Submission 2737
Attention: community.affairs.sen@aph.gov.au
Submission on the NDIS Amendment Bill
Name:
I am a: Disabled person Family member / supporter
- Introduction / my connection to this issue My name is . I am a single parent of two disabled teenagers, both diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Level 2, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) (combined subtype), and anxiety. My son also lives with Specific Learning Disorder with impairment in reading and maths (also known as Dyslexia and Dysgraphia). I personally live with Bipolar Affective Disorder Type 2 and ADHD.
We are all NDIS participants.
I am making this submission as I am deeply concerned about the proposed cuts. As a person accepted to the NDIS with a psychosocial disability and a parent to two Autistic children, my family is just the sort of family that will be affected by these cuts. Should I lose supports, I will not be able to work, and my children will regress. Their plans are already inadequate, having been rolled over and left un-reviewed since
- We make do with the supports we have because we are incredibly grateful.
- My overall position on this Bill I do not support this Bill. I have serious concerns about this Bill.
I have serious concerns firstly about the language surrounding Autism: there IS no ‘mild’ or ‘moderate’ Autism – it is merely how others perceive the Autistic person to be coping in society. Behind closed doors there are always difficulties to some degree. In our household, these are severe difficulties rarely acknowledged by those outside our house.
Secondly, I am deeply concerned that there are people who desperately need support who will have these supports withdrawn. I have no doubt this will lead to injury and possibly death. I do not exaggerate. For psychosocial disabilities and for Autism, there are simply no ‘other supports’ to access. The NDIS is it. I know this is the case for many, many other disabilities. There is nowhere else to turn for support.
Thirdly, I have serious concerns about the proposals to automate systems and the possible use of Artificial Intelligence to generate plans. Disabilities are unique to each individual and this will not allow for nuance within a plan. For instance, if a
Submission 2737
person’s primary disability is physical; however, they also have intellectual disabilities, the plan would be unlikely be able to cater to their intellectual disability needs – and NDIA planners would be unable to change this. This goes against the original, intended purpose of the NDIS.
This is not an exhaustive list of my concerns.
- My key concerns Community participation
Proposed cuts to community participation are deeply concerning. How is a person with a disability to access the community without support? This will lead to isolation, segregation and mental health issues which will burden the public health system – all unnecessarily. I have lived experience in this. Before my support worker, I was unable to access the community for anything other than the bare minimum. I would race out to do groceries or visit health professionals, spending the rest of my time locked in my house. I was depressed and suicidal.
Eligibility / assessment changes
Changes to assessments are deeply concerning, given the lack of consultation, lack of testing, and the lack of choice and control that will result. When it comes to choice and control, disabled people deserve to choose who accesses their homes, who helps them dress, who helps them with intimate life details. I personally have had support workers who I did not get along with – who treated me as less than them, and from whom I disengaged. This would be a waste of money and time. This change would effectively cost money.
Automated decision-making
Automated decision-making is dangerous and has the potential to be incredibly damaging to countless disabled people. How can an algorithm distinguish the nuances of multiple disabilities? My nephew has a condition that isn’t even recognised – he is one of only 3 people in Australia with the condition and it requires him to have a wheelchair intermittently, wear specialised compression garments, undertake occupational therapy and has resulted in needing psychology due to hospital stays approximately every 6 weeks since he was a toddler. How will an algorithm cope with his, rare, dynamic disability, let alone disabilities that are recognised by the algorithm, yet don’t ‘fit the system’?
Foundational supports / system changes
Foundational supports simply don’t exist – they closed or were absorbed into the NDIS. How can we, as disabled people, access supports that don’t exist? There are no real plans or details on how these ‘foundational support’ are to suddenly appear. Without our existing supports, my children will regress, become unable to attend school, lose the ability to socialise, and their futures will become non-existent.
Submission 2737
- My lived / professional experience Thanks to the supports I – and my children – receive through the NDIS, I am now capable of running an effective household, I am nearing the completion of my university degree, and I will be looking for work in the coming months, after nearly 14 years out of the workforce due to my disability and due to the support my children needed and weren’t getting. Now my chiildren are supported, I am able to work on myself and be stable – finally able to rejoin the workforce. If these supports are withdrawn, my ability to work will disappear and I will be reliant on income support payments for the foreseeable future.
To be clear: I personally receive 3 hours a week of support work and 1 hour of psychology each fortnight. That’s all. That small level of support means the world to me and enables me to function in society. It has enabled me to be able to graduate my Bachelor of Public Health this coming October, a degree I have studied for part time, for over 6 years.
As for my children, with support one is currently only 2-3 years behind her peers, while the other is about 5 years behind. They have no intellectual disabilities – their disabilities are all to do with ASD and ADHD. Without support they will regress. This isn’t speculation: this is what happens to Autistic children when their supports are withdrawn, and all responsibility is placed solely on one parent (their other parent is present only 2 days per fortnight).
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What I believe this Bill gets wrong This Bill targets the wrong areas of expenditure. It punishes participants for the growth of the scheme, when the participants are not ‘rorting the system’.
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What needs to change or be protected The fact that the NDIA spent early $61 million in external law firms to attend the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and Administrative Review Tribunal in 2025 is a disgrace, when the majority of these cases were either lost or settled before the final hearing.
Choice and control for participants must be protected! This bill removes choice and control. How can people thrive when their access to community is removed? Disabled people are people too.
- Final statement Please consider the real cost of the Bill. Real people. I firmly believe the proposed changes will result in deaths and increased costs to Medicare and other areas of the Government.
I ask the committee to please consider my lived experience when reviewing this Bill. I ask the Government to withdraw this Bill.
Submission 2737