Submission 268 - Supplementary Submission
Submission to the Senate Community
Affairs Legislation Committee
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment
(Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
10 July 2026
Submission 268 - Supplementary Submission
Contents Executive Summary………………………………………………………………………………………………………………3
About the Australian Consumers & Carers Mental Health Forum……………………………………………4
Guiding Principles…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….5
Understanding Psychosocial Disability and Recovery……………………………………………………………7
Forum view on psychosocial disability and recovery ……………………………………………………….13
Analysis of the Proposed Legislative Reforms …………………………………………………………………….14
Forum view on planning and support flexibility………………………………………………………………..18
Forum view on reform risks and safeguards…………………………………………………………………….21
The Broader Impacts of the Proposed Reforms……………………………………………………………………21
Conclusion on broader impacts ………………………………………………………………………………………29
Forum view on broader system impacts…………………………………………………………………………..29
Recommendations, Proposed Legislative Amendments and Conclusion………………………………30
Summary Position…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..31
Recommendations………………………………………………………………………………………………………………31
Human Rights …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………31
Recovery-Oriented Practice …………………………………………………………………………………………….32
Functional Assessments …………………………………………………………………………………………………32
Eligibility ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..32
Planning and Supports ……………………………………………………………………………………………………33
Reassessments ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………33
Review Rights…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………33
Foundational Supports ……………………………………………………………………………………………………34
Consumers, Families and Carers …………………………………………………………………………………….34
Peer Workforce……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….35
Co-design……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….35
Transparency and Accountability…………………………………………………………………………………….35
Independent Evaluation…………………………………………………………………………………………………..36
Proposed Legislative Amendments …………………………………………………………………………………36
Matters the Forum Encourages the Senate Committee to Examine …………………………………..37
Functional Assessment …………………………………………………………………………………………………..37
Foundational Supports ……………………………………………………………………………………………………37
Recovery ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..37
Outcomes……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….38
Families and Carers ………………………………………………………………………………………………………..38
Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………39
References …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………40
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Submission 268 - Supplementary Submission
Executive Summary
The Australian Consumers & Carers Mental Health Forum (ACCMHF, the Forum)
welcomes the opportunity to provide this submission to the Senate Community
Affairs Legislation Committee regarding the National Disability Insurance Scheme
Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026.
The Forum supports the long-term sustainability, integrity and effectiveness of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. We recognise that governments have a responsibility to ensure public resources are used appropriately, fraud and exploitation are addressed, and the Scheme remains available for future generations.
However, sustainability cannot be achieved simply by reducing expenditure or participant numbers. A sustainable NDIS is one that enables people with disability to live safe, meaningful and connected lives, while reducing reliance on hospitals, emergency services, homelessness services, the justice system and unpaid family care.
People living with psychosocial disability experience disability differently from many other cohorts. Support needs often fluctuate over time and recovery is rarely linear. People may experience periods of stability followed by periods of significant deterioration, often triggered by factors beyond their control. Effective supports are designed not only to respond to crisis but to prevent crisis from occurring.
Aspects of the proposed legislation may not adequately recognise these realities. In particular, the proposed reforms may:
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narrow access to the Scheme for people with psychosocial disability, including people seeking to enter the NDIS
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place current participants at risk of reduced supports, redirection or exit before equivalent alternatives are available
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reduce recognition of fluctuating disability and episodic support needs
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increase reliance on functional assessment approaches that may not accurately reflect psychosocial disability
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reduce flexibility within participant plans
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increase barriers to timely reassessment
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place greater pressure on families and unpaid carers
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shift costs and demand to already overstretched mental health and community services
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undermine recovery-oriented practice and supported decision making. ACCMHF (The Forum) Submission – NDIS Legislation & Bill 2026 Page 3 of 40
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The Forum is also concerned that many of the broader reforms associated with the legislation depend upon replacement systems, including Foundational Supports, which are not yet fully designed, evaluated, funded or operational.
No current participant should lose access to NDIS supports, and no person seeking access should be redirected away from the NDIS, until equivalent replacement supports are available, accessible and independently demonstrated to produce equal or better outcomes.
Transition safeguards should be legislated for all current participants.
These safeguards should include a clear no-disadvantage principle; no exit, redirection or reduction in supports without confirmed equivalent or better alternatives; access to independent advocacy and supported decision making; plain language written reasons; internal and external review rights; and an individual risk assessment before any transition occurs.
The Forum supports reform. However, reform must strengthen the lives of people with psychosocial disability rather than increase the barriers they already experience.
The Bill should not proceed in its current form without amendments.
At a minimum, amendments should protect current participants from harm during transition, preserve review and advocacy rights, and require governments to demonstrate that alternative supports are available and consistent across jurisdictions before any participant loses existing NDIS supports.
Any proposed legislation must continue to reflect the objects and general principles of the NDIS Act, including the rights of people with disability to choice and control, dignity, respect, participation in social and economic life, reasonable and necessary supports, individualised planning, independence, inclusion in the community, advocacy, and recognition of the role of families and carers. For people with psychosocial disability, these principles must also be applied consistently with contemporary recovery-oriented practice, noting that recovery does not mean cure, absence of disability, or reduced need for support.
About the Australian Consumers & Carers Mental
Health Forum
The Australian Consumers & Carers Mental Health Forum (The Forum) is a national mental health forum that brings together the combined independent voice of consumers and carers to develop shared positions on mental health, suicide prevention, psychosocial disability reform to strengthen links to disability rights and policy, and support collaboration across a diversity of lived experience communities.
The Forum strives to engage with and bring the perspectives of people whose voices are not currently reflected through formal mechanisms. In doing so, it brings more
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than 20 years of demonstrated expertise that strengthens the breadth, diversity, legitimacy, and broaden lived experience representation.
The Forum complements and add to the work of the national mental health consumer and carer peaks, other lived experience peaks and organisations by providing a combined consumer and carer platform and a cross-system policy development space, including engagement across disability and mental health policy processes and with relevant Australian Government departments and agencies.
The Forum is guided by a Steering Committee and an Advisory group comprising consumer and carer leaders with diverse experience and networks across Australia’s mental health and disability systems.
The Forum favours approaches that recognise recovery, dignity, inclusion and meaningful participation as central outcomes for people living with psychosocial disability.
