National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 2901
I am a wheelchair user with CP in my 50s. I would like to keep my submission anonymous as I no trust the government to treat me fairly when I speak publicly about my experiences.
Like many disabled people, I am a survivor of severe abuse and neglect at the hands of my own family. I do not have any informal supports that I can turn to if my funding is cut. NDIS funding has had a hugely beneficial effect on my life, the pain and fatigue my disabilities cause has been reduced, I feel safer being able to hire support workers of my choice, and I have been able to participate in community life in a way that I have never been able to until now. I have started seeing a physiotherapist for the first time in years, and this is further maintaining my physical capacity and ability to stay as active as possible.
I STRONGLY DISAGREE with the proposed changes to the NDIS Bill and have particular concerns re the control and power that the Minister will have. We will be submitted to the vagaries of the Minister of the day, their understanding or lack of understanding of disability and the NDIS, with no oversight from the government and the community, with no right of appeal or review for the participants.
While we live in a world where the Minister for Disabililty’s own electorate office in Port Adelaide is inaccessible to wheelchair users through the front entrance, the cuts to social and community participation budgets are a false economy and an attack on the humanity of the disabled community.
I am exhausted and deeply distressed about the future and hope that this government takes the concerns of the disability community seriously and rethinks this bill.
When we campaigned for the NDIS over a decade ago, I carried a sign that said `Disability is not a tragedy, lack of support is the tragedy’. I still believe this and hope enough members of this government agree.