National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 2501
Inquiry: The National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS
for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Committee Secretary
Senate Standing Committees on Community Affairs
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Dear Committee Members,
I am writing as the carer of a person with disability who relies on the aged care system, and as a close family member of an adult with disability who relies on the NDIS. Through these roles, I have had the opportunity to observe the strengths and weaknesses of both systems and the profound impact that support arrangements have on people’s independence, wellbeing and quality of life.
Over the years, I have watched the person I care for struggle to obtain adequate supports through the aged care system. Despite having genuine disability-related needs, she frequently encounters restrictions, limited flexibility, a lack of provider choice and a system that often appears driven more by administrative processes than by individual circumstances. The supports available rarely reflect the reality of living with disability and often fall short of what is needed to maintain independence and quality of life.
At the same time, I have watched a close family member with disability build a life through the opportunities provided by the NDIS. The ability to choose providers, tailor supports to individual needs and exercise genuine choice and control has made a significant difference to their independence, employment and participation in the community. The contrast between the two systems is striking.
For this reason, I am deeply concerned that the proposed reforms risk moving the NDIS away from the principles that have made it successful and toward a model that increasingly resembles aged care. Proposals involving provider panels, commissioned services, reduced flexibility and greater government control over supports raise serious concerns. My experience has been that when people lose the ability to choose supports that suit their circumstances, outcomes deteriorate and individuals become increasingly dependent on systems that are unable to respond to their actual needs.
I am also concerned about provisions that would allow Ministers to reduce support categories or place limits on supports through legislative instruments. Decisions that affect whether people with disability can participate in their communities, maintain employment or live independently should not be subject to reduced parliamentary oversight. Such decisions have life-changing consequences and deserve full public scrutiny and accountability.
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 2501
The impact of these proposed reforms is not merely theoretical. I have witnessed the significant stress and anxiety they have already caused. The uncertainty surrounding future supports, eligibility, participant rights and funding arrangements has had a visible effect on my close family member’s wellbeing and level of functioning. It is deeply concerning to see people who have worked hard to build independent lives now fearing that those gains may be reversed.
The NDIS was intended to move Australia away from inflexible, service-driven models and toward a system based on individual needs, choice and control. In my view, the lessons from aged care should be used to strengthen those principles, not weaken them. We should be asking how to make disability supports more responsive and individualised, not how to move closer to systems that many people already find inadequate.
I respectfully ask the Committee to carefully consider whether these reforms risk undermining the core principles that have made the NDIS successful and to ensure that the rights, independence and dignity of people with disability remain at the centre of any future changes.
Yours faithfully,