Submission 2607
Submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs
Inquiry into the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for
Future Generations) Bill 2026
My name is . I am a mother of seven children, a disability support worker, and the parent of two children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Level 2 who rely on the NDIS.
I am writing because I am deeply concerned about the proposed changes contained within the
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations)
Bill 2026.
I have spent years fighting for my children to access the support they need. Not because I wanted more than anyone else, but because without those supports they were struggling, failing, becoming isolated and missing opportunities that every child deserves.
My son is 10 years old and has Autism Spectrum Disorder Level 2, ADHD, Dyslexia,
Dysgraphia, Dyscalculia, Sensory Processing Difficulties, Moderate Receptive Language Delay
and Moderate Speech Sound Disorder.
My daughter is 8 years old and has Autism Spectrum Disorder Level 2 and ADHD.
Like many families, our disabilities do not exist in isolation. They affect every aspect of daily life, family life, education, employment, relationships and community participation.
has attended four different schools. We have fought through suspensions, bullying, emotional dysregulation, social isolation and educational environments that simply could not meet his needs. We have sat in countless meetings, attended therapies, completed assessments and advocated relentlessly to get him where he is today.
For the first time in his life, is thriving.
He attends , a specialist school that understands children like him. He has built friendships. He is participating. He is learning. He is developing confidence.
That progress did not happen because his disability disappeared.
It happened because appropriate supports were finally put in place.
The proposed parental presumption in section 34(1G)-(1J) is the part of this Bill that concerns me the most.
This section assumes parents will naturally provide substantial disability-related support and allows the NDIS to reduce funding based on that assumption.
Submission 2607
As a parent, I can honestly say that assumption shows a complete lack of understanding of what families like mine already do.
My husband and I are not outsourcing parenting.
We are parenting every minute of every day.
We manage emotional dysregulation, meltdowns, behavioural incidents, appointments, therapy programs, medication reviews, school meetings, community participation, safety concerns and social challenges. We advocate constantly because if we don’t, nobody else will.
The NDIS is not funding parenting.
The NDIS is funding disability.
There is a significant difference.
When becomes overwhelmed, he can become verbally aggressive, physically aggressive and damage property. He struggles with impulse control, emotional regulation and flexibility. He requires ongoing behavioural support and structured intervention.
He has a history of running away when distressed.
He has entered unsafe situations because he does not always recognise danger the way other children his age do.
He desperately wants friends but is highly vulnerable to manipulation because he struggles to understand social situations and people’s intentions.
These are not parenting challenges.
These are disability-related impairments.
No amount of love, commitment or good parenting removes autism, ADHD, sensory processing difficulties or executive functioning deficits.
Parents cannot simply “try harder” and replace specialist disability supports.
The Bill appears to assume that families have unlimited capacity.
We do not.
My husband and I are raising seven children.
Submission 2607
We do not have family support.
Like many Australian families, we are balancing work, rising living costs, appointments, therapies, school commitments and everyday family responsibilities.
We are already carrying more than most people realise.
Every hour of support removed from the NDIS does not disappear.
It simply gets transferred to families who are already exhausted.
I am also concerned by provisions that allow funding below the actual cost of supports if a cheaper alternative exists.
My son’s community participation supports have changed his life.
Football has been one of the most successful interventions we have ever found for him.
Many people see football as simply a sport.
For , it is so much more than that.
Football has taught him resilience, teamwork, confidence, social skills and emotional regulation. It has provided him with friendships and a sense of belonging that he struggled to find elsewhere.
When we moved him to a club closer to home, he struggled significantly. The environment was different and he could not adapt. We eventually moved him back because it was the right environment for him emotionally and socially.
That club is approximately forty minutes from our home.
We have four boys involved in football and seven children altogether.
Without community access supports, maintaining opportunities like this becomes incredibly difficult.
also uses community access supports to develop independence through activities such as helping at a mechanic workshop, mowing lawns and learning practical skills that will help him participate in employment and community life as he gets older.
These supports are not luxuries.
Submission 2607
They are investments in independence.
Reducing them may save money on paper but it risks creating greater dependence and poorer outcomes in the future.
I am also concerned about the increasing use of automated decision-making.
As someone who works in the disability sector, I know that disability cannot be understood through an algorithm.
A computer cannot understand what it means to raise a child who has attended four schools, experienced suspensions, struggled to make friends, been vulnerable to exploitation, required behavioural intervention and whose family has spent years fighting for access to appropriate support.
A computer cannot understand the difference between a child who is succeeding because they are well supported and a child who no longer requires support.
Those are not the same thing.
One of my greatest concerns is that participants and families are increasingly being portrayed as the reason the NDIS is unsustainable.
That has not been my experience.
As a support worker, I see families every day who are burnt out, overwhelmed and doing everything they can for their loved ones.
I also see participants who are too frightened to ask for the support they genuinely need because they fear their funding will be reduced or removed.
Families are not trying to take advantage of the system.
Most are simply trying to survive.
If the Government wants to improve the sustainability of the NDIS, it should look carefully at inefficiencies, poor provider practices and systemic waste before shifting more responsibility onto participants and families.
The reality is that many parents are already at breaking point.
I am writing this submission while recovering from major hip surgery.
Submission 2607
For the first time in my life, I have been forced to rely heavily on others for my own care and daily tasks.
This experience has reinforced something I already knew as both a parent and support worker.
People cannot absorb endless caring responsibilities without consequences.
My husband has effectively become a solo parent to seven children while supporting my recovery and continuing to meet the needs of two children with significant disabilities.
Families cannot keep carrying more and more responsibility every time a policy changes.
At some point there is nothing left to give.
My children are not numbers on a budget spreadsheet.
They are children with hopes, strengths and futures.
loves football, motorbikes, swimming, making people laugh and being part of a team.
is intelligent, caring and deserves the same opportunities as every other child to reach her full potential.
The supports they receive are not handouts.
They are the reason they can participate in their communities, develop independence and build meaningful lives.
I urge the Committee to reject provisions that assume parents can absorb disability-related supports, reject provisions that allow supports to be funded below what is genuinely required, reject automated decision-making involving judgement and discretion, and ensure that the rights of people with disability remain at the centre of any reform.
The NDIS was created because families could not carry these responsibilities alone.
That reality has not changed.
Please do not pass legislation that assumes otherwise.
Thank you for taking the time to read my submission.