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

Submission 2276

deeply concerned with the potential consequences of these reforms.

Dear Committee Secretary,

I am writing to the Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs to share my concerns about the National Disability Insurance Scheme and to urge careful consideration of how current reforms are implemented.

I write not as an expert or an organisation, but as a NDIS participant that will be affected by the NDIS changes.

I have a rare genetic disability known as Morquio Syndrome (MPS4A), a disability that will progressively affect my physical ability as I grow older. I rely on certain programs that are at risk of being discontinued; these programs to help sustain the physical ability I still currently have. Programs such as Life Skill is not just learning to cook and clean after myself but to help me find alternative for task that able people do on a daily bases. Group community programs, growing up with a disability already being seen and treated differently for a lot of people the community programs are the difference between an active life and isolation.

Like many Australians, I have watched with growing concern as reports emerge of fraud within the scheme — providers claiming to serve people with disability while exploiting public funds, and in some cases organised criminal activity diverting money away from those who genuinely need it. I understand the scheme now supports more than 760,000 participants at a cost of around $50 billion a year, far beyond what was originally projected. I do not dispute that the system must be sustainable, and I welcome genuine efforts to stamp out fraud and exploitation. Every dollar stolen is a dollar taken from someone who depends on it.

What concerns me is the risk that, in the rush to control costs and root out bad actors, the people the scheme exists to protect will bear the burden. I am particularly worried about:

1. The reduction in average participant funding for social and community participation, from around $31,000 to $26,000, and the real impact this will have on people whose independence depends on those supports.

2. The pace and transparency of reform. Assessment tools, eligibility criteria and funding ules should be made public and tested before they take effect, not after.

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

Submission 2276

3. The danger of removing supports before genuine alternatives — such as the proposed Inclusive Communities Fund — are actually in place and working.

My request to the Committee is this: please ensure that the fight against fraud is pursued vigorously and is clearly separated from decisions about participant funding. Cracking down on dishonest providers should never become a justification for narrowing access or cutting necessary support for honest participants. I ask that reforms be designed in genuine partnership with people with disability and their families, with full transparency about how changes will affect real lives.

The NDIS is one of the most important things this country has built. Protecting its integrity and protecting its participants are not competing goals — they are the same goal. I urge the Committee to keep both firmly in view.

Thank you for considering my submission.

Yours sincerely,