National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 2747
To wh~ oncern;
Name:-
1 am a· Famil member / su
are a paii1c1pants on t e NDIS scheme. We were first introduced to NDIS in approximately Januaiy 2020. At that time I had my daughter diagnosed AuDHD and we received funding for OT, speech & psychology. This was a new world too us and we were not sure what her future held. NDIS gave us the resources and guidance to ensure she could strut a journey of fitting into this world. A yeai· later we had a review and were able to receive additional support for community access, this was a life line. My son was diagnosed AuDHD a yeai· later and joined the scheme.
I chose to have my children but noone chooses to give them a life long disability, make no mistake, neurodivergence is a disability no matter how many people tiy to claim they ai·e all a little ND.
My children can’t access basic life needs the way most do, they need suppo1i to remember to drink water, eat and weai· appropriate clothing, those ai·e all things most people don’t even need to think about. I can’t count the number of times my children have had heatsti·oke from dehydration.
All of that before they even step out of their house. To even get out the house they need suppo1i to ensure they can cope with the outside, headphones, senso1y tools, safe foods, clothing that doesn’t upset them.
Then you have society, school, opinions: my children ti11st without thinking of deceit. My children Cross roads without looking because they see a dog that might get hit and don’t think of their own safety first. That isn’t a thing a 12 & lOyo child would nonnally do. They assume eve1yone else will watch for them.
My overall position on this Bill is I do not suppo1i it, I have serious concerns in the ambigious wording and the presentation that this life suppo1i is a business rnnning at a loss rather than a suppo1i for the most vulnerable. The cuts to the scheme will mean my children will likely go without crncial therapies because none of the functional capacity statements ai·e ever read thoroughly as it is. My son is lOyo and functions in most areas as a 5yo, I love my son but I am the only functioning adult in my home and have no external suppo1is so I have no idea how long before bmn out hits. Some days ai·e hard to even get basic needs met.
I ask this Bill be withdrawn to have fuither consultation and a deeper look at sti·eet-level impact to paiticipants.
My key concerns;
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 2747
Administrative burden is huge, you’re supporting vulnerable people and relying on mostly, less educated carers to ask for what we need when we can’t see past the next hour, survival mode.
The times we can rally to get the documents done your own staff admit in live media they don’t have the time to even read it. It assumes all needs fit a cookie mould and yet most don’t even have to have experience as a carer or living with a disability, so how can they really know?
Loss of supports due to businesses taking advantage of the system is unfair to participants who need the help and have no way to argue the cost.
Community participation restrictions will mean as a carer I will burn out, the rare times my daughter managed to use her access she needs support from me to achieve it.
Crisis / “not contactable” rules are worrying as they do not state the method of communication and with all the SPAM/Fraud with email and calls now it is hard to know what is legitimate.
Automated decision-making is so flawed with utilising AI. AI does not understand nuance, it only works within it’s design and with the other proposed changes it seems financial saving is the likely parameters not the best outcome for participants.
My lived / professional experience is that I would be a single parent without these supports. My husband is ADHD and he is unable to support our children without assistance, he struggles to support himself. I can not support him and them if their plans are cut or supports removed and I shouldn’t have to.
What I believe this Bill gets wrong is the inability for the system to see it’s own flaws, staff are not currently expected to have any formal training in disability care but there will now be no review process.
What needs to change or be reviewed is the lack of empathy and support this whole process has been given. The legal right to appeal is constitutional and all information on changes of process to review seems to flag the opposite. No system is perfect but it should not double down on the flaw by taking away the right to review.
In conclusion, I acknowledge that there are areas of NDIS processes and funding that need to change to be sustainable but the current proposals are aimed at financial changes to participant support not ensuring quality support. Participants can not receive the dignity and constitutional equity of non participants if these changes are put through as proposed. I ask the committee to consider my lived experience when reviewing this Bill.