The Forum also recognises that families, kin, carers and supporters play an essential role in enabling recovery and community participation, often providing significant unpaid care over many years.
These perspectives provide an important lens through which to consider the proposed legislative reforms.
Guiding Principles
This submission has been developed using the following principles.
Human Rights
People living with psychosocial disability have the same rights as every other Australian.
The NDIS should continue to operate consistently with Australia’s obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (United Nations, 2006).
Recovery
Recovery is an individual, daily and personal process.
Recovery does not mean the absence of functional disability
Recovery means living a meaningful life with dignity and support, even when mental ill-health or psychosocial disability continues.
Supports should enable daily recovery rather than respond only after deterioration has occurred.
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Choice and Control
Choice and control remain central principles of the NDIS.
People living with psychosocial disability should continue to have genuine choice regarding:
- their goals
- their supports
- who provides those supports
- how supports are delivered.
Lived Expertise and Experience
People with lived expertise and experience are experts in their own lives.
Nothing about us without us must remain a central guiding principle.
Participants, families, kin and unpaid carers must be genuine partners in the design, implementation and evaluation of reforms that affect them.
Prevention
Effective supports reduce crisis, reduce hospitalisations, and save lives.
They help people remain connected to housing, education, employment, family and community.
Investment in prevention produces better human outcomes and better economic outcomes than responding after people reach crisis.
Focus of this Submission
The Forum has considered issues and concerns raised by consumers/participants, carers, families, kin, representative organisations, service providers and individuals across the mental health, psychosocial disability and disability sectors.
Rather than repeating those arguments, this submission focuses on questions that are particularly important for people living with psychosocial disability, including current NDIS participants, people seeking access to the Scheme, and those who support them.
These include:
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how recovery-oriented practice may be affected
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whether functional assessments can appropriately assess psychosocial disability whether all impacts of psychosocial disability for individuals will be supported
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the consequences of interrupting continuity of supports
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impacts on families/kin and unpaid carers ACCMHF (The Forum) Submission – NDIS Legislation & Bill 2026 Page 6 of 40
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- interaction between the NDIS and the broader mental health system
- implications for peer-led supports
- human rights and supported decision making
- the broader social consequences if people lose supports without adequate alternatives.
Use of the term “participants”
In this submission, references to “participants” should be read as referring to people who are currently participants in the NDIS. Where relevant, the Forum also refers to people with psychosocial disability who are seeking access to the NDIS, are being assessed for eligibility, are seeking reassessment, or may be redirected to other supports.
The Forum’s concerns apply both to current participants and to people seeking access to the Scheme, particularly where proposed changes affect eligibility, functional assessment, planning, reassessment, review rights, transition arrangements or redirection to Foundational Supports.
One simple question for the Senate to answer:
Will these legislative reforms improve the lives, wellbeing, rights and recovery of people living with psychosocial disability, including current NDIS participants and people seeking access to the Scheme?
If the answer cannot be demonstrated through evidence, lived experience, and clear safeguards against harm, then the legislation should not proceed in its current form.
The Forum draws particular attention to the recommendations of the Independent Review into the National Disability Insurance Scheme (2023) and the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability (2023). Both processes reinforce the need for disability reform to be rights-based, person-centred, evidence-informed, co-designed with people with disability, and focused on improving outcomes rather than simply reducing expenditure or shifting responsibility to other systems.
Understanding Psychosocial Disability and Recovery
Introduction
For eligible participants living with psychosocial disability, the NDIS has provided access to supports that were previously unavailable through the mental health system, enabling greater independence, community participation, recovery and quality of life.
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For people seeking access to the Scheme, eligibility and assessment processes must also recognise the fluctuating, episodic and often invisible nature of psychosocial disability.
The Forum recognises that the NDIS was never intended to replace Australia’s broader mental health system. Rather, it was intended to provide ongoing disability supports for people whose mental health conditions result in permanent psychosocial disability and substantially reduce their functional capacity.
Some aspects of the proposed legislation may unintentionally move the Scheme away from recognising the unique characteristics of psychosocial disability and towards a more standardised model of disability assessment and support planning.
Unlike many other disabilities, psychosocial disability often fluctuates significantly over time. People may experience periods where they function well and appear relatively independent, followed by periods where they require substantial support to maintain housing, relationships, employment, education and personal safety.
Periods of recovery, stability or improved functioning should not be interpreted as evidence that psychosocial disability has ended. For many people, stability is the result of effective supports, not evidence that supports are no longer needed.
The legislation must recognise this distinction.
Recovery is Not a Straight Line
Recovery is a fundamental principle underpinning contemporary mental health policy in Australia and internationally (National Mental Health Commission, 2024; Productivity Commission, 2020).
Recovery does not necessarily mean a person is “cured” of mental illness. Rather, recovery recognises that people can live meaningful, productive and connected lives while continuing to experience ongoing mental health conditions or psychosocial disability.
Recovery is built upon:
hope
dignity
self-determination
participation
relationships
connection to community
access to appropriate supports
having someone walk alongside the person as a partner in their recovery
opportunities to contribute.
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Recovery is rarely linear.
People frequently move between periods of stability, improvement, relapse and renewed recovery.
Good disability supports acknowledge this reality by providing continuity and flexibility rather than waiting until someone reaches crisis before assistance is available.
Some aspects of the Bill may unintentionally reinforce a crisis-driven approach by making it more difficult for participants to adjust supports when their circumstances change.
For people with psychosocial disability, preventing deterioration is often far more effective, humane and economical than responding after crisis has occurred.
The Nature of Psychosocial Disability
Psychosocial disability arises when a person’s mental health condition interacts with social and environmental barriers in ways that substantially reduce their ability to participate in everyday life.
For many people, disability is experienced through difficulties with:
planning and organising daily activities
maintaining routines
managing finances
communicating
making decisions
maintaining relationships
accessing education or employment
participating in community life
managing stress
coping with unexpected change.
Many of these difficulties are not immediately visible. Unlike physical disabilities, psychosocial disability often fluctuates according to environmental circumstances, stress, trauma, physical health, social supports and access to services.
A person may appear capable during a formal assessment yet be unable to sustain that level of functioning over time.
