National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 2589
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment - Submission
To the Community Affairs Legislation Panel.
The NDIS is, and should remain, a crowning achievement in Australia, and goes a long way to improving the lives of disabled people in this country.
Australia has a deep-rooted ableism problem, both in the public, and especially in government. If the ongoing pandemic has shown us one thing, it is the government does not believe the lives of disabled people matter as much as those of able-bodied individuals. From the demonising of masks in Victoria, to the disregard of all protections in Tasmania after being overwhelmed following the opening of the border on the 15th of December 2021, to the lying about the severity and prevalence of the illness that, to this day, continues to kill and disable millions across the planet.
It is with these ableist positions that the NDIS must remain fair and equal to all who require it, lest the government make the lives of disabled people worse than they already are. It is already incredibly difficult for disabled people to exist in public, the NDIS is what allows that for many, and the proposed changes will gut the quality of life for those it is meant to protect.
To begin with, the idea of “functional capacity” as laid out in the bill is not in line with the lived experience of the disabled community, because the baseline, capacity, and ability of every person is wholly unique. There is no line for “functional capacity” to serve as some “one size fits all” approach. Even on a day-by-day basis, the baselines and capacity limits of able-bodied people differ wildly, so the idea of making strict quotas for disabled people is discriminatory and shows a lack of understanding the lived experience of disabled people.
Likewise, disability is not a “one and done,” it is not realistic to assume the circumstances and disability will remain the same until the next scheduled reassessment date. Much like everybody else, disabled people get sicker, they get worse, and there is no timeline to that. Especially if you change the idea of “functional capacity” and force disabled people to go beyond their limits, the risk of them getting sicker and their baseline/capacity being reduced will only increase. This, in particular, is an especially cruel punishment for those the NDIS is designed to protect.
Thirdly, on the topic of “clarify[ing] the requirement for support needs to be directly related to a participant’s eligible impairments,” this is a direct attack on the quality of life of people who require NDIS support. It is not enough to just survive, people need to be able to live and have enriching experiences, and money spent on improving the lives of the most vulnerable is worth every dollar (especially compared to, say, supporting a genocidal regime or AUKUS). To go back to 2020/2021, people complained about lockdowns because they were trapped in their homes, they were unable to go out and live their lives. Now, especially now given the lack of protections and medical advice during an active pandemic, why should disabled people have to remain living in a lockdown-like state? Why was it so terrible when able bodied people were trapped in their houses, but it is totally fine for disabled people to be
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 2589
abandoned by society and those who are supposed to protect them? While this does touch on every single element and proposed change with this bill, it is the removal of supports that contribute to quality of life that do the most harm.
On the point of enabling the Minister to “reduce funding,” this once again comes down to not all disabilities being equal or needing the same supports. The government is once again trying to fit all disabled people into a box just to save a few dollars. I note the use of “reduce funding” and no mention of “increasing funding” as should be the case.
The NDIS is already astronomically harder to be approved for than it ought to be, with multiple visits to doctors and specialists that, depending on the person and their disability, may take months to be able to do. The idea of changing the renewal process, thereby requiring all of this evidence and proof to be obtained again, in turn risking their funding when it may be the only thing keeping them alive, is cruel and unusual punishment. While this bill is deeply inhumane and shows a lack of empathy from the government, it is the specific details that do nothing but harm that show how cruel Labor are.
This government, in many regards, has forgotten that they are supposed to be Public Servants. They are supposed to work for us, not just for the wealthy, the powerful, the billionaires, the coal and gas lobby, or (especially in the case of the Prime Minister and Senator Penny Wong) for Donald Trump and Israel. The proposed changes to the NDIS show how out-of-touch the government are, and how they have no interest in actually serving the public. Frankly speaking, if that is the point of view of the Members of Parliament, they should resign their position because they inherently refuse the duties of the role.
The NDIS should be a crowning achievement, it should have more funding put into it, it should be easier to access for those who need it. And if you want to look at the numbers in real life, not just on a spreadsheet, the earlier disabled people who need NDIS support can access it and can get the help they need, the less money they will require. The longer people need to chase after NDIS approval, the more they have to push themselves, the more hoops the government require them to jump through, they only get in return a higher chance of getting sicker and thereby requiring more support and money. Use the NDIS to support the most vulnerable, use it to help improve and maintain quality of life by serving as a preventative measure. Do not use it to balance a budget when the majority of said budget is geared towards the rich and powerful. You are public servants, and whether you like it or not, the public in question includes disabled people. Do not leave them behind in your greed.