NDIA Accountability Project

This project is in DRAFT

Concerns regarding functional capacity assessments and impacts on vulnerable children and families (Family or carer experience)

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

Submission 224

Submission from Autism Goals

Contact Information:

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

Submission 224

This Submission Recommends:

  1. Functional capacity assessments that meaningfully consider real-world participation and environmental context;
  2. Strong safeguards for autistic children and children with fluctuating or context-dependent presentations;
  3. Greater recognition of cumulative trauma, masking, and nervous system dysregulation;
  4. Investment in mainstream systems before restricting NDIS access pathways; and
  5. Careful consideration of the cumulative impact these reforms may have on vulnerable children and families.

Introduction I write this submission on behalf of many children across Victoria supported through Autism Goals as well as broader Australia,

The concerns raised are not theoretical but grounded daily lived experience:

  • Education Systems
  • Mental Health System
  • Paediatric System
  • Disability System Family homes already operating survival mode.

Children Behind The Language Of “Sustainability”

Explanatory Memorandum accompanying bill states NDIS is growing at unsustainable rate reform necessary to secure future scheme. This submission acknowledges importance financial sustainability integrity however children affected abstract budget figures they self-harming because schools feel neurologically unsafe disengaging education chronic exclusion trauma presenting emergency departments mental health crisis unable timely developmental assessment spending years waiting lists allied health supports being restrained suspended isolated informally excluded from education living within family experiencing exhaustion collapse.

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

Submission 224

Many of the children we support are already surviving systems that are critically fragmented. Families are routinely told:

  • “There are no placements available.”
  • “The school does not have capacity.”
  • “We are doing our best with limited resources.”
  • “There is nowhere else appropriate for your child to go.” At the same time, families encounter: - inaccessible mental health systems; long wait times for paediatricians and allied health professionals; exhausted educators;and increasing barriers to obtaining appropriate support.The result is cumulative system failure.

Schedule 1, Part 1 – Functional Capacity

Schedule 1, Part 1 of the Bill proposes a definition of “functional capacity” under proposed section 9B. Theproposed definition assesses a person’s ability to undertake activities:- without assistance from other people, assistive technology or modifications”; andaexcluding,” as far as possible,

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

Submission 224

They function within:

  • schools;
  • homes;
  • sensory environments;
  • trauma histories;
  • peer systems;
  • poverty; and nervous systems shaped by chronic stress. The lived reality is that many children are already masking, compensating, and surviving at extraordinary personal cost until eventual collapse occurs. Across our work, what is often labelled as “behaviour” reflects: - severe emotional dysregulation;- anxiety;- sensory overwhelm;- trauma responses;- communication barriers; anda nervoussystems operatingin survival mode.The proposed definition risks narrowing access preciselyfor thosechildren whose impairmentsare least visible during briefor reductionist assessmentprocesses.Schedule1 , Part 2 – Restrictions on Plan ReassessmentsSchedule1Partproposes restrictionson participant-requestedreassessmentsand introduces additional conditionsforevaluationrequests.While consistencyandsafeguardsagainst misusearesensibleobjectivesthereis concernthat childr with fluctuatingescalating or context-dependent presentations may experience delays in accessing urgentlyrequired support changes.Manychildrendexperience rapid functional deterioration linked to:- schooltrauma;- mentalhealthdecline;- puberty;- familycrisis;- sensordysregulation;- orcumulativeburnout.Familiesalready report significant difficulty navigating:- administrative processes;- evidentiary burdens;- anddelays inorder obtaining reassessment.Additional proceduralbarriers risk increasing crisis escalation before supports can be adjusted appropriately.

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

Submission 224

Schedule 1, Part 8 – Permanence Criteria

Schedule 1, Part 8 proposes amendments relating to permanence and “all appropriate treatment.” There is concern regarding how permanence may be interpreted for:

  • autistic children;
  • children with psychosocial disability;
  • children with trauma-related presentations; and children with fluctuating or context-sensitive support needs. Many neurodevelopmental disabilities are lifelong, even where functioning fluctuates over time. Families should not be repeatedly required to prove permanence for conditions already clinically understood to b>e enduring. There is also concern that some children may be denied support on the basis that additional therapies or interventions theoretically exist, even where: - access is financially prohibitive; - waitlists are excessive; services unavailable regionally, or interventions have limited practical accessibility.

Schedule 1, Part 9 – Reliance on Other Service Systems

Schedule 1, Part 9 proposes tightening access where another service system could ‘reasonably’ meet a person’sneeds.This assumption does not reflect the lived reality of many families.The systems children are expected to rely upon are under significant strain.Families routinely report:- multi-year mental health waitlists;- inability to access developmental paediatricians;schools unable implement reasonable adjustments effectively;lack specialist educational placements,and crisis-driven rather than preventative intervention.Restricting NDIS access before alternative systems genuinely operational risks creating catastrophic support gaps.Education Systems and Escalating HarmAcross our work we see children: informally excluded through reduced timetables;deneedreasonableadjustments,suspended due disability-related behaviours; presured into homeschooling;

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

Submission 224

  • or unable to access specialist placements. Families are routinely navigating: • school refusal linked to trauma; • severe anxiety; • self-harm; • suicidal ideation; • dysregulation; • aggressive survival responses; and profound nervous system exhaustion. Many children become grouped broadly under “behaviour” despite entirely different underlying causes, including: • autism; • intellectual disability; • trauma; • sensory processing differences; • PTSD; • family violence exposure; • homelessness; • communication barriers; • and chronic unmet support needs. Restricting NDIS access while mainstream systems remain critically underprepared will not eliminate need.It will simply relocate suffering into:families;schools;emergency departments;child protection systems;mental health systems,and eventually justice systems.Recommendations1.Functional capacity assessments should meaningfully consider:environmental context;masking;sensory regulation;cumulative stress;and real-world participation.2.The Government should not reduce NDIS access based on theoretical access to mainstream systems thatare currently unable to meet demand.3.Permanence criteria should explicitly recognise lifelong neurodevelopmental disability and avoidrepeated evidentiary burdens for enduring conditions.

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

Submission 224

Conclusion

This Bill seeks to secure the future sustainability of the NDIS.

However, sustainability measures must not unintentionally exclude children whose lives are already shaped by:

  • exclusion;
  • trauma; nervous system dysregulation; chronic stress;and dysregulated, or context-dependent presentations are not excluded through narrow assessment frameworks. Investment in education, mental health, and disability systems should occur before restricting NDISaccess pathways.The question before the Senate is not solely whether the NDIS can financially sustain itself.It is also whether Australia is willing to ensure that disabled children and vulnerable families continuereceive meaningful access to support, participation, dignit y , a nd safety during periods o f increasing systemicstrain.Human rights matter most precisely when systems ar e under pressure.Sincerely,Pauline AquilinaSenior Consultant,Counsellor &Educator AutismGoalsElectronicallySigned)