Assessment approaches relying heavily on observation during a single appointment may fail to recognise the cumulative and fluctuating nature of psychosocial disability.
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Functional Capacity Cannot Be Viewed in Isolation
The proposed legislation introduces a new approach to defining and assessing functional capacity, in the context of broader NDIS Review recommendations concerning access, support needs assessment and budget setting (Independent Review into the National Disability Insurance Scheme, 2023).
Efforts to improve consistency are important, but the proposed approach may not adequately recognise the interaction between psychosocial disability and the environments in which people live.
Many people with psychosocial disability maintain independence only because they receive appropriate supports.
Removing those supports in order to assess what a person can do without assistance risks measuring vulnerability rather than actual functional capacity.
For example, a current participant or person seeking access to the NDIS may appear to:
manage personal care
attend appointments
maintain housing
participate socially
However, this may only be because regular support workers, peer workers, family members or unpaid carers assist them.
Family and carer evidence is also important. Where appropriate, diaries or records kept by carers can help document the nature, frequency and intensity of support provided, and can provide practical evidence of functional needs over time.
Assessing capacity without recognising these supports may significantly underestimate disability.
Similarly, excluding environmental factors may disadvantage people living in circumstances that increase the impact of their disability.
Housing insecurity, poverty, social isolation, discrimination and limited service availability all influence a person’s ability to function.
Psychosocial disability cannot be accurately understood without recognising these broader contexts.
Fluctuating Conditions Require Flexible Supports
One of the defining characteristics of psychosocial disability is fluctuation.
Support needs may change:
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from week to week
seasonally
following stressful life events
during medication changes
after bereavement
during periods of physical illness
following housing instability
following major disruptive community events such as bushfires, floods, prolonged communication outages or other emergencies
because of trauma or family violence.
Importantly, these changes cannot always be predicted.
Legislative changes limiting reassessments to significant and ongoing changes may not adequately recognise these realities.
Current participants should be able to adjust supports before situations deteriorate into crisis, and people seeking access should not be required to reach crisis before their functional support needs are recognised.
Waiting until circumstances become severe enough to satisfy rigid legislative thresholds may produce poorer outcomes for participants while increasing demand on crisis services.
The Importance of Continuity
Recovery relies on stable relationships.
Many participants build trusting relationships with:
peer workers
psychosocial recovery coaches
support workers
therapists
coordinators
community organisations.
These relationships are often developed over many years.
Disrupting supports because of funding changes, reassessment delays or reduced flexibility may undermine recovery and increase distress.
Continuity should be recognised as an important outcome of good disability support.
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Stable supports frequently enable people to:
remain in employment
sustain education
maintain tenancies
care for children
participate in community life
reduce reliance on emergency mental health services.
These outcomes should be recognised when assessing the effectiveness of reforms.
Recovery Benefits the Whole Community
Supporting recovery benefits not only individuals but also families, communities and governments.
Effective disability supports reduce reliance on:
hospital emergency departments
inpatient mental health services
homelessness services
crisis accommodation
police responses
ambulance services
corrective services
unpaid family care.
They also increase opportunities for:
employment
volunteering
education
community participation
social connection
improved physical health.
The Forum encourages governments to recognise these broader benefits when considering reforms to the NDIS.
Measures that reduce Scheme expenditure but increase costs elsewhere in the health and community sectors should not be regarded as successful reform.
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Forum position
The Australian Consumers & Carers Mental Health Forum supports reforms that strengthen the sustainability of the NDIS.
However, sustainability should be measured by whether reforms improve people’s lives rather than simply reducing Scheme expenditure.
For people living with psychosocial disability, successful reform should:
support recovery
promote independence
reduce crisis
strengthen community participation
protect continuity of supports
recognise fluctuating disability
reduce reliance on acute mental health services
retain evidence-based access and assessment criteria, rather than relying on shortened or automated assessment methods
support families and carers
uphold human rights.
These principles provide the framework through which the Forum has considered the remainder of the proposed legislation.
Forum view on psychosocial disability and recovery
This section reflects the lived expertise and experience of many people with psychosocial disability. It is consistent with earlier National Mental Health Consumer and Carer Forum work defining psychosocial disability as involving mental health related impairments, participation restrictions, and social or environmental barriers (National Mental Health Consumer and Carer Forum [NMHCCF], 2022a, 2024).
Essential to psychosocial disability and recovery;
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Continuity of supports; because recovery depends on stable, trusted relationships with peer workers, recovery coaches, support workers, families, carers and community services. Publications have consistently highlighted continuity, choice and control, and trauma-informed approaches as central to effective psychosocial supports.
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NDIS supports; contribute to recovery, independence and community participation when they assist people to maintain housing, develop routines, attend appointments, reconnect socially, participate in education or employment, and avoid crisis. These outcomes align with the view that
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appropriate supports can prevent social isolation, homelessness, poverty, exploitation and avoidable reliance on crisis services.
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Reduced or harder to access supports; have consequences including deterioration in mental health, increased hospital presentations, loss of housing, greater social isolation, increased distress for families and carers, and higher costs across health, housing, justice and income support systems.
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Legislation must explicitly recognise; that psychosocial disability is often episodic, invisible, relational, trauma-affected and context-dependent. It should also recognise that periods of apparent stability may be the result of effective supports rather than evidence that disability has ceased.
Analysis of the Proposed Legislative Reforms
Introduction
The Australian Consumers & Carers Mental Health Forum recognises that
governments have a responsibility to ensure the National Disability Insurance Scheme remains sustainable, equitable and capable of supporting future generations.
The Forum supports reforms that improve participant experiences, reduce fraud and exploitation, strengthen provider quality and ensure public resources are used effectively.
However, reforms should be judged not only by whether they reduce expenditure, but by whether they improve outcomes for people with disability.
For people living with psychosocial disability, the proposed legislation raises significant concerns because many of the reforms appear to assume disability is stable, predictable and capable of being measured through standardised assessment processes.
This does not reflect the lived experience of many participants or the evidence supporting recovery-oriented practice.
The Forum is particularly concerned where the proposed reforms may unintentionally create barriers to maintaining recovery, increase the likelihood of crisis or transfer responsibility for support from the NDIS to families, kin and unpaid carers along with overstretched and inadequate mental health services.
