Submission 278
Submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs
Inquiry into the NDIS Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
I am an autistic adult, an NDIS participant, and a disabled solo parent caring for multiple neurodivergent children with complex behavioural, developmental and mental health needs.
I am writing this submission because this Bill does not reflect the reality disabled families are already living.
It assumes families have capacity we do not have.
It assumes “alternative supports” exist in meaningful ways when many of us are already trapped inside fragmented, overwhelmed systems.
It assumes parents can continue absorbing escalating levels of unsupported care indefinitely.
And it assumes disability can be administratively managed through tighter definitions, reduced funding flexibility and automated systems without catastrophic human consequences.
I need the Committee to understand clearly that families like mine are already beyond capacity.
I am not writing this from a position of mild concern.
I am writing this from inside prolonged family crisis.
I live every day inside the reality this Bill appears prepared to formalise.
The Reality Of My Household
My household involves multiple neurodivergent children with significant emotional, behavioural and mental health needs.
One of my children has diagnoses of Autism Spectrum Disorder Level 2 with a PDA/Pervasive Drive for Autonomy profile and ADHD Combined Presentation.
The behavioural presentation involves:
Severe nervous system dysregulation,
Violent meltdowns,
Physical aggression,
Absconding and road-running,
Destruction of property,
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Attacks on caregivers and siblings during escalation,
School refusal,
Severe sensory dysregulation,
Inability to process verbal instruction once escalated,
And periods of complete behavioural collapse.
These are not isolated incidents.
I have extensive evidence documenting:
Support worker incident reports,
Restrictive practice notifications,
Behavioural support plans,
Functional Capacity Assessments,
Occupational therapy reports,
CAMHS documentation,
School suspensions,
Educational behaviour records,
Emergency department attendance,
Injury photographs,
And multidisciplinary correspondence.
The evidence demonstrates escalating behavioural complexity and escalating family-system collapse.
There are documented incidents involving:
Adults physically preventing a child from running into active traffic,
Threats with knives towards others and self,
Violent meltdowns in community settings,
Destruction of property,
Attacks on siblings,
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Attacks on support workers,
Repeated caregiver injury,
Severe school-related emotional collapse,
Classroom evacuations,
Prolonged panic and shutdown around school attendance,
Severe emotional distress across the household,
And a thumb fracture sustained during a behavioural escalation severe enough to require emergency department treatment.
This is what “informal supports” currently means in practice.
It means one disabled parent physically and emotionally attempting to contain escalating disability related crises with inadequate support while trying to stop the entire household from collapsing.
I Am Also Disabled
I am not a healthy parent with endless physical and emotional reserves.
My diagnosies include but are not limited to:
Autism,
ADHD,
Fibromyalgia,
Rheumatoid arthritis,
Osteoarthritis,
Degenerative spinal disease,
Hypermobility/connective tissue concerns,
Chronic pain,
Chronic fatigue,
And mental health conditions.
Submission 278
Despite this, I remain the sole primary caregiver attempting to manage:
Behavioural crises,
School breakdown,
Emotional regulation,
Sibling trauma,
Sibling behaviours,
Appointments,
Transport,
Support coordination,
Advocacy,
Absconding prevention,
And constant supervision requirements.
I have sustained repeated injuries while attempting to maintain safety.
I have documented:
Bite injuries,
Bruising,
Swelling,
Jaw and facial injuries,
Puncture wounds,
And repeated physical assaults during severe dysregulation episodes, including being struck with my walking cane on my head, smashed in my jaw with closed fists, being kicked in my knee so hard it dislocated (I have this documented by a medical professional), being chased with kitchen knives and my life threatened, having coffee mugs ditched at my head so hard they smash, and having my feet stomped on so intensely my toenails were badly broken and I now have deformity in them that is permanent and painful. (FYI, this is almost daily)
The evidence does not show a parent unwilling to engage.
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It shows a disabled parent already functioning in chronic crisis while systems repeatedly underestimate the level of support required.
The Impact On Siblings
The impact on the other children in this household has been devastating.
There is documented evidence of:
Siblings hiding during meltdowns,
Siblings being physically assaulted,
Chronic hypervigilance,
Emotional deterioration,
Trauma exposure,
Severe mental health decline,
CAMHS involvement,
Inpatient psychiatric involvement,
Suicidality,
Regular self-harm,
Educational difficulties,
And prolonged exposure to violent dysregulation and crisis.
One child expressed not wanting to exist during a severe escalation.
This is the human reality behind disability systems failing to adequately support families.
When supports are insufficient, the damage does not stop with the disabled participant.
Entire family systems deteriorate.
Siblings become traumatised.
Parents collapse.
Children stop attending school.
Hospitals become involved.
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Mental health deteriorates.
And eventually child protection systems become involved because families are left carrying impossible levels of unsupported disability care.
Section 34(1G)-(1J) – Parental Presumption
These provisions are among the most dangerous parts of this Bill.
They appear to legally reinforce the idea that parents of disabled children should simply continue absorbing extraordinary levels of unsupported care.
That assumption is already destroying families.
The care required in households like mine is not ordinary parenting.
This is not simply helping with homework or attending sports practice.
This is:
Physically preventing road-running,
Managing violent meltdowns,
Implementing behavioural safety plans,
Protecting siblings,
Maintaining environmental safety,
Preventing absconding,
Managing school collapse,
Emotionally co-regulating severe nervous system overload,
And functioning as an unpaid crisis-management system 24 hours a day.
