Submission 2142

27th May 2026

To: Committee Secretary Committee: Community Affairs Legislation Committee Inquiry: National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026

deep concern about the Securing the NDIS for Future Generations Bill 2026. The concerns outlined here are not exhaustive but are those I feel confident communicating given my communication limitations.

Economic tunnel vision

The economic tunnel vision in this bill suggests an inability, or unwillingness to consider the economy in a holistic way. The NDIS has grown faster and larger than anticipated, but its economic benefits are consistently understated. In 2021, research economist Michael D’Rosario reported that benefits to the federal economy included employing over 270,000 people, and that:

“A conservative estimate of the multiplier effect of the NDIS would be in the range of 2.25.”

In the 2020–21 financial year, this equated to $52.4 billion—significantly more than the cost of the NDIS. Cuts to the NDIS will ultimately harm our economy, not to mention the humanitarian argument that a wealthy nation should support its most vulnerable citizens to access the community and live with dignity.

My experience before and with the NDIS

I have bipolar affective disorder, autism spectrum disorder (including sensory processing and auditory processing disorders), selective mutism, obsessive compulsive disorder, severe anxiety, CPTSD, fibromyalgia, and ADHD.

For years, I lived with suicidal ideation daily. Since accessing the NDIS (after the initial years of establishing support and building capacity to engage with therapies) my suicidality reduced to a background thought. This has taken enormous time, effort, and resilience. Without exaggeration: without the NDIS, I would be dead.

Before NDIS support, I was in and out of hospitals and unable to maintain meaningful employment. I rarely left the house. I had frequent episodes of mutism and panic attacks.

Submission 2142

eengaged in repetitive self-injurious behaviours; picking and biting my skin, hitting myself; sometimes with dangerous results including concussion and bleeding wounds.

With proper support I leave the house regularly. I eat daily. I exercise. My personal hygiene has improved. I have been employed as a swimming teacher for four years.

Now, with NDIS support, I leave the house regularly, I eat every day, I exercise every day, my personal hygiene has improved, and I have been employed as a swimming teacher for 4 years. Since the NDIS cuts were confirmed, the suicidal ideation has increased and the intensity to which I must fight that impulse has exhausted me, and I am rapidly regressing in my significant progress. I am scared.

It has been suggested that those removed from the NDIS can access the help that existed before. Let me briefly describe what that looked like for me.

In 2021, I had a significant psychotic event and was hospitalised for my safety and the community’s. I was discharged to Noogal Clinic in South Morang, where medication reattached me to reality but ultimately reduced my wellbeing. The experience at Noogal Clinic was atrocious due to overworked staff, underfunding, and apparent indifference to guest wellbeing. And this was before NDIS cuts. I felt unsafe. I was poorly treated. I received outdated, disproven medical advice that worsened my health mental and physical. I cannot imagine how much worse this care will become as former NDIS participants flood an already broken system.

A small example cost-shifting across federally funded sectors

In 2023, the NDIS covered finger protectors and fidgets designed for people with self- injurious behaviours (cost: $36 for an amount that should last 12-18 months). In 2026, the same products were rejected. Without them, I have picked at my scalp, creating large, painful scabs. Those scabs became infected. Medicare has now funded multiple surgical procedures to remove the resulting lesions; I have at least four more to go.

For $36, the NDIS could have saved Medicare hundreds of dollars. This is a tiny preview of what is coming: disabled people filling overcrowded hospital beds, increased demand for homeless shelters and food banks, and disabled people unnecessarily placed in retirement homes and prisons. This was a huge problem before the NDIS. Do not take us backwards.

Employment

There is a perception that NDIS participants with invisible disabilities simply do not want to work. Because of NDIS support, I am employed in one of the most rewarding roles possible: I teach children to swim! I specialise in teaching disabled children who, for many

Submission 2142

reasons, are more likely to drown than their peers. Because of the NDS, I help vulnerable kids learn a life-preserving skill that is also fun and good for their physical wellbeing.

Specific concerns with the Bill

As a person with psychosocial disabilities, I am most concerned by these three parts of this Bill:

e “Functional capacity” as the foundation of plans On its face, this sounds inclusive. But functional capacity testing assesses whether a participant can perform a task, not whether they can safely run their life. It does not account for mental capacity, judgment, risk of exploitation, or supported decision-making.

e Cost-shifting to sectors already at capacity This Bill shifts costs to hospitals, emergency departments, police call-outs, legal fees, family breakdowns, prisons, and aged care, none of which have spare capacity.

e Suspension of plans and revocation of status after 90 days of “non-contact” This is the most dangerous part of the Bill. The cohort cut off will be those least able to make contact, people with hearing loss, communication deficits (physical or mental), or mental illness. The NDIA already ignores participants’ stated communication preferences. Despite my documented selective mutism (I cannot answer the phone) and repeated requests for text or email, the NDIA continues to call. This clause will kill people.

Conclusion

Finally, I would like to suggest that the federal government investigate improving efficiencies within the system, before cutting participant access.

I do not support the cuts to the NDIS, and I sincerely hope that those in power come to share that view. Based purely on an economic argument, cuts to the NDS cannot be justified.

Sincerely,