National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 2537
Occupational Therapist 25+ years’ experience.
1 June 2026
Hon Mark Butler
Minister for Disability and the NDIS
Australia
Dear Minister Butler,
I am a private Occupational Therapist, and I do most of my work in disability and aged care. I have done so for over 25 years in regional Victoria and South Australia. As such I have significant experience in this area about the practical impacts on the people who use and support those who use this NDIS funding. I am writing to put forward my concern about the proposed changes to the NDIS bill that will be before the government soon. I have been gaining information from your press releases, media and from the OT Association experts with online forums and documents.
I have made a short list below of the major concerns I have.
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Major control and decisions in relation to individuals and groups of individuals funding can be made by the minister (or his delegate) alone, with no consultation or scrutiny for understanding.
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Regional clients currently receive decreased support due to location and now face further removal of community access supports that keep them close to their informal support networks in their regional area.
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Many funded individuals require support whether they are in the community or at home, at times this is provided by the same person. Will the decrease in community access result in an increase in home support? Identifying and planning is fine; removal of supports is not.
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There are a number of my clients that have aging parents who continue to provide a significant amount of informal support to their children. Removing services from them will increase strain on these supports and shift costs to other systems including healthcare.
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Considering functional capacity without considering assistive technology, home modification or support needs does not make
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 2537
sense! For example, a client who can mobilise over flat surfaces with mobility aids but requires additional support to propel a wheelchair over uneven surfaces like footpaths and walkways cannot do so without support when just doing everyday life.
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Removal of practicality around assistive technology is not considered appropriate. Funded individuals need solutions that fully meet their needs, not almost! An off-the-shelf mobile shower commode may cause further injury or deterioration of capacity over installing a custom mobile shower commode with tilt in space functionality. Placing the client and their supports at risk. This also applies to complex wheelchair seating and positioning equipment.
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Again, when considering assistive technology, the importance of the individual’s lived experience will be considered less of a priority. An example of this is where an individual is currently using a custom manual wheelchair for mobility and has done so for many years. Removing the custom features which have provided positive impacts through lived experience and replacing them with a standard chair would not be considered suitable.
Many of the points made above will, if not well considered, increase future costs to the NDIS or other government-funded healthcare systems.
Please work with the people who are doing this work well to ensure we do not create a gap in expectations of our community on how we should treat people who need a little more help than most.
As Australians, we do things differently from other nations – we support everyone and help those in need. We also hold accountable those who underperform or take advantage of systems for personal gain.
Please assess and remove those who do not conform to the rules or regulations of the NDIS and help those doing a great job to continue to be effective.