The evidence I have gathered demonstrates that the burden already exceeds what one disabled parent can safely sustain.
Professional correspondence repeatedly acknowledges this.
This Bill appears prepared to formalise assumptions that are already causing serious harm.
The Committee needs to understand that unsupported family burden does not save money.
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It shifts the cost elsewhere.
Into:
Emergency departments,
Psychiatric wards,
CAMHS,
Schools,
Child protection systems,
And long-term intergenerational trauma.
Section 25B(4) – “Alternative Supports”
This section demonstrates a profound disconnect between policy assumptions and lived reality.
Families like mine are already linked with:
NDIS,
Occupational Therapy,
Positive Behaviour Support,
Speech Pathology,
Support coordination,
CAMHS,
Schools,
Community supports,
And medical systems.
Despite this, the support gaps remain enormous.
We have experienced:
Providers without appropriate high intensity behavioural training,
Staff escalating autistic distress through poor intervention,
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Lack of understanding of PDA-style presentations,
Fragmented systems,
Long wait lists,
Inadequate crisis support,
Inconsistent provider skill,
And repeated failures in practical family stabilisation.
The idea that people can simply be redirected toward “alternative supports” is detached from reality.
Many of those supports either:
Do not exist,
Are inaccessible,
Are overwhelmed,
Are financially impossible,
Or are not appropriately trained for high-complexity neurodevelopmental presentations.
A support existing theoretically somewhere in a policy document does not mean it meaningfully exists for a family in crisis.
Section 34A – Funding Below Actual Need
This section is another example of policy language ignoring real-world disability complexity.
The idea that support funding can be reduced because a “cheaper alternative” exists is dangerous.
Cheaper does not mean safe.
Cheaper does not mean effective.
Cheaper does not stop a child running into traffic.
Cheaper does not prevent caregiver collapse.
Cheaper does not stop siblings becoming traumatised.
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Families like mine are already trying to survive within systems that consistently underestimate complexity.
Reducing supports further will not reduce disability.
It will simply increase:
Hospital admissions,
Psychiatric crises,
Educational breakdown,
Homelessness,
Caregiver burnout,
And safeguarding intervention.
The long-term societal cost of under-supporting high-needs families is far greater than the cost of properly supporting them.
Section 59B(4) – Automated Decision-Making
Automated decision-making should never be determining outcomes for families like mine.
No automated system can meaningfully understand:
Autistic masking followed by explosive collapse,
PDA-related nervous system dysregulation,
Caregiver burnout,
School-related trauma,
Sibling trauma exposure,
Chronic hypervigilance,
Or the complexity of trying to physically manage violent behavioural crises while disabled yourself and are without co parents, family, friends or any informal supports to ask for help.
These are deeply human and clinically nuanced situations.
Algorithms focused on cost efficiency cannot appropriately assess:
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Risk,
Trauma,
Sensory dysregulation,
Emotional collapse,
Family functioning,
Or the true consequences of support reduction.
Disabled families already spend enormous energy trying to “prove” the severity of our circumstances.
The idea that automated systems may be empowered to make discretionary decisions about supports is profoundly alarming.
What The Evidence Actually Shows
The evidence I have gathered over years demonstrates:
Escalating behavioural complexity,
Repeated physical injuries,
Educational breakdown,
Caregiver collapse risk,
Severe sibling impact,
Emergency-level incidents,
And chronic unmet support needs.
And importantly:
This is happening despite significant effort from me to seek help.
The evidence repeatedly demonstrates:
Active engagement with services,
Implementation of behavioural strategies,
Co-regulation approaches,
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Sensory accommodations,
Extensive documentation,
And continual help-seeking.
This is not a family refusing support.
This is a family drowning despite repeatedly asking for support – for over 2 decades.
What This Bill Risks Creating
This Bill risks creating more families like mine.
Families who:
Are already functioning beyond capacity,
Cannot access adequate supports,
Are carrying unsafe levels of unpaid care,
And are slowly collapsing under the weight of unsupported disability complexity.
If this Bill proceeds in its current form, the consequences will not simply appear in NDIS budgets.
They will appear in:
Emergency departments,
Psychiatric admissions,
School disengagement,
Family violence responses,
Child protection systems,
Homelessness,
Caregiver burnout,
And traumatised children.
The current disability support system is not failing because disabled people and families are asking for too much.
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It is failing because the complexity and intensity of disability-related support needs are still being fundamentally underestimated.
What I Am Asking The Committee To Do
I ask the Committee to:
Reject the Bill in its current form;
Remove the parental presumption provisions;
Prohibit automated discretionary decision-making;
Ensure alternative supports must be genuinely accessible before being relied upon;
Prevent support reductions based on theoretical cheaper alternatives;
Strengthen protections for existing participants;
And directly consult high-needs disabled families before implementing reforms that will profoundly affect our lives.
I also ask the Committee to recognise that many families are already in survival mode.
This Bill risks formalising assumptions that are already causing severe harm.
The evidence attached to my circumstances demonstrates exactly what happens when families are expected to absorb unsupported disability complexity indefinitely.
The consequences are not abstract.
They are:
Injuries,
Trauma,
Psychiatric deterioration,
School collapse,
Caregiver burnout,
Family-system crisis,
And potential suicide.
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Every submission to this inquiry represents a real family.
This is mine.