Submission 2798
Hi.
My name is . I am 36 years old. I have been involved, as a patient, with the mental health system since I was fourteen years old and have been diagnosed with cPTSD, major depressive disorder, autism, ADHD and Pre-menstrual dysphoria disorder. I am currently an NDIS participant.
I also work in the disability industry part time. I have read through the bill and – perhaps this is pertinent – it is very difficult to understand as is the rest of the NDIS. However, I am tired of feeling I have no voice in this matter so I have tried my best to understand and speak on what I think I have some understanding of.
9B Definition of functional capacity
(1) A person’s functional capacity , in relation to an activity, is the person’s ability to undertake the activity:
(a) without assistance from other people, assistive technology or modifications; and
(b) in a context that excludes, as far as possible, the impact of the person’s environmental and personal circumstances.
As I understand this the definition of functional capacity will be determined in a completely artificial environment that the individual may not exist in. I do not understand this definition at all. This seems like conducting a driving test with no other cars on the road and assuming if that if a driver can drive like this – they are competent and licensed to drive on the road with other cars. This is completely unrealistic and unnuanced. Functional capacity absolutely fluctuates depending on various factors including environment and it is negligence to simply ignore this. Does the NDIS and everyone associated within and outside of it understand that the functional capacity – in this definition – is only a determinant of what a person may be able to do in an ideal, non-existent world? That to get a true assessment and understand what effective supports would be that what’s needed to be taken into consideration, as per the World Health Organisations disability model; the body, the person as a whole and the person in social contexts. Eliminating taking into account environments the individual will find themselves in is essentially telling disabled people they shouldn’t expect to exist in any environment that provides challenges to their functioning?
Similarly, this seems to eliminate the potential for growth and learning. How can a potential be recognised if functional capacity is not assessed over a variety of circumstances – including with accommodations and supports? This idea appears to stifle the potential for a disabled persons capacity with support, reinforcing the old school concept that disabled
Submission 2798
people aren’t capable of learning which, in 2026, we should be well past recognising is a complete myth.
If functional capacity assessments are to be a major factor in determining the supports and eligibility of an individual for the NDIS then this change appears to be heading in the wrong direction – to both overestimate what people can do and leave them without support or to underestimate what people can do and restrict their potential.
34A Determination reducing funding for groups of supports
(1) For the purposes of ensuring the financial sustainability of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, the Minister may, by legislative instrument, determine:
(a) a percentage (lower than 100%) that is the percentage by which a funding component amount for a specified group of supports is reduced while the determination is in force…
This is targeted discrimination and this is terrifying to see the government participate in. With the media messaging around the NDIS and in particular, autism, combined with the messaging from the government itself including with this section of the bill, it’s a frightening and depressing time to be an autistic person in Australia. It is doing the opposite of what any disability service should be doing and grouping us together, like the ‘good old days’, rather than look at people as individuals. When Australia looked at disabilities through one lens, as it has historically, it was disastrous for disabled children and adults (recommended reading; Failed Ambitions: Kew Cottages and Changing Ideas of Intellectual Disabilities). Please stop making autism the scape goat for the “blow out” of the NDIS.
Do you know that autistic people – without intellectual disabilities – are 5-9 times more likely than non-autistic people to attempt suicide?
(https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11042491/
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40474-024-00308-9)
If you do know this, why are you talking and letting others, talk about us the way they are? Politicians, the media have encouraged the public to turn on disabled people and autistic people (particularly those of us without intellectual disabilities) are bearing the brunt of it.
Terms like “for real disabled people”, “for those who actually need it”, “I know they work so why do they need a support worker…”, “why do they [in general, disabled people] need to live on their own? Put them in a home with ten others and have one support worker” and even “bring back institutions” are commonly heard in discussions around the NDIS.
Submission 2798
This section reinforces to everyone that certain groups, let’s be real, autism, are a “problem” to be erased. This seems to be the government backing up what parts of society are already doing – segregating certain disabled people; autistic people or anyone else deemed “high functioning” whilst simultaneously devaluing the categories that seem open to being cut (from what I have already heard being cut) including community access. To be advocating for the power to put a blanket cut of supports that allow disabled people to leave the house and to have social interactions is nothing but cruelty.
I have much more to say but unfortunately with the short time frame provided, I have not had enough good days to continue this statement. Please listen to disabled voices. We have a lot to say and are rarely given the opportunity to be heard. Please acknowledge that the current changes and discussions around the NDIS are extremely frightening. There seems to be very little hope or positivity being offered to disabled people – everything is a fight, a fight to live, a fight to receive support, a fight to try and correct misinformation.
The very sad fact is that at the moment disabled people, who are often riddled with guilt about being a burden on our families and friends, are now having these internal thoughts confirmed by the media, politicians and the general public.
Thank you for reading this submission.