National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 2639
Submission on the NDIS Amendment Bill
I am a disabled person with ADSL2, ADHD,and PTSD. I work as a sole trader NDIS support worker, as well as having a lot of my friends and community who have chronic disabilities who are currently on NDIS. I am writing to you today as I have serious concerns about select proposed sections of the ‘NDIS Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026’.
This bill will affect the people I support as:
● This bill specifically targets those with psychosocial disabilities, which affects thousands of people on the scheme ● People who are being moved off the scheme would have no supports in the time that they will be waiting replacement schemes to be implemented, and even then, those proposed alternative options are not substantial ● People who are waiting to go onto NDIS for psychosocial disability would not be able to attain the support they need.
At the moment, a lot of my clients and friends on NDIS rely on support workers’ aid to meet their basic needs; such as cooking, shopping for feed, getting around, tidying their house, to name a few. If this bill were to pass and they were to be kicked off of NDIS, their quality of life will be immensely diminished. It will also increase the burden on others who informally support them. There will also be thousands of jobs being lost for those whose clients will no longer meet the definition proposed by this bill regarding their functional capacity. This personally impacts me as I survive as a sole trader support worker, being a sole trader means I am able to manage my capacity (working hours suit my mental and physical energy capacity) and work in a job that’s fulfilling as well as in an area where I have personal understanding around disability barriers.
What I want the committee to understand is the severe impacts this would have on participants receiving funding for psychosocial supports. According to NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission’s participant table from their Inquiry Report in 2023, 11% or 85,190 of NDIS participants receive funding for psychosocial supports. (footnote1)
Mark Butler said with the ABC, “initial modelling projected the new approach would reduce the number of people who use the NDIS from 760,000 currently to 600,000 by the end of the decade.” Butler elaborated on this by stating “Australians with lower support needs or higher functional capacity … will be moved out of the scheme.” (footnote2)
According to the Australian government’s timeline, people who are being moved off the scheme for higher functional capacity will not come in time for after this bill’s rollout, nor will it be substantial enough to actually meet their support needs. According to the timeline, current participants will be re-assessed with the new functional capacity definition by 30/09/26, while alternate services for those with higher functional capacity will begin to be established by the inclusive communities fund, which currently does not even have a date of execution (footnote3).
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 2639
Finally, I don’t believe that this bill has been proposed with the consideration of the disabled community in mind. This proposed bill has already caused a considerable amount of harm to the psychosocially disabled community, and if it goes through, it will continue to cause harm and will negatively alter the lives of these people who are already so marginalized within our communities and society.
Thank you for your time and consideration.