National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 2403
Submission on the NDIS Amendment Bill
Name:
I am a: queer disabled person and ndis participant I experience homelessness signifiticantly due to my disabilities and now live in my car creating further boundaries to me accessing the supports I need.
My main concern about this Bill is:
That the changes being proposed show such a disconnect from the lived experience of disability and leave me feeling like me and my disabled community are seen as a burden to be swept under the rug rather than people that deserve the support they need to live dignified independent and full lives. We deserve to work with humans that understand us and a system that fits to us rather than forces us to swueeze into boxes not made for our bodies or brains.
This Bill may affect me / people I support because:
The increased compliance admin will add even more hoops for people to access supports they desperately need when they’re already exhausted managing their disability and their plan which is basically a full time job
Participant engagement rules around being non contactable are ridiculous and completely out of touch with what it is to live with a disability. There are so many reasons a person might not be contactable or able to communicate in ways the NDIS expect. I have had an absolute nightmare of a time trying to move through a reassessment process while being non verbal which is a direct part of my disability. So many times there were roadblocks when accomodations for such a thing should be easy. I had people refuse appointments or reports, I had ongoing calls that caused immense distress despite being asked numerous times to contact me via email, I had to advocate for myself over and over to get basic support for a reassessment that I should have been helped through. This amendment will make access to supports even harder for those who are more vulnerable and can’t advocate for themselves for a variety of reasons (burnt out, non verbal, ptsd and can’t answer phone, need for scripted calls and the list continues) it shows a lack of understanding of how challenging this process is for people with disabilities.
More structure and reduced flexibility in terms of plan reassessments is the opposite direction to go. We keep telling you people who experience disability are diverse. Our needs are all different and they change just like everyone else. To try to fit us into even tighter boxes shows a severe disconnect from what it is to live with disability.
The idea of standardised funding adjustments is also an indication of how little is understood in the diversity of needs and therefore funds. Not every person is the same you can’t calculate our needs with a formula you need to talk to us, learn about us and our lives and work with us so we can live with independe and dignity. This lapses into the increased use of ai and computing
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 2403
systems to make decisions that impact real people very significantly. It feels like a terrible dystopia sci fi movie where the fate of societies most vulnerable is left in the hands of computers because no one else has the time or cares enough to pay people to work with us.
What I want the committee to understand is:
We are people who want so desperately to be active parts of our communities but need informed care to do that with dignity and respect. We want to exist within the world and enjoy the small things like the sun on our face, a shower, a friendly person next to us in a special spot, a clean set of sheets and new vegetables and fruit in the fridge. We deserve that.
I do not support this bill because it shows a lack of understanding of the people it is about. It is ill informed and will cause significant harm to some of the most vulnerable peope in our society .