Functional Assessment Framework
The proposed legislation establishes the framework for a new approach to assessing functional capacity, reflecting broader reform directions arising from the Independent Review into the National Disability Insurance Scheme (Independent Review into the National Disability Insurance Scheme, 2023).
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The Forum recognises the Government’s objective of creating greater consistency in decision making. However, consistency should not come at the expense of accuracy.
Psychosocial disability presents unique challenges for functional assessment.
Unlike many physical disabilities, functional capacity may fluctuate considerably over relatively short periods.
A person’s ability to participate in daily activities can vary according to:
stress
medication effectiveness
sleep
trauma
housing stability
social supports
physical health
access to treatment
financial security
significant life events.
Assessments conducted during a relatively stable period may significantly underestimate support needs during periods of deterioration.
Similarly, people with psychosocial disability often develop strategies to mask their difficulties during formal interactions as part of their coping mechanism.
Many people become highly skilled at presenting as coping despite experiencing significant internal distress or exhaustion.
This creates a risk that functional assessments may overestimate long-term capacity.
Assessment models relying heavily on observation, standardised testing or single assessment events may fail to accurately capture the complexity of psychosocial disability.
Potential Consequences
If assessment processes do not adequately recognise the fluctuating, episodic and often invisible nature of psychosocial disability, current participants and people seeking access to the NDIS may:
be denied access to the NDIS despite significant and ongoing psychosocial disability
lose access to the NDIS despite ongoing disability
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receive reduced and inadequate levels of support
experience repeated reassessments
disengage from services
deteriorate before assistance becomes available.
These consequences would undermine contemporary recovery-oriented practice, which requires assessment and support processes to recognise fluctuation, prevent deterioration, maintain continuity of support, and respond to the person’s lived experience and functional needs over time.
Changes to Eligibility
The proposed legislation introduces new concepts regarding functional capacity and the relationship between disability and support needs.
These provisions may unintentionally narrow access for people living with psychosocial disability.
This risk applies particularly to people seeking access to the NDIS, including those whose disability is episodic, masked during assessment, or stabilised only because of informal, clinical or community supports.
Many people experience disability that varies considerably over time. Periods of improved functioning do not necessarily indicate permanent improvement. Rather, they often reflect the effectiveness of appropriate supports.
There is concern that future eligibility assessments may focus primarily on current presentation rather than the long-term nature of psychosocial disability.
The Forum also notes that psychosocial disability frequently co-exists with:
intellectual disability
autism
acquired brain injury
chronic physical illness
substance dependence
trauma-related conditions.
Assessment processes should recognise these interactions rather than attempting to isolate individual impairments.
The Forum is concerned that any move away from evidence-based assessment towards a simplified, shortened or standard set of questions for all applicants would be regressive and would be unfair to people living with psychosocial disability.
Standardisation may support consistency, but it must not replace proper consideration of medical, functional, longitudinal, carer and lived experience evidence.
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The Forum is also concerned that the concept of “all appropriate treatment” must not be applied in a way that assumes clinical treatment can remove or substantially resolve psychosocial disability.
Many people may continue to experience significant functional impairment despite appropriate treatment, and access to treatment can itself be affected by cost, geography, workforce availability, trauma, cultural safety and service accessibility. Eligibility should not depend on unrealistic assumptions about treatment availability or treatment outcomes.
Suggested Amendment
The legislation should explicitly recognise that psychosocial disability may fluctuate over time and that eligibility should reflect ongoing disability rather than temporary periods of stability.
Supports Must Continue to Reflect Individual Circumstances
The proposed legislation places greater emphasis on supports arising directly from impairments that satisfy the disability access criteria.
The Forum understands the Government’s intention to improve consistency. However, psychosocial disability rarely affects only one aspect of a person’s life.
Recovery often requires support that addresses multiple interconnected issues including:
daily living
social participation
confidence
relationships
community connection
routine
employment preparation
decision making
emotional regulation.
These supports work together. Attempting to isolate which support relates directly to a particular impairment may create unnecessary complexity while reducing the effectiveness of the actual supports. Recovery must be recognised as being holistic.
The Forum is concerned that narrowing the interpretation of reasonable and necessary supports may result in fragmented plans that fail to recognise the interconnected nature of psychosocial disability.
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Consumer/Participant Perspective
Participants report that their recovery is supported by small interventions delivered consistently over time.
Examples include:
assistance establishing routines
peer support
community participation
support attending appointments
help maintaining tenancies
assistance managing correspondence
support reconnecting with family
transport and practical assistance to access community activities and services
appropriate therapeutic or psychological supports where these build functional
capacity and are not a substitute for clinical treatment
social supports that reduce isolation and build connection.
These supports often prevent more intensive intervention later.
Forum view on planning and support flexibility
Supports that may appear “indirect” are often central to recovery for people with psychosocial disability. These include peer support, psychosocial recovery coaching, assistance to maintain routines, support to attend appointments, help managing correspondence and daily responsibilities, tenancy support, social participation, supported decision making, and assistance reconnecting with family, culture and community.
Earlier submissions have cautioned against gatekeeping approaches that narrowly define supports and have argued for flexible, individualised plans that preserve participant choice and control.
Prior NMHCCF submissions continually raised concerns about gatekeeping, standardised support packages, system complexity, trauma-informed assessment, continuity of planners and support personnel, and the need to protect participant choice and control (NMHCCF, 2022b, 2023a, 2023b).
Changes to Reassessments
The Forum is particularly concerned by proposals that may make participant requested reassessments more difficult.
Recovery is dynamic.
Support needs may increase rapidly following:
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bereavement
relationship breakdown
loss of employment
physical illness
medication changes
trauma
housing instability.
The proposed threshold requiring significant and ongoing change may not adequately recognise these realities.
Waiting until circumstances become severe enough to justify reassessment may increase the likelihood of:
hospital admission
homelessness
crisis intervention
police involvement
family breakdown.
Early adjustment of supports is often the most effective way to prevent these outcomes.
Recommendation
Participants experiencing psychosocial disability should have access to expedited reassessment processes recognising the episodic nature of their disability.
People seeking access should also have access to timely, trauma-informed and psychosocial disability-informed assessment processes that consider longitudinal evidence and do not require crisis escalation before support needs are recognised.
