National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 2347
Submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs
Inquiry into the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Introduction
I am writing as the parent and primary carer of two young adult daughters who are participants in the NDIS. I am also the nominee for my eldest daughter, who has Down syndrome. I am 60 years old, have health issues of my own, and am also the enduring power of attorney for my 86-year-old mother who lives with Alzheimer’s disease and resides in aged care four hours away from my home.
Although my mother is in residential care, I remain responsible for advocating on her behalf, attending to paperwork, making decisions in her best interests, and travelling to visit and monitor her care. Alongside these responsibilities, I operate a small home-based business part-time. My ability to work is directly affected by my caring responsibilities, and as I get older I am becoming increasingly aware that my capacity to continue providing the same level of care indefinitely is not guaranteed.
My daughters have both been NDIS participants since early 2019. The NDIS has been transformative for our family. It has enabled both of my daughters to pursue opportunities that simply would not have been available without disability supports. It has allowed them to participate in education, employment, volunteering, community life and social activities in ways that many people without disability take for granted.
I am deeply concerned that the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 moves the scheme further away from its original purpose. Rather than providing certainty and support to participants and families, many of the proposed changes appear to increase uncertainty, reduce accountability, and create pathways for supports to be reduced or removed regardless of the real-world impact on people with disability and their families.
This submission outlines my concerns as a parent, carer and nominee who has experienced firsthand what a properly functioning NDIS can achieve.
The NDIS Has Changed My Daughters’ Lives
My eldest daughter is 21 years old and has Down syndrome. She works incredibly hard to be involved in her community and to build a meaningful adult life.
Through NDIS support, she has been able to secure and maintain employment in the open labour market, working one shift per week preparing food. Prior to receiving NDIS supports, either my husband or I had to accompany her to work. While we were willing to do that, it
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 2347
was not sustainable and severely limited our own ability to work and manage family responsibilities.
The NDIS has enabled her to become more independent and to participate in employment in a way that would otherwise not have been possible.
She also volunteers weekly at a local community organisation where she prepares meals for a girls’ group. A support worker assists her to undertake this role successfully. She attends a weekly skills and social program centred around cooking, participates in community activities, and runs a small micro-business selling handmade cards. When she attends markets, support workers help her manage money and use electronic payment systems correctly.
One of her greatest passions is art. Through Arts Project Australia, she has access to a community where she can develop her artistic skills and express herself creatively. She also loves live music and regularly attends music events with a peer group through a supported program.
These activities are not luxuries. They are what community participation looks like for a young adult with disability. They provide friendship, purpose, confidence, independence, skill development and belonging.
Most importantly, they provide a life.
My younger daughter is autistic. The NDIS played a crucial role in helping her complete her education. She attended three different secondary schools before finding one that could adequately support her needs. The transitions were challenging, but with appropriate supports she successfully completed her VCE.
Without NDIS assistance during those years, there is a very real possibility she would have disengaged from education entirely.
The support she receives today is different from her sister’s, but no less important. She uses social and community participation funding less frequently, but it remains a valuable tool that helps her engage with the community, build confidence and develop independence.
Concerns About Section 34A – Funding Below the Total Cost of Supports
One of my greatest concerns is the proposal that would allow the NDIS to fund less than the total cost of a support where a cheaper alternative is considered “reasonable and necessary.”
On paper, this may appear sensible. In reality, disability support is not like purchasing a cheaper version of a household appliance.
The cheapest option is not always the most effective option.
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 2347
Over many years, our family has worked hard to identify supports that genuinely work for my daughters. Relationships with support workers take time to build. Programs that encourage participation take time to establish. Community connections take years to develop.
A cheaper support that does not fully meet a participant’s needs may save money in the short term but can create greater costs later if it results in social isolation, loss of employment, family breakdown, declining mental health or increased dependence.
My eldest daughter’s current plan has remained essentially unchanged since 2021. It is not extravagant. It simply allows her to participate in work, volunteering and community life. Significant reductions would undermine everything she has built.
Concerns About Section 25B(4) – Alternative Supports
I am also deeply concerned about the proposal that allows governments to designate certain supports as “alternative supports.”
This provision appears to create a pathway whereby people can be directed away from the NDIS and toward systems that may not actually exist in practice, may not be adequately funded, or may not meet individual needs.
Families need certainty that supports will be available when they are required.
Many of us have experience navigating mainstream systems that are already stretched beyond capacity. Waiting lists are long. Services vary dramatically depending on where people live. Programs can disappear when funding changes.
My concern is that participants could be denied NDIS supports based on the assumption that another system will provide assistance, only to discover that the alternative support is unavailable or inadequate.
The reality of disability is that individual circumstances matter. One-size-fits-all solutions rarely work.
Concerns About Sections 34(1G)–(1J) – The Presumption About Parental Care
The proposed parental presumption is perhaps one of the most concerning provisions from a family perspective.
The Bill proposes a presumption that parents of children with disability provide substantial care and support as a matter of course.
The practical effect appears to be that government can assume families will absorb additional caring responsibilities and therefore reduce funding accordingly.
I find this deeply troubling.
