NDIA Accountability Project

Concerns regarding cuts to supports for a daughter with Down Syndrome and Autism

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

Submission 1988

To whom it may concern

I am a parent and carer of a young adult woman with Down Syndrome and Autism. I am writing to raise my concerns about the Government’s budget cuts to the NDIS.

I appreciate the recent passing of the Government’s National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Integrity and Safeguarding) Bill 2025, delivering tough new laws to protect people with a disability and safeguard the NDIS from exploitation at the hands of ‘fraudsters, predators and shonks’. I also acknowledge we need to slow the current rapid cost increases of the NDIS. However, we DO NOT want this to come at a cost to NDIS participants and their families; to the quality of service and supports required by them to function in their lives and participate in the community, as every citizen has a legal right to.

Myself and my family and community feel strongly that there be no changes to the philosophy of the Scheme and therefore to the Act. We are strongly opposed to fundamental changes proposed such as the section which refers to the ‘provision of reasonable and necessary supports’ being changed to ‘provide NDIS supports for participants in the National Disability Insurance Scheme that are reasonable and necessary, so far as is consistent with the financial sustainability of the scheme’. This completely changes the original intention of the philosophy and Act.

We also must NOT let any statutory body, including the government of the day, to have the power to change the NDIS day to day functioning. This power should stay with the Parliament. This SHOULD NOT include any Commonwealth Minister having the power to make determinations to reduce funding for groups of supports and to reset participant support budgets for social, civic and community participation and capacity building daily activities.

My daughter has been accessing the NDIS for the last seven years which has had an incredibly positive impact on her life and the life of our family. Access to this support has been helpful because it has provided Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 with:

  • Education & Employment Pathways such as the school-leaver employment supports (SLES), to help transition her into the workforce. On Monday she had her first job interview which we are thrilled about.
  • Capacity-building funding to access occupational therapists, physiotherapists, and mental health supports that foster independent daily living routines, for example learning to cook independently, and communicate with others more effectively.
  • Self care supports to assist with showering and other day to day tasks like shopping.

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

Submission 1988

  • Supports to access the wider community for daily tasks and social opportunities.

We are concerned about the cuts and the impact they will have on my daughter’s life and many others like her; that the consequences will be detrimental to her continued development, her mental health, her ability to thrive and make social connections and her participation in the workforce and community life.

When Labor cuts NDIS funding, they remove critical supports and force essential care work back onto families. Families of children with disability already face disproportionate cost of living pressures. We are more likely to experience underemployment and barriers to workforce participation, with single mothers like myself particularly impacted. Proposed changes could potentially push me out of the workforce right in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. Supporting carers to remain in the workforce strengthens family wellbeing, improves gender equity and reduces long-term disadvantage. Surely we are more important than the exorbitant defence spending on weapons and submarines.

Importantly, and most dangerously, not every disabled person has family to provide unpaid care.

In addition, evidence shows that every dollar invested in the NDIS returns $2.25 to the economy – because getting the right support means more disabled people can work, increase their hours, and rely less on other supports over time.

Myself, my family and community are fighting for an NDIS that is:

  • Fully funded and protected from being used as a scapegoat in the federal Budget.
  • Equal and fair to access regardless of what category your disability falls into.
  • Customisable on a case-by-case basis. There is no ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to disability.
  • Putting disabled people at the centre of decision making. Participants must always have the right to appeal decisions made about their supports and drive any changes made to our NDIS.

Thank you for the opportunity to make a submission.