Automatic Plan Renewals
The Forum acknowledges that automatic renewals may reduce administrative burden.
However, there are concerns that automatic renewal may reduce opportunities for meaningful conversations about recovery.
Recovery goals change.
People may:
commence study
seek employment
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move into independent housing
reconnect with children
begin volunteering
require different supports.
Planning should remain a collaborative process rather than simply an administrative exercise.
Automatic renewal should not reduce participant voice.
Support Determinations
The proposed support determination powers could have significant impacts on people living with psychosocial disability.
While recognising the Government’s responsibility to manage public expenditure, there is concern that broad powers to reduce categories of support could disproportionately affect psychosocial disability.
Many psychosocial supports involve:
capacity building
community participation
recovery coaching
peer support
support coordination.
These supports often deliver long-term benefits while reducing reliance on acute services.
Funding reductions affecting these categories may produce savings within the NDIS while increasing expenditure elsewhere across government.
Reforms should consider the whole-of-government impact rather than focusing solely on Scheme expenditure.
Forum position
The Forum is not opposed to reform. However, reform should strengthen recovery, promote early intervention and improve participant outcomes.
The proposed legislation should continue to recognise that people living with psychosocial disability often require flexible, recovery-oriented supports that change over time.
Legislation should support these outcomes rather than inadvertently creating barriers to recovery.
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Forum view on reform risks and safeguards
Additional provisions of concern include the definition of functional capacity, the treatment of support needs as directly arising from eligible impairments, limits on participant-requested reassessments, broad support determination powers, automatic plan renewal processes, and any future Rules made without lived experience co-design.
Recovery differs from a linear model of disability because people may move between stability, relapse, crisis, rebuilding and renewed participation. A temporary improvement in functioning should not be treated as permanent recovery or as evidence that supports are no longer required.
Supports that commonly prevent hospital admission or crisis include psychosocial recovery coaching, peer support, support coordination, tenancy support, assistance with daily routines, crisis planning, help attending treatment, and culturally safe community-based supports.
The greatest impacts are likely to arise from assessment processes that fail to capture fluctuating disability, reduced flexibility in plans, reassessment barriers, and premature movement of participants from the NDIS to Foundational Supports before equivalent services are operating.
Amendments should require psychosocial disability expertise in assessment, consideration of longitudinal evidence, explicit recognition of fluctuating and episodic disability, protection of choice and control, continued access to timely reassessment, independent review rights, and genuine co-design with participants, families, kin, carers and representative organisations.
These concerns are consistent with previous advocacy by others on the NDIS Review, independent assessments, recovery, psychosocial expertise, participant rights, and co-design (NMHCCF, 2022b, 2023a, 2023b, 2024a).
The Broader Impacts of the Proposed Reforms
Introduction
The Australian Consumers & Carers Mental Health Forum is concerned that the proposed legislative reforms cannot be considered in isolation.
For many people living with psychosocial disability, the NDIS forms one part of a broader network of supports that includes mental health services, primary health care, housing, community organisations, employment services, peer support and unpaid family care.
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Changes to the NDIS have consequences that extend well beyond the Scheme itself.
Although the Bill seeks to improve the financial sustainability of the NDIS, insufficient consideration has been given to the wider impacts on Australia’s mental health system, consumers/participants, families, kin and unpaid carers as referenced in; (Independent Review into the National Disability Insurance Scheme, 2023; Productivity Commission, 2020).
Reducing disability supports does not remove disability. Instead, responsibility is often transferred to other parts of the service system, frequently at greater human and economic cost.
Governments should assess the whole-of-system consequences of these reforms rather than measuring success solely through reduced NDIS expenditure.
Foundational Supports Must Exist Before People Leave the NDIS
The Forum recognises the Australian Government’s commitment to developing a national system of Foundational Supports, consistent with the NDIS Review’s recommendation for a broader connected system of disability supports outside the NDIS (Independent Review into the National Disability Insurance Scheme, 2023).
In principle, well-designed Foundational Supports have the potential to strengthen community inclusion and provide earlier assistance for people who do not require individual NDIS funding.
However, significant uncertainty remains regarding:
what services will be available
who will be eligible
when services will commence
how they will be funded
workforce availability
service consistency across jurisdictions
accountability for outcomes.
For people living with psychosocial disability, these questions are particularly important.
Many existing psychosocial support services are already experiencing unmet need, workforce and access pressures, and service availability issues across jurisdictions (National Mental Health Commission, 2024):
workforce shortages
long waiting lists
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limited geographic coverage
short-term funding cycles
inconsistent eligibility criteria
fragmented service delivery.
Current participants may lose access to NDIS supports before equivalent alternatives are available, while people seeking access may be redirected away from the Scheme before Foundational Supports are sufficiently designed, funded or available.
Such an approach would expose participants and families to unnecessary risk.
The Forum’s Position
No current participant should leave the NDIS, and no person seeking access should be redirected away from the NDIS, unless governments can clearly demonstrate that replacement supports are:
fully operational
adequately funded
available in the participant’s community
properly evidence-based
culturally safe
accessible
recovery-oriented
independently evaluated.
Replacement supports should deliver outcomes that are at least equivalent to those previously achieved through the NDIS.
Transition arrangements should include a clear no-disadvantage principle. Existing participants should not be exited, redirected or have supports materially reduced unless an equivalent or better support pathway has been identified, funded and confirmed as available to the participant in practice.
Before any transition occurs, participants should have access to independent advocacy, supported decision making and clear written reasons for decisions in plain language. Transition decisions should also be subject to internal review and external merits review.
Any transition should be preceded by an individual risk assessment considering housing stability, personal safety, carer capacity, cultural safety, clinical and
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community supports, crisis risk, local service availability, transport, workforce constraints and the participant’s own goals and preferences.
The Risk of Cost Shifting
Reforms may reduce NDIS expenditure while increasing costs elsewhere across government, a risk consistent with broader mental health system reform concerns identified by the Productivity Commission (Productivity Commission, 2020).
People living with psychosocial disability require support regardless of which government program provides that support.
Where disability supports are reduced or unavailable, people may instead rely upon:
public mental health services
emergency departments
inpatient psychiatric units
ambulance services
homelessness services
alcohol and other drug services
family violence services
police responses
corrective services
income support systems.
