National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 2906
Submission on the NDIS Amendment Bill
I am a Support Worker and I have serious concerns about this Bill
and do not support it.
My main concern about this Bill is that the increased compliance and
‘non contactable’ participant engagement rules will shift the burden of
care on to unpaid carers, front-line emergency workers, and the wider
community.
This Bill may affect the people I support because:
They are people with sever and chronic intellectual disabilities
such as schizophrenia.
These people rely on social housing and NDIS support to help
them with the basic day-to-day living that most people take for
granted.
They often go through periods where they are delusional and may
end up in hospital where they are difficult to contact and
communicate with.
This is exacerbated by the complexity of support services required
for people with intellectual disabilities like Schizophrenia which
leads to poor communication between support workers and
organisations like hospitals which provide important care.
One example from my experience is a client I supported who ended
up in hospital for 4 weeks. Most of this time, he was not fully aware of
where he was or why he was in hospital. Hospital staff commonly failed
to reach out to the correct member of this support team to communicate
progress and plans for discharge. The amount of services required for
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 2906
people like this means there multiple points where compliance and
contact can fail.
What I want the committee to understand is NDIS support for people
like the client I described benefits everyone. If someone who needs a
high level of support loses access to the NDIS because they are non
contactable due to personal circumstances, then the outcome would be
they are unable to participate somewhat normally in their community. If
there is no one who can provide unpaid care, it’s very likely that they
could end up homeless. If they go into psychosis they could become
aggressive to people on the street. This makes it less pleasant for
members of the community who are going about their lives. It also
means that front line workers like paramedics and police may have to
subdue these people to take them to hospital.
NDIS support means that these people like the client I described above
can get help managing their intellectual disability. This improves their
lives and the lives of people in Australian communities. It also means
their health issues are addressed when it’s easiest to make
improvements rather than at the point when it is affecting other people in
the community and the person with the intellectual disability is at their
lowest point.
I ask the committee to consider my lived experience when reviewing this