National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026

Submission 1856

I am writing this submission to you anonymously, but I’m an NDIS participant that has a life-long and permanent diagnosis with Autism Spectrum Disorder (Level 2). I am one of the people that the NDIS reforms is trying to block from accessing the scheme. Yet my disability is so severe that I can only get income from Centrelink.

Being on the NDIS means a lot to me because it adds a greater impact and value in a way that helps us disabled people to get the necessary substantial supports that we need in order for us to gain meaningful community access, live a better quality of life and gain the necessary skills that greatly assist our daily functioning in life and better wellbeing.

Knowing that Mark Butler has announced the new NDIS reforms that may come into place at some point in the future, including on October this year has been sparking a lot of anger and substantial amount of psychological stress amongst many of us NDIS participants. It is distressing to hear that we’re unfortunately being seen as ‘ripping off the system’ when this reform should’ve been targeted towards the fraudulent providers under the NDIS who use participant’s funds to their own advantage for no reason, Yet, that specific issue isn’t being taken into serious consideration. It really hurts to see that we’re not being seen as human beings, but rather as ‘money cash grabbers’, when the lack of supports that we get as disabled people is the main reason why all of us that are on the NDIS have got onto the NDIS in the first place. The hate has become so severe that disabled people have been approached in the street and are told “the NDIS is a scam”.

If a lot of us get booted out of the NDIS in the future, then this outcome will result in an increased amount of mass suffering. For example, more deaths from the disabled people alone which includes more disabled people going to hospitals from having little to no supports for their daily life and functioning. This will have negative effects on the economy, because it puts a lot more pressure on the mental health systems when all of us disabled people should be able to access supports through the NDIS that can otherwise help us to be able to live a better life and improve our overall health and wellbeing in various aspects (mentally, emotionally, physically) and these circumstances should NOT be taken lightly AT ALL.

If the NDIS didn’t exist, then I wouldn’t be able to have any allied health professionals such as my occupational therapist to help me build necessary skills I need to enhance my daily functioning and work on the barriers I have in relation to my Autism diagnosis. I also wouldn’t have my trusted support workers to take me to any social and community outings to improve my social connections that I have otherwise found to be helpful for reducing the barriers of my diagnosis.

What the NDIS means to me is having the opportunity to be part of my community, including gaining access to community services that I otherwise wouldn’t be able to use without support workers. Due to the barriers created by my disability, I need support to help me participate in everyday life. This includes assistance with finding employment, building social connections, and developing important daily living skills that are essential for my independence and overall wellbeing.

National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026

Submission 1856

I use the NDIS for my functional capacity to be assessed by an occupational therapist and any of the barriers outlined in my functional capacity assessment to be worked on. I also use the NDIS to access support like having trusted support workers to help improve and enhance my social connections, as the barriers of my autism diagnosis has been impacting my ability to make connections with long-life friends or companions outside of NDIS supports, throughout my whole entire life.

What I am specifically worried about is having no access to supports on the NDIS and losing supports that support my needs and overall wellbeing as a disabled person. This includes not being able to function my daily life independently, use my trusted support workers for social connections and accessing community. Having no supports will tremendously impact my mental and physical health.

In addition, the new bill will have tremendous impact on individuals including myself that rely on Centrelink as their only source of income. Due to my low Centrelink income, I cannot use my out of pocket funds to pay for supports to see my support workers, my occupational therapist, social worker, counsellor and my psychologist without the access to the NDIS. I also have no informal support network that I rely on in my daily living.

Recommendations:

I strongly oppose the new NDIS proposed bill and I know full well that it will do an immense amount of harm for all the disabled people that are on the NDIS if all of our voices aren’t being heard or taken seriously by politicians that do not see us disabled people as human beings. I especially oppose the bill’s complete lack of co-design and reduced flexibility in the choice of providers, because disabled people need to build trust with providers.