This does not represent a reduction in need.
It represents a transfer of responsibility.
Similarly, where formal supports are reduced, responsibility frequently shifts to:
parents
partners
siblings
children
ageing carers
friends.
This transfer often occurs without additional support or recognition. Shifting greater responsibility to families and carers should be avoided wherever possible. Where carers provide ongoing support, their contribution should be acknowledged, supported and considered as part of any impact assessment.
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The Forum encourages governments to adopt a whole-of-government approach to evaluating reforms, recognising both direct and indirect costs.
The Impact on Families and Carers
Families and carers are central to the lives of many people living with psychosocial disability, and national mental health reform documents recognise the importance of family, carer and supporter roles (National Mental Health Commission, 2024; Productivity Commission, 2020). Many provide support over decades.
This support frequently includes:
emotional support
crisis intervention
advocacy
transport
medication support
financial assistance
assistance with housing
communication with services
coordination of appointments.
Reductions in funded supports may substantially increase these responsibilities.
Many carers already experience:
declining physical health
poorer mental health
reduced workforce participation
financial insecurity
social isolation
burnout.
For ageing parents, concerns about the future care of adult children are particularly significant.
These impacts should not be viewed as unintended consequences.
They are foreseeable outcomes that should be considered before legislative changes proceed.
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The Importance of Peer Support
Peer support has become an increasingly important component of Australia’s mental health system and is widely recognised in lived experience governance and recovery-oriented practice (Hodges et al., 2023; NMHCCF, 2025).
People with lived experience often provide unique support that cannot be replicated through traditional clinical models.
Peer workers assist people to:
build confidence
reconnect with community
navigate services
develop recovery goals
reduce social isolation
maintain hope.
Reforms focusing primarily on clinical or functional assessment models may underestimate the importance of peer-led supports.
Investment in peer support should be regarded as an investment in recovery rather than an optional service.
Human Rights and Recovery
The Forum considers that Australia’s obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities are central to any assessment of the proposed reforms (United Nations, 2006).
From the perspective of people living with psychosocial disability, several rights require particular attention.
These include:
equal recognition before the law
liberty and security of the person
independent living
community inclusion
freedom from discrimination
access to rehabilitation
participation in public life.
Recovery-oriented practice reflects these principles.
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Legislation should strengthen opportunities for people to exercise choice, build independence and participate fully in community life.
Reforms placing greater emphasis on administrative consistency than individual circumstances may inadvertently weaken these rights.
Measuring Success
Governments should adopt broader measures of success than reductions in Scheme expenditure or participant numbers, including outcomes related to wellbeing, participation, housing, employment and service access (Independent Review into the National Disability Insurance Scheme, 2023; Productivity Commission, 2020).
Successful reform should improve the lives of people living with psychosocial disability.
Indicators should include:
improved quality of life
increased community participation
reduced hospital admissions
reduced emergency department presentations
reduced homelessness
improved housing stability
improved employment outcomes
reduced social isolation
improved physical health
reduced reliance on crisis services
consumer satisfaction
carer wellbeing
access to culturally safe services.
These outcomes should be reported publicly.
Transparency and Independent Evaluation
Governments should commit to ongoing independent evaluation of the reforms.
Evaluation should be undertaken by organisations independent of government and include strong lived experience leadership.
Annual public reporting should include:
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participant outcomes
access to supports
waiting times
unmet need
review outcomes
complaints
impacts on carers
outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
outcomes for culturally and linguistically diverse communities
outcomes for rural and remote communities
mental health system impacts.
The Forum also recommends that Parliament receive regular yearly reports regarding implementation of the reforms during the first five years.
Preferred approach
Australia can achieve both sustainability and stronger outcomes.
These objectives are not mutually exclusive.
Future reforms should be based upon:
genuine co-design
evidence
lived experience
recovery-oriented practice
transparency
human rights
independent evaluation.
The Forum supports reforms that:
strengthen participant confidence
improve planning
reduce unnecessary administration
maintain medical, functional and other evidence-based assessment processes
address fraud and exploitation
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improve service quality
support innovation
build the peer workforce
improve outcomes.
However, reforms should not reduce access to supports or weaken participant rights before replacement systems are available.
Conclusion on broader impacts
The proposed legislation may unintentionally increase pressure on Australia’s mental health system while reducing the flexibility and continuity of supports that many people living with psychosocial disability rely upon.
Good disability supports do more than respond to need.
- They prevent deterioration.
- They enable recovery.
- They strengthen families.
- They reduce crisis.
- They support participation. These broader benefits should remain central to any future reform of the NDIS.
Forum view on broader system impacts
The wider system impacts include increased demand on public mental health services, emergency departments, homelessness services, family violence services, justice responses, primary care, income support systems and unpaid carers.
Psychosocial disability can spiral into crisis when appropriate supports are not available early with risks of isolation, housing insecurity, poverty, exploitation, crisis escalation, and impacts on families, carers and society when psychosocial supports are not available (NMHCCF, 2024b).
NDIS supports reduce reliance on hospitals and crisis services by enabling people to maintain routines, housing, relationships, medication and treatment engagement, community participation and early help-seeking before deterioration becomes acute.
Peer supports play a distinctive role in recovery by offering hope, connection, practical navigation, mutual understanding and trusted relationships grounded in lived experience. This aligns with advocacy for a strengthened national peer workforce.
Reduced supports will also impact on carers and families including increased emotional labour, advocacy, transport, financial support, crisis response, coordination of services and reduced employment participation.
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These impacts are particularly significant for ageing carers and families with limited access to culturally safe or local services.
Additional recommendations should require public reporting on unmet need, waiting times, reassessment outcomes, review outcomes, service availability, hospital and emergency presentations, homelessness, justice interactions, participant satisfaction, recovery outcomes and carer wellbeing.
Governments should measure success from the perspective of participants, families, kin and unpaid carers, by asking whether reforms improve dignity, safety, recovery, choice and control, connection to community, housing stability, cultural safety, family wellbeing, and confidence in the NDIS, not only whether expenditure or participant numbers reduce.
Recommendations, Proposed Legislative
Amendments and Conclusion
Introduction
The Australian Consumers & Carers Mental Health Forum believes the National
Disability Insurance Scheme can and should continue to evolve to meet the needs of current and future participants.