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 2347
Parents already provide extraordinary amounts of unpaid labour. In my own situation, I care for two daughters with disability while also managing my own health issues, supporting my elderly mother, maintaining a business and planning for a future where my husband and I will no longer be able to provide care at current levels.
The assumption that families can simply do more ignores reality.
Carers age.
Carers become unwell.
Carers die.
The NDIS was never intended to be built upon unlimited reserves of unpaid family labour.
If anything, my greatest fear is what happens when I can no longer provide the same level of support. Good policy should help families prepare for that future, not assume families can continue absorbing additional responsibilities forever.
Concerns About Automated Decision-Making – Section 59B(4)
The proposal to permit automated systems to make decisions involving discretion, evaluative judgement and the formation of a state of mind is alarming.
Every person with disability is different.
Every family situation is different.
The complexity of disability cannot be reduced to a series of automated calculations.
My daughters have entirely different needs despite both being NDIS participants. Their goals, strengths, challenges and support requirements are unique.
I do not believe a computer system can adequately understand the realities of disability, family dynamics, caring responsibilities and community participation.
Decisions that affect a person’s quality of life, independence and future should involve human judgement and accountability.
Concerns About Ministerial Power and Lack of Certainty
Although not one of the provisions specifically outlined in the Bill summary provided, my greatest concern overall is the growing concentration of power to change funding arrangements without meaningful parliamentary oversight.
The disability community has lived with years of uncertainty.
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 2347
Families need stability to plan.
My husband and I are trying to think about how our daughters might eventually live more independently. Those plans take years to develop. They require confidence that support systems will continue to exist.
If funding categories can be dramatically reduced by ministerial decision, families can never truly plan for the future.
We cannot make housing decisions.
We cannot make employment decisions.
We cannot confidently support our children toward greater independence.
Instead, we live with constant uncertainty.
The Bill Does Not Address the Real Problems
I do not believe this Bill addresses the issues that are actually driving costs within the NDIS.
In my experience, substantial resources are wasted through repeated requests for evidence, repeated requests for reports, lengthy delays in decision-making, and duplication of administrative processes.
Families are frequently asked to provide information, wait months for a response, and then be asked for additional information again.
The process often feels like a cycle of delay rather than efficient administration.
I am also concerned by the significant expenditure on legal disputes between the Agency and participants.
Many participants ultimately succeed in obtaining supports after lengthy appeals. The resources spent fighting families could often be better spent providing supports in the first place.
Compulsory Registration Will Not Solve Fraud
I am unconvinced that compulsory registration will significantly reduce fraud.
Our family uses both registered and unregistered providers.
Ironically, the billing and pricing concerns I have encountered have generally involved larger registered providers rather than smaller operators.
Many small providers offer excellent value for money. They often know participants personally, build genuine relationships, show flexibility when circumstances change, and are willing to support families in practical ways that larger organisations cannot.
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 2347
These providers are often an essential part of a participant’s support network.
Policies that inadvertently drive them out of the sector may reduce quality and choice without meaningfully reducing fraud.
Human Impact
If supports were significantly reduced, the impact on our family would be immediate and profound.
My eldest daughter could lose opportunities for employment, volunteering and community participation.
She could become increasingly isolated.
My younger daughter could lose opportunities to build the confidence and skills she needs to enter employment and adulthood successfully.
My own workforce participation would likely decline because I would need to provide more direct support.
The emotional impact would also be significant.
What helps our family function is that both daughters have opportunities outside the home.
When those opportunities disappear, tensions increase, independence decreases and caring responsibilities grow.
I already know families whose social and community participation funding has been significantly reduced during 2026.
Many of these budgets were already modest.
Further reductions risk pushing people with disability back into isolation and dependence.
Conclusion and Recommendations
I am tired.
Like many carers, I have spent years navigating uncertainty, paperwork, reviews and changing rules while trying to support my daughters to live meaningful lives.
The NDIS once offered hope that both of my daughters could achieve greater independence and that I might eventually be able to step back from full-time caring responsibilities.
Today, that future feels increasingly uncertain.
I respectfully ask the Committee to consider the real-world impact these changes will have on families like mine.
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 2347
I recommend that the Committee:
- Reject the Bill in its current form.
- Remove or substantially amend section 25B(4) so participants cannot be excluded from the NDIS based on alternative supports that are unavailable, inadequate or untested.
- Remove or substantially amend sections 34(1G)–(1J) to ensure parents are not presumed to provide unlimited unpaid care.
- Remove or substantially amend section 34A so participants are not forced to accept inadequate supports simply because they are cheaper.
- Remove section 59B(4) and ensure that decisions involving discretion and judgement remain subject to meaningful human decision-making.
- Strengthen participant protections and certainty rather than increasing ministerial discretion.
- Work collaboratively with people with disability, carers, families and advocacy organisations to develop reforms that address genuine inefficiencies without undermining participant rights.
The NDIS has transformed the lives of my daughters. It has enabled them to contribute to their communities, pursue education, gain employment, build friendships and live richer lives.
Those achievements should be protected and expanded, not placed at risk.
Thank you for considering my submission.