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Submission 2138 — Name Withheld — NDIS Future Generations Bill

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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 2138

Dear Senators

I am writing about the proposed changes to the NDIS.

I have a friend who has a 19 year old daughter with moderate intellectual disability and health and disability challenges due to a rare chromosomal abnormality. Her challenges are enormous, which makes her family’s life hard as well.

My friend loves her daughter very dearly and would do anything to ensure her safety and well- being. I have watched my friend and care for her disabled child only wanting her to have as regular a life as possible, and to have a quality of life that the rest of us, as non disabled people, take for granted.

My friend has to work reduced hours because of the level of support her daughter needs, even with the current level of support her daughter receives from the NDIS, and as a single parent. I hear about how my friend is constantly juggling caring for her daughter with that of her son. It’s a 24/7 job for her, and the NDIA is the only government body that still considers unpaid parental supervision as a reasonable support for adults.

I heard about how difficult this became last year when she was applying for an NDIS review and had to write to her federal MP just to get an appointment with a planner. Without this intervention, she was told it could be 6 months, without sufficient funds to cover her daughter’s therapies or community access.

I know my friend worries about what will happen to her daughter when she is no longer around to care for her. She worries about the burden this will place on her other child. Again she worries about all of this even with the current levels of NDIS they get.

I understand first hand how important the NDIS is to my friend’s daughter and her family. The NDIS gives them small breaks to reset from their caring responsibilities. It means that they can continue caring for their daughter, working and engaging in life.

Knowing my friend’s experience of caring for someone with a disability, the things that worry me about the proposed changes to the NDIS are:

  1. That the Minister will have the power to cut participant’s plans at will, despite plans being approved by the NDIA;

National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 2138

  1. That the 30% proposed cuts to social and community supports will shift more responsibilities and work back onto families, especially women, and that this will make their lives so much harder when they are often already running on empty;

  2. The proposed funding cuts will increase the physical and mental health and financial burden on an already exhausted carer.

  3. That the proposed cuts to these supports will make her daughter’s life much more isolated. My friends daughter also wants to live independently from her but this will be impossible if these supports are cut;

  4. There has not been proper consultation about the proposed changes with the people - participants, carers and service providers - who will be affected.

  5. That the proposed changes signify that the government now considers the NDIS like an income support scheme (welfare) rather than as a support system that people with a disability need to live in our communities and lead dignified and independent lives.

Thankyou for considering my concerns.

Yours faithfully