National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026

Submission 2791

deeply concerned about the proposed NDIS legislative changes currently before Parliament.

Concerns regarding functional capacity test:

• Specifically writing about concerns about the functional capacity test especially for those with fluctuating and psychosocial disabilities;
• Assumptions about informal supports being able to fill the gap;
• Intersectionality of various disabilities interacting.

I believe this bill needs further consideration else it is sending to a message to the wider Australian society that people with disability don’t deserve careful consideration for policy relating to them and the fact that many people with a disability already face multiple barriers in education, employment and for wider participation in society.

Political standpoint concern:

Concern from political standpoint about scapegoating of people with a disability: new “dole bludgers”, migrants and asylum seekers in politics and society’s current treatment and beliefs associated with disabled people that we don’t strive to get well or make contribution to society and others who do not want to deal with us in work situation preferably.

As person with disabilities which fluctuates impact at times I am rather concerned how this functional capacity will affect particularly those with psychosocial disabilities as different specialists can have differing opinions there no quantitative tests just lens of criterion interpreted depending clinicians’ weighting certain facts presentation on particular day. Any automation assessing peoples need creating NDIS plans incredibly worrying understanding machine learning/AI any such automation only good data used trained model using statistics black boxes cannot queried regarding activation functions specific datapoints put together Everyone unique so are saying disabled fall into cookie cutter categories concept intersectionality disregarded.

Concerns around informal supports assumption:

• Assumption family/friends pick up shortfall;
• Example parents 70 interstate sibling has baby therefore priority is elsewhere;
• Feel like becoming new ‘dole bludger’, migrant refugee marginalised group blamed throughout history easy target politically.

Also add several years back disheartened by advertising gaming groups, art therapy activities for NDIS someone reduced courseload missed semesters due depression flareups wanted talk academic things outside domain NDIS contacted tutors said currently enrolled program but upcoming assignments exams common response “What’s the Assignment?” Like must assignment because tutoring getting marks don’t think alternatives spring up when ordinary people don’t get why would want discuss academics unless context immediate assessment.

Add experiences working place developing policy safer healthier productive workplaces say people don’t want disabled in backyard they don’t listen anything disabled person says we somewhat stupid attempted disability discrimination giving earlier deadline despite all other employees having one five months later mentioning relative without disability works relevant jurisdiction multiple occasions and email specifying attendance event about Attorney General Department’s Review of Disability Discrimination Act. Disabled not necessarily stupid.

National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026

Submission 2791

In regard to disabled people not necessarily being stupid - for the record; I did get a prestigious Undergraduate Scholarship to one of the Group of Eight Universities when I completed Year 12 (which I lost due to my disability increasing in impact). Unfortunately, in the January I started Year 12; a friend and her younger sister (who I also knew) died in a roadworks highway accident which also with other predisposing factors contributing to my developing of a psychosocial disability.

This disability cannot be treated with the usual medications due to a 1 in 1000 adverse reaction to that class of medications. One also cannot control factors such as genetics or epigenetics which may contribute to risk of developing certain medical conditions which are complex traits as termed in statistical genetics.

I am also concerned about only a primary disability being counted in the NDIS bill. Intersectionality of various parts of one’s identify means that the sum of the parts is greater than the sum of the individual parts. For instance, I believe that I may not have developed a psychosocial disability if I had not had Autism Spectrum Disorder Level 1 as I wouldn’t have been less likely to retreat into myself regarding the triggering event of unexpected grief and would have had stronger interpersonal communication skills as at the time I rarely initiated conversations (in-person or real-time online).

However, this is a really mild trivial example.

Finally, I had viral encephalitis when I was 2 years 4 months old, I also had autistic traits (which did not meet Aspergers Syndrome then but now meet the current criteria of Autism Spectrum Disorder Level 1) and a developmental delay. I was incredibly fortunate that I had university-educated, baby boomer (One of which went to Uni before Gough Whitlam brought in Free Education on Scholarships from the State Government for a particular vocation) parents in their late thirties/early forties who had already paid off their home in the outer suburbs of a capital city; probably developed great saving habits due to their parents living through the great depression.

My mother who didn’t not work until I entered Grade 3 devoted her time to me but that was because the State Education Department brought in a 7 years no questions asked non paid leave (when I was a baby ) so they could employ new Teaching graduates as demographics showed an increased need for teachers in around 7 years time. The State Education Department needed to be able to employ new teachers so they would have future teaching capacity so my mother had job security.

My parents paid for speech therapy, physiotherapy and occupational therapy and other various activities to remedy my low muscle tone, coordination problems such as not being able to walk through a door straight; my brain not recognising signals from the lower part of my body hence delayed toilet training et cetera not even looking to try to get any governmental assistance at that time probably due to the attitudes of their generation. Not everyone is so fortunate to have these situations so I am not sure the Thriving Kids initiative to pull people from the NDIS is the right policy decision for all kids and we are creating a society with “haves and have-nots”.

I didn’t make the decision to apply for NDIS; it was the clinicians from the State Health (I don’t think the State Health would do this to every person that passed through their doors) made it a “fait accompli” and made me sign the forms for them to submit the documentation; my parents did not instigated it and didn’t want to get any government support for me as that is not what my family does.

I ask the Community Affairs Legislation Committee to consider my lived experience (despite coming from a privileged background [though with working class grandparents] due to my parents’ economic situation when growing up) and the points I raised in this letter when reviewing this Bill as well as the implications that the Australian taxpayers will make about disabled people’s role in society.

Kind regards, C W