National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 238
“ - ~; “ • 1-lONOHIN~~
Protecting Access, Participation and Early Support for Children and Families Under the NDIS
I am writing as the Director of Hobart Wonderings, a paediatric occupational therapy practice supporting children, young people and families. Our work is primarily with neurodivergent children, children with developmental delay, and children experiencing challenges with participation, emotional regulation in their daily life.
We support the intent of maintaining a sustainable NDIS that continues to serve people with significant and permanent disability into the future. We also acknowledge the need to address fraud, improve consistency in decision making and ensure public funding is used responsibly. However, we are concerned that several aspects of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 may create unintended consequences for children, families and communities if implemented without sufficient safeguards and investment in alternative supports.
From a frontline perspective, many of the children and families we support are already navigating long waitlists, workforce shortages and significant barriers to accessing timely intervention. While the proposed reforms seek to improve sustainability, there is a risk that children will lose access to support before alternative systems are adequately established and resourced.
Early intervention and developmental outcomes
The proposed changes suggest further, significant delays in access to therapy, parent support and developmental intervention. Our industry and evidence base has a sound history of understanding the long-term consequences for participation, education, mental health and independence when therapy supports are not available.
The proposed tightening of eligibility criteria, including changes relating to functional capacity, permanence and access to other service systems, will reduce access for many children whose needs are significant but do not fit neatly within new thresholds or definitions.
In practice, many neurodivergent children experience fluctuating support needs. Their challenges are often most visible within everyday environments such as school, home and community settings. We are concerned that assessments focused on a child’s intrinsic capacity
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 238
while excluding environmental and personal circumstances will fail to capture the real-world impact of disability on participation.
Children rarely experience disability in isolation from their environment. A child’s ability to participate successfully is influenced by their environment inclusive of sensory demands, communication expectations, family capacity, school supports and community inclusion. These factors must remain central to decision making.
Restrictions on reassessments
We are particularly concerned about the proposed restrictions on participant-requested reassessments. The Bill proposes that reassessments only occur where there has been a significant and ongoing change in support needs and extends decision-making timeframes from 21 days to 90 days.
While reducing unnecessary reassessments is understandable, children’s development is not always linear or predictable. Children can experience significant changes in participation, school engagement, behaviour and family circumstances within relatively short periods.
Families already report difficulty navigating reassessment processes. Introducing additional barriers will result in children remaining on plans that no longer reflect their needs, placing greater pressure on families, schools and frontline clinicians to manage increasing challenges without adequate support.
Impact on families and informal supports
The Bill places increased emphasis on informal supports and alternative service systems.
Many families are already carrying significant caring responsibilities, we see burnt out parents everyday. Parents often coordinate therapy, education, healthcare, advocacy and daily care while balancing employment and financial pressures. In regional and rural communities these pressures can be even greater due to workforce shortages and limited service availability.
Where supports are reduced without equivalent investment in community and foundational supports, the burden will shift to families, schools, unpaid carers and children will sit on waitlists for years. The needs of our families currently accessing therapy with the support of NDIS are complex and profound.
Workforce and provider sustainability
The success of any reform depends on the workforce available to deliver it.
Across paediatric allied health, workforce shortages remain significant. Many services have closed their waitlists or operate with extensive delays. Smaller private practices play an important role in providing flexible, community-connected supports, particularly in regional areas.
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 238
If eligibility narrows while administrative requirements increase, providers will experience reduced viability and increased operational burden. This may discourage clinicians from remaining in the disability sector at a time when workforce capacity is already stretched.
There is also a risk that uncertainty surrounding future funding arrangements may affect recruitment and retention across allied health professions.
Regional and rural communities
Families living outside major metropolitan centres already experience reduced service availability, travel burdens and limited access to specialist clinicians.
Any reduction in service flexibility or funding will disproportionately affect regional and rural families. Where local services are unavailable, families often rely on telehealth, outreach models and small independent providers. These service models require stability and investment to remain sustainable.
Long-term social and economic impacts
The reforms are intended to improve the long-term sustainability of the NDIS. However, sustainability should be considered alongside the long-term costs of unmet need.
When children miss access to timely supports, the consequences may include:
● increased educational disengagement ● higher rates of mental health difficulties ● greater family stress and carer burnout ● reduced workforce participation by parents ● increased reliance on crisis and acute services ● poorer long-term employment and participation outcomes.
Investment in early support is not simply a cost. It is also an investment in future participation, inclusion and community wellbeing.
Conclusion
The goal of a sustainable NDIS is important and widely supported. However, sustainability should not be achieved by creating additional barriers for children and families who require support during critical developmental periods.
The success of these reforms will depend not only on legislative change, but on the availability of accessible, timely and adequately funded supports across the broader disability, health, education and community systems.
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 238
Recommendations
1. Ensure any new functional capacity framework adequately reflects participation within real-world environments, not solely intrinsic capacity. 2. Introduce safeguards and expedited pathways for children requiring reassessment during significant developmental or educational transitions. 3. Monitor the impact of reassessment restrictions on children, families and service access, particularly during the first years of implementation. 4. Ensure foundational and community supports are fully established and accessible before reducing access to NDIS-funded supports. 5. Invest in the paediatric allied health workforce to address existing shortages and improve access, particularly in regional and rural communities. 6. Undertake ongoing consultation with families, clinicians, disability advocates and service providers throughout implementation to identify unintended consequences early and make necessary adjustments. 7. Include specific monitoring of impacts on neurodivergent children, children with developmental delay and regional communities to ensure reforms do not inadvertently reduce participation and access to support.
The children and families we support want the same things that the NDIS was originally designed to achieve: meaningful participation, inclusion, independence and the opportunity to thrive. Any reforms should be measured against their ability to protect and strengthen those outcomes for current and future generations.
Sincerely
Myf Murphy
Occupational Therapist
Director
Hobart Wonderings