National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 2879
To Members of Parliament and those processing submissions to the NDIS Inquiry,
I am writing as a concerned citizen who calls many NDIS participants as close friends and family. Hearing their concerns about the proposed budget cuts and changes to law has worried me greatly. I watch year after year the mental and physical toll it takes on those relying on the NDIS as they go through the immense process of filing all the paperwork to prove they deserve another year of support and hope they are not denied without explanation.
I watch as words such as ‘permanence’ are given vague definitions by detached political figures and are then decided upon quite arbitrarily by the system to cut people off from life-saving support. Disability covers a range of conditions which fluctuate and change over an individuals lifetime. Individuals have the right to expect ongoing support from the government despite their needs changing or improving over time. Attempting to rush through a bill without giving people a definition of a word that will have grave consequence for the quality of their lives is the act of a government that is detached from the people it claims to represent.
Another troubling aspect of the bill is the need for individuals to explore all ‘available’ treatment options before being accepted onto the program. Without a definition of available being presented this may well be stretched to include treatments that are inaccessible to struggling citizens whether financially, geographically, or without carer help to get them to the service.
It is disappointing to watch the lives of disabled people be continually demonised by a government who claims to support and represent them, and I urge the parliament to do better.