National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 2847
I am an NDIS participant, and have been since 2020. I am autistic, and have numerous co-occurring conditions that greatly impact my functioning, and my ability to participate in many aspects of life.
NDIS supports have allowed me to start living independently, which has greatly improved my mental and physical wellbeing, and given me space to grow as a person.
I do agree that there is scope for improvement within the NDIS, and acknowledge the importance of ensuring it is sustainable long term. But the current bill brings in changes that reduce the number of people being granted access, and I believe also reduces the support given to people who do get access.
I believe that there are places elsewhere in the budget that should be looked to, for money saving purposes, before the NDIS. However, if money does need to be saved from within the NDIS, I strongly believe that there are avenues to saving that would actually benefit participants more (rather than less, as in this bill) than the current systems.
For that to happen though, time would need to be taken to consult disabled people and their families more. There is so much knowledge and experience within the disability community that is not being utilized, or respected, with this current bill.
I would love to go into details here about changes that could be made to decrease spending while increasing quality of life for NDIS participants. I have detailed thoughts that I have been holding onto over the past 6 years, wishing I had an avenue to share them for the betterment of the systems I rely upon. But there isn’t time for that now. And that’s exactly the point. We have not been given time.
Many of the people who will be removed from the NDIS are autistic people. So many of us spent years or decades struggling, undiagnosed, barely hanging on by a thread. After receiving diagnoses, there is a mountain to climb to access supports. The first few years of receiving supports is often spend just figuring out how to navigate the systems, catch our breath, and heal from the trauma caused from so long without supports.
That’s where I’m at. I’ve just recently found solid footing. I have learned to access supports, advocate for myself in medical appointments and social situations, gained a level of independence that had been out of reach for so long. I desperately hope that what’s next for me will be putting all of that towards something more than survival. I want to go to university, I want to find a vocation in which I can use my skills and talents, and I want to gain more independence.
But none of that will be possible if I, along with many others, am forced off the NDIS and into the uncertainty and insecurity of trying to navigate other support systems that might not even exist yet.
The current bill is not one of sustainability. It will lower functioning in thousands of individuals, putting more pressure on medical and mental health services, as we get pushed back into survival mode.
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 2847
The NDIS transforms, and saves, so many lives. And if the government really does care about long term sustainability, more time should be put into coming up with a plan that will ensure such an outcome.