National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 2547
I am writing to explain the importance of the NDIS for both my disabled adult son and myself as well as request more time be put aside for all relevant parties to properly defend and justify their positions.
My name is and I am the single parent of a 26yo man with ASD and other disabilities. We are also the survivors of family violence. I am 63yo and I have been unable to work as I provide full-time care for my son. We live in rural Southwest Victoria and my son is reliant on me for full-time care and transport to his appointments etc. We do not have any family to help us and it is unsafe for my son to have any contact with his father.
My son was granted a plan from the NDIS in 2022 and it has been life changing for him as a disabled adult. Due to yearly rollovers it has not increased with the cost of living so it has effectively reduced over the years. My son’s plan, although modest, has allowed him to work towards meaningful employment and make friends with the support of a service provider. Before his NDIS plan he was lonely and isolated, with no hope of gaining employment. My son and I have become reliant on the NDIS as a government service that has provided hope for his future. If he is removed from the NDIS all of his hard work will be undone and he will be facing a very uncertain future.
My particular concerns about the impending changes are:
Rushing through such life altering changes without consultation with those who are affected, particularly as NDIS participants are not necessarily able to respond quickly or without support. More time needs to be given to such a significant change to a legislation that has become such an important life changing support for the disabled community.
Expecting people to seek out all available treatments before being eligible to apply to the NDIS. Geographically and financially, this will exclude a large number of those in need. Who decides what these hurdles are and will they even be medically efficacious? The NDIS is supposed to support those that have ongoing issues that cannot be “cured”.
The one size fits all approach to plan limits is very concerning. Every participant is an individual with complex needs that cannot be dealt with in this way.
The NDIS has excelled at bringing disabled people out into the community where they belong. To cut this would be cruel and extremely backwards thinking. Personally, I am not sure my son would survive this. It has helped him to build the confidence he needs to educate himself and make friends. Health and well being is not just physical. It is vital to have a sense of well being to function in society. To take this away is inhumane at best.
Expecting participants to manage timely contact, manage receipts that are already in the hands of the NDIS and raise debts robotically (harking back to robodebt) looks to me to be bullying of a weaker target. How can a disability support agency go after the very people it is supposed to support because they are vulnerable. Again, this is either incredibly ignorant or just plain inhumane. It is absolutely not supportive.
All of the above will be irrelevant if the Bill allows the Minister complete control to cut any plan he sees fit without any reason other than “financial sustainability’’. This is not democracy and as a lifelong Labour voter it is truly disappointing. These unilateral decisions will destroy lives. I truly fear for the futures of my son, his friends, and all the other disabled people and their carers.
Please reconsider this Bill and allow more time for review and written feedback by the public and advocacy groups. The proposed Bill is inhumane and un-Australian. It has created a huge amount of fear and uncertainty in the community. It is being rushed through in a very inappropriate way without the timely consultations with the very people whose lives will be upended. This Bill should not pass. Instead, there should be a new Bill created with the proper consultations with all relevant parties in a timely, fair and, most importantly, transparent way.
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 2547