To whom it may concern,
I am writing as the sole parent and primary carer of three children who are participants in the NDIS.
I support efforts to improve the sustainability, accountability, and integrity of the NDIS. Families need a scheme that is well managed, protected from misuse, and able to continue supporting people with disability into the future. However, I am deeply concerned that many proposed changes appear to be designed around assumptions that do not reflect the lived reality of many families.
I am a single parent caring for three children with various disabilities. I do not have meaningful informal supports available to absorb gaps in care, service shortfalls, or increasing administrative demands. In addition to the already significant day-to-day demands of caring for three disabled children, our family has also been navigating the impacts of family violence and ongoing family law proceedings, creating additional stress, instability, and emotional burden.
I include this context because policy decisions do not occur in isolation from people’s real lives. Many reforms appear to assume families have spare capacity, practical support, financial flexibility, emotional resilience, and time to manage increasing complexity. For some families, that may be true. For others, including mine, it is not. When systems become harder to access, more rigid, or more administratively burdensome, the impact is not inconvenience. It creates genuine risk to child wellbeing, family stability, and carer sustainability. Children’s disability support needs are not static. One of my strongest concerns is any move toward more rigid planning, fewer opportunities to review supports, or systems that assume children’s support needs remain stable over time. Childrens’needs change rapidly. Support requirements can increase significantly due to:
- developmental transitions
- school changes
- puberty
- mental health deterioration
- behavioural escalation
- changing communication needs
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 207
- trauma responses
- increased sensory challenges
- safety risks as children grow physically larger while remaining developmentally vulnerable
A plan that was appropriate several months earlier may become inadequate or unsafe. Children should not be expected to wait for administrative timelines to catch up when their needs change in real-time. Functional assessments do not always reflect lived reality. I am concerned about increasing reliance on standardised assessments or narrow interpretations of functional capacity. Children who present autism spectrum disorder intellectual disability communication difficulties behavioural challenges traumatic histories complex support needs often don’t consistently exhibit these traits throughout all situations A child might: mask difficulties under unfamiliar environments temporarily comply with strangers appear differently during structured appointments than at home school have a “good day” which does not represent daily functioning, a short assessment cannot fully capture emotional dysregulation supervision requirements constant prompting breakdowns in communication behavioral issues elopement and related safety concerns cumulative impact family dynamics Decisions regarding supports must consider ongoing functionality rather isolated snapshots Informal assistance is limited some families lack it entirely The primary concern surrounding proposed reforms lies within an apparent assumption that families can compensate reduced formal services through informal care This belief appears unrealistic inequitable Not every household has the following resources available: second parent able share caregiving grandparents relatives capable assisting
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 207
- friends who can provide practical support
- financial resources to privately replace lost supports
- flexible employment that allows attendance at endless appointments, reviews, or assessments As a single parent caring for three children with disability, I am responsible for every appointment, every school issue, every therapy arrangement, every behavioural crisis, every transport need, every safety concern, and every administrative task associated with the NDIS. There is no one to hand over to when systems become harder to navigate.The idea of “informal support” is often discussed as though it is universally available.For some families, it simply is not.Policy settings that rely on invisible unpaid caregiving capacity risk unfairly disadvantaging the families already carrying the greatest load.Administrative burden is already overwhelmingManaging the NDIS as a parent is not straightforward.It requires families to become administrators, advocates, coordinators, evidence gatherers, and often quasi-legal experts.Families are expected to:
- coordinate providers
- interpret funding rules
- gather reports
- arrange assessments manage reviews respond to plan changes challenge decisions understand eligibility rules navigate complaints processes monitor complianceFor a family with one child, this is already significant. For three children, it becomes an extraordinary administrative burden. For a single parent without informal supports, this burden can become unmanageable.If the system becomes even harder to access, the likely outcome is not reduced need—it is increased exhaustion, unmet support needs, and worsening outcomes for children.Community participation is not optional
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 207
I am concerned about any changes that reduce access to supports considered “non-essential,” particularly community participation and developmental supports. For children, these are not luxuries. These supports help build: independence emotion regulationcommunicationsocial confidenceresilienceinclusionpractical life skillsWithout these opportunities, children can become increasingly isolated, dependent, and excluded.Families become more confined; carer stress increases, and long-term outcomes worsen.Reducing preventative supports may create far greater costs later through crisis intervention,school disengagement; external mental health responses,,or family breakdown.Families in crisis are often least able to navigate barriers Families already navigating trauma,family violence separation court proceedings ,or significant instabilityareoften those withtheleast capacityto manage additional administrative complexity.Yettheseareshowesthe familieswiththegreatest supportneeds.Ifaccessbecomes harder reviews becomemore rigid or evidence requirements becomesmore burdensomefamiliesmaynot missout because their child does no needsupport.They maymiss outbecause they do n ot havecapacityt o fightthroughincreasingly difficult systems.That is notequity. Flexibility matters Disabilitydoesnotinfit neatly into bureaucratic categories Fami liesneed systemsthatcan respond toreallife Overlyrigid planning,narrow funding definitions ormyflexible rules my lead too essentialsupports being inaccessible funding sitting unused due top rovider shortages urgent needs going unmet
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 207
- Children being forced into unsuitable services
- Increased family stress and avoidable crisis Flexibility is not misuse. For many families, flexibility is what makes the system workable.Sustainability should not be achieved by shifting burden to families.I understand the importance of protecting the future sustainability of the NDIS.But sustainability cannot be achieved by reducing access, increasing barriers, or shiftingdisability support responsibilities onto unpaid family carers who are already stretched beyondsafe limits.When families break down under pressure, the costs do not disappear.They simply reappear elsewhere:
- Health systems
- Education systems
- Emergency services
- Child protection Mental health servicesPreventative, responsive disability support is not only humane—it is practical.RecommendationsI urge decision-makers to ensure reforms:preserve flexibility for children whose needs change rapidlyallow timely plan reviews when circumstances changavoid over-reliance on snapshot assessmentsrecognise that informal supports are not universally availableprotect community participation and developmental supporstransform administrative burden on familiesensure children with complex disability are not unintentionally disadvantagedaccount for the realities of single-parent caregivingconsider the impact on families already experiencing crisis or instabilitymeaningfully consult families with lived experience before implementation For families like mine, the NDIS is not about convenience.It is about safety, development, dignity, inclusion, and the practical ability to care for disabledchildren in a sustainable way.
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 207