National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 2503
SENATE SUBMISSION
NDIS Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
About our family member My name is and I am the parent of __ , who is 33 and has Cri du
Chat syndrome. 1ves in a Supported lndep~ accommodation in_ ,Victoria. He attends a supported day program two days per week.
- •s NDIS plan covers SIL funding, support and social and community participation budget for day program attendance and community access, along with funding for improved daily living. He has limited informal supports available during the day outside of funded services.
Why I am concerned about this Bill My family member lives in supported accommodation because his support needs cannot be met in the family home. The NDIS funds both his accommodation and the day activities that give him a life outside of it. These two things work together. The proposed Bill would cut the second half of that arrangement, with no plan for what replaces it.
- The 50% social and community participation cut - no family to absorb the gap For people with Cri du Chat syndrome living in supported accommodation, the day program is not a supplement to family care. It is the only structured daytime activity available. When
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is not at his day program, he is in his accommodation. A 50% cut to the social and community participation budget will reduce the number of days
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can attend the day program. If this cut happens the provider may not be able to sustain Tlieservice at reduced funding and - would spend additional days in accommodation without structured activity. The Government’s own Explanatory Memorandum acknowledges these changes ‘could likely impact on other mainstream services systems’ but provides no plan for what this means for people like- for whom there is no informal support alternative.
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Provider viability and thin markets Providers who support people with Cri du Chat syndrome in day programs operate in what the NDIS calls ’thin markets. A 50% cut to the funding that pays for day program attendance will push many of these providers to the point where the service is no longer financially sustainable. If the provider exits, - loses his placement - and there may be no alternative provider in our area.
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No right to challenge the cut
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 2503
Proposed section 34A gives the Minister the power to make this cut by legislative instrument, with no requirement for individual assessment and no right of merits review for the participant. - through his support coordinator, nominee, or family - would have no mechanism to challenge the cut, even where the impact on his safety and wellbeing is clear and documented.
- The Royal Commission contradiction
The Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with
Disability found that segregation increases risk and called for people with disability to be supported to live in the community. Day programs and individualised community access are what make community living meaningful. Cutting the funding that enables community participation for people in supported accommodation moves in the opposite direction from the Royal Commission’s recommendations.
What I am asking
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Reject the proposed 50% cut to social and community participation funding and oppose the amendment to s.34A.
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Ensure that people living in supported accommodation who have no informal daytime support are explicitly exempt from any blanket reduction to the social and community participation budget.
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Require the Minister to conduct an individual impact assessment before any support determination takes effect on a participant’s plan.
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Make all support determinations subject to merits review.
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Require an assessment of provider viability before implementing cuts in thin markets. My family’s story
Since leaving school doesn’t have friends and also finds it hard to make new friends and if he does he finds it very hard to keep them which is why it is important for him to attend day programs and have support outside of the accommodation so he can have interaction with people within his-own age group and not just support workers within his home. Currently when at home he spends a lot of time in his bedroom by himself watching tv and playing video games so if his funding was to be cut it would just mean more hours by himself in his room.
Sign-off
Yours sincerely,