The Forum supports reforms that improve consistency, strengthen safeguards, reduce fraud and exploitation, and ensure the long-term sustainability of the Scheme.
However, a number of the proposed legislative changes may have unintended consequences for people living with psychosocial disability and their families.
The recommendations below are intended to strengthen the legislation while preserving the founding principles of the NDIS and supporting Australia’s commitment to recovery-oriented, rights-based mental health policy (National Mental Health Commission, 2024; United Nations, 2006).
These recommendations reflect the Forum’s consideration of issues raised by participants, families, kin, unpaid carers, representative organisations, service providers and individuals across the mental health, psychosocial disability and disability sectors, while highlighting matters that are particularly significant for people living with psychosocial disability, families, kin and unpaid carers.
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Summary Position
The Bill should not proceed in its current form.
The legislation should be amended to:
better recognise psychosocial disability
protect recovery-oriented practice
preserve participant rights
protect people seeking access to the NDIS from inappropriate exclusion, delay or redirection
strengthen co-design
ensure replacement supports are available before participants lose access to the NDIS
legislate transition safeguards for current participants, including a no disadvantage principle, advocacy, review rights and individual risk assessment
improve transparency and accountability
strengthen outcomes reporting
protect families and carers.
Recommendations
Human Rights
Recommendation 1
Amend the legislation to explicitly recognise Australia’s obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities when implementing reforms (United Nations, 2006).
Recommendation 2
Require all future Rules developed under the legislation to include a Human Rights Impact Assessment before being made.
Recommendation 3
Require the Government to demonstrate how future reforms support independent living, participation and recovery for people living with psychosocial disability.
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Recovery-Oriented Practice
Recommendation 4
Include recognition within the legislation that recovery-oriented practice should underpin planning and support for people living with psychosocial disability (National Mental Health Commission, 2024; Productivity Commission, 2020).
Recommendation 5
Ensure the legislation and any Rules or guidance clarify that recovery-oriented practice does not mean cure, absence of disability, reduced functional impairment, or reduced eligibility for NDIS supports, and that periods of stability may reflect the effectiveness of supports rather than the absence of ongoing disability.
Recommendation 6
Recognise that psychosocial disability frequently fluctuates and should not be assessed solely through static or single-point assessments.
Functional Assessments
Recommendation 7
Require any functional assessment process to be independently validated for psychosocial disability before implementation.
Recommendation 8
Require assessors undertaking psychosocial disability assessments to possess appropriate qualifications, experience and training in mental health and recovery oriented practice.
Recommendation 9
Require assessment processes to consider longitudinal evidence, treating practitioners, peer workers, carers and support providers rather than relying solely on a single assessment.
Recommendation 10
Require assessment processes to maintain medical, functional, longitudinal and lived experience evidence, and ensure any shortened, automated or generic assessment tools are independently validated for psychosocial disability before use.
Eligibility
Recommendation 11
Amend the eligibility provisions to explicitly recognise fluctuating and episodic disability.
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Recommendation 12
Ensure periods of recovery supported by appropriate services are not interpreted as evidence that disability no longer exists.
Recommendation 13
Ensure people seeking access to the NDIS are not denied entry on the basis of temporary stability, informal support, masking during assessment, lack of access to appropriate treatment, or assumptions that Foundational Supports are available and that they will provide required supports in community.
Planning and Supports
Recommendation 14
Retain participant-centred planning principles and ensure planning continues to reflect individual goals, aspirations and recovery journeys.
Recommendation 15
Amend the proposed “directly arising” provisions to ensure participants can continue to receive supports addressing the interconnected impacts of psychosocial disability.
Recommendation 16
Protect supports that promote recovery, community participation, capacity building and social connection.
Reassessments
Recommendation 17
Retain participant access to timely reassessments where support needs change due to fluctuating psychosocial disability.
Recommendation 18
Introduce expedited reassessment processes where delay may increase the risk of crisis, hospitalisation or homelessness.
Review Rights
Recommendation 19
Ensure participants and people seeking access to the NDIS retain access to independent review of decisions affecting access, eligibility, plan funding, reassessment, plan renewal, transition and redirection to Foundational Supports.
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Recommendation 20
Automatic plan renewals should remain reviewable where participants believe their circumstances have changed.
Recommendation 21
Fund independent advocacy, supported decision making and communication assistance for participants and people seeking access who are affected by access, eligibility, reassessment, plan renewal, transition or redirection decisions.
Foundational Supports
Recommendation 22
No current participant should lose NDIS supports, and no person seeking access should be redirected away from the NDIS, until equivalent replacement supports are fully operational, accessible, appropriately funded and independently evaluated as supported by the Independent Review into the National Disability Insurance Scheme, 2023.
Recommendation 23
Governments should publish a comprehensive transition plan before any current participants are redirected from the NDIS, or any people seeking access are redirected away from the NDIS, to Foundational Supports.
Recommendation 24
Require an individual transition risk assessment before any current participant is redirected from the NDIS, including consideration of housing, safety, carer capacity, crisis risk, workforce availability, transport and local service access.
Recommendation 25
Ensure Foundational Supports include culturally safe, community-controlled, place based and peer-led psychosocial supports, with specific investment for First Nations peoples, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, and rural and remote communities.
Consumers, Families and Carers
Recommendation 26
Undertake a Consumer and Carer Impact Assessment before implementing the legislation.
Recommendation 27
Recognise the contribution of families and carers and assess the impact of reforms on unpaid caring responsibilities.
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Recommendation 28
Support the collection of carer and family evidence, including diaries or other records of unpaid support, where this assists assessment, reassessment, impact monitoring or evaluation.
Peer Workforce
Recommendation 29
Protect and strengthen investment in peer-led services and recognise peer support as an essential component of recovery-oriented practice (Hodges et al., 2023; NMHCCF, 2025).
Co-design
Recommendation 30
Establish ongoing co-design mechanisms involving consumers, carers, people with psychosocial disability and representative organisations throughout implementation of the reforms.
Transparency and Accountability
Recommendation 31
Require annual public reporting to Parliament on the implementation and impacts of the reforms.
