Concerns regarding access to supports for vulnerable communities

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

Submission 2145

Submission on the NDIS Amendment Bill

I am a member of the LQBTQIA+ community, and am also someone who has an autoimmune disease and ADHD. Many members of my community have disabilities and require access to supports such as those provided by the NDIS.

My main concerns about the Bill are the increases administrative and compliance requirements, the “Not contactable” and participant engagement rules and changes to reassessments and plan reviews.

This Bill, if passed, will limit a vulnerable communities access to life altering and often life saving supports. For example, If a persons supports may be paused, reviewed or affected if they do not respond within required timeframes, this will adversely affect people who are unable to be contacted for a number of reasons, including people in hospital, people experiencing a mental health crisis or burnout, people who are unable to communicate due to disability and people experiencing housing instability.

If Funding levels for certain groups of supports may be adjusted at a system level, those changes may affect entire categories of supports, not just individual plans.

As mentioned, I am someone with a immune disease and ADHD, and while I am not currently accessing NDIS support, I worry about the implications for accessing these things in the future, and more importantly I worry about the negative impacts on people who are currently accessing these supports and whose lives will be impacted in significant and potentially life threatening ways if access is blocked.

I want the committee to understand how important it is to provide support for people who need it. It is easy enough for anyone who does not currently require this support to think this doesn’t matter, but the truth is we are all just one diagnosis, one accident, one unforeseen life event away from being part of this vulnerable community. We cannot simply stand by and do nothing, or sweep these things under the rug. As a community, we need to do better. We need to support vulnerable communities and realise that we too might be part of those communities one day. People need access to support for their safety and wellbeing and also because no member of society should be seen as less important, less valuable or more expendable.

Thank you.