Submitted to: Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee.
Submitted by:
RE:