Reporting should include:
participant outcomes
recovery outcomes
access to supports
unmet need
waiting times
appeals and reviews
impacts on carers
hospital admissions
homelessness
justice system involvement
employment outcomes
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community participation
outcomes disaggregated by psychosocial disability, First Nations status, cultural and linguistic background, age, gender, geography, rurality, housing status and carer status
participant satisfaction.
plain-language participant communication and accessibility of decision notices.
Recommendation 32
Strengthen integrity measures by ensuring breaches, fraud and overcharging are properly investigated, funds are recovered where appropriate, and serious matters are prosecuted, without reducing legitimate supports for participants.
Independent Evaluation
Recommendation 33
Commission an independent evaluation of the reforms within two years of implementation and again after five years with full public reporting.
The evaluation should include strong lived experience leadership and public consultation.
Proposed Legislative Amendments
The Committee should give particular consideration to the following issues from the perspective of people living with psychosocial disability, consumers, families and carers.
The Forum seeks amendments that would:
retain participant-centred planning principles currently reflected in section 31 of the NDIS Act
ensure psychosocial disability is appropriately recognised within functional assessment provisions
maintain medical, functional and other evidence-based assessment processes, rather than replacing them with generic or automated question sets
preserve flexibility for participant-requested reassessments
amend the “directly arising” test to better recognise the interconnected nature of psychosocial disability
preserve review rights relating to plan renewals and funding decisions
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amend proposed support determination powers to ensure participants continue to receive funding sufficient to meet reasonable and necessary support needs
require independent evaluation before major implementation stages commence
require governments to demonstrate that Foundational Supports are operational before participants transition from the Scheme
legislate transition safeguards so no current participant is exited, redirected or has supports reduced, and no person seeking access is redirected away from the NDIS, without confirmed equivalent supports, independent advocacy, review rights and individual risk assessment
strengthen co-design requirements for future Rules and subordinate legislation.
ensure integrity measures focus on breaches, fraud and overcharging without reducing legitimate supports for participants
Matters the Forum Encourages the Senate Committee to Examine
The Committee is encouraged to examine the following questions during its inquiry;
Functional Assessment
Can functional assessment accurately measure psychosocial disability using a single assessment process?
How will fluctuating disability be recognised?
How will assessors be trained?
Foundational Supports
What psychosocial supports will exist before current participants leave the NDIS or before people seeking access are redirected away from the Scheme?
When will these services commence?
How will governments ensure consistency across jurisdictions?
What transition safeguards will protect current participants from losing supports, and people seeking access from being redirected away from the NDIS, before equivalent services are demonstrably available?
Recovery
How will the legislation promote recovery rather than crisis intervention?
How will continuity of supports be maintained?
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Outcomes
How will Government measure success?
Will success be measured solely through expenditure and participant numbers?
Or will broader measures include:
wellbeing
recovery
housing stability
employment
community participation
reduced hospital admissions
reduced reliance on emergency services?
Families, Kin and unpaid Carers
What assessment has been undertaken regarding increased unpaid caring responsibilities?
How will governments monitor impacts on families & kin?
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Conclusion
The Australian Consumers & Carers Mental Health Forum recognises that reform of the National Disability Insurance Scheme is both necessary and inevitable.
The Forum supports reform that strengthens the Scheme, improves participant experiences and ensures the NDIS remains sustainable for future generations.
However, sustainability should never be achieved at the expense of the people the Scheme was established to support.
For people living with psychosocial disability, effective disability supports are not simply services. They are the foundation upon which recovery, independence, dignity and participation are built.
When those supports are available, people are more likely to remain connected to their families, communities, education and employment. They are less likely to require crisis intervention, hospital admission or emergency services.
Aspects of the proposed legislation may unintentionally undermine these outcomes if implemented without further refinement, stronger safeguards and meaningful co design.
The Forum urges the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee to
recommend amendments that protect participant rights, recognise the unique characteristics of psychosocial disability and ensure reforms strengthen recovery rather than create additional barriers.
The Forum also urges the Australian Government to continue working in genuine partnership with participants, families, kin, unpaid carers and their representative organisations throughout the development, implementation and evaluation of these reforms.
The Forum further recommends that no current participant be exited, redirected or have supports reduced, and no person seeking access be redirected away from the NDIS, unless legislated transition safeguards, equivalent supports, independent advocacy, review rights and individual risk assessment are in place.
By listening to the voices of people with lived expertise and experience, along with their families, kin, unpaid carers and their representative organisations, Australia can achieve a National Disability Insurance Scheme that is financially sustainable, rights based, recovery-oriented and true to its original purpose.
ACCMHF (The Forum) Submission – NDIS Legislation & Bill 2026 Page 39 of 40
Submission 268 - Supplementary Submission
References
Hodges, E., Leditschke, A., Solonsch, L., Singh, J., & Blazewicz, T. (2023). A toolkit to authentically embed lived experience governance: Centring people, identity and human rights for the benefit of all. National Mental Health
Consumer and Carer Forum and National PHN Mental Health Lived
Experience Engagement Network. Independent Review into the National Disability Insurance Scheme. (2023). Working together to deliver the NDIS: Independent review into the National Disability Insurance Scheme final report. Commonwealth of Australia.
National Mental Health Commission. (2024). National Mental Health and
Suicide Prevention Agreement: Annual National Progress Report 2022–2023: Summary. Productivity Commission. (2020). Mental health (Inquiry Report No. 95). Commonwealth of Australia. Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. (2023). Final report. Commonwealth of Australia. United Nations. (2006). Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Treaty Series, 2515, 3.
National Mental Health Consumer and Carer Forum. (2022a). Psychosocial
disability and the NDIS. National Mental Health Consumer and Carer Forum. (2022b). Submission to the Independent Review of the NDIS.
National Mental Health Consumer and Carer Forum. (2023a). NDIS Review
consultations summary report. National Mental Health Consumer and Carer Forum. (2023b). Submission on the NDIS Quality and Safeguarding Framework.
National Mental Health Consumer and Carer Forum. (2024a). Position
statement on psychosocial disability.
National Mental Health Consumer and Carer Forum. (2024b). Lived
experience leading the way: National Psychosocial Disability Roundtable. National Mental Health Consumer and Carer Forum. (2024c). Submission on Foundational Supports. National Mental Health Consumer and Carer Forum. (2025). The peer workforce: Advocacy brief.
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