parents reduce their own workforce participation to fill the gaps left by insufficient or unstable supports, with direct consequences for household income, financial security, and long-term reliance on income support. This burden falls hardest on families who already have the fewest
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 1747
resources to absorb it, and it represents a significant and often overlooked economic cost of inadequate early intervention funding.
More broadly, underfunding early intervention is not a saving. It shifts costs forward into mental health services, welfare, healthcare, and lost workforce participation across the lifespan. Children who receive adequate early support are more likely to grow into adults who contribute actively to their communities. That outcome is worth protecting, and the long-term economic case for doing so is strong.
Finally, I urge the Committee to consider the stability of the private allied health sector, where much of the experienced paediatric workforce now sits. Funding uncertainty and increased administrative burden risk driving skilled clinicians out of NDIS work, worsening already significant waitlists and deepening access inequities, particularly for families with fewer resources to navigate a fragmented system.
I support a sustainable NDIS. I ask that any reforms protect early intervention supports, guarantee assessments reflect real-world functional capacity across environments, reduce the burden on families, and maintain the conditions that keep skilled clinicians working with the children who need them most.
Warm Regards,
Eloise Gray (she/her)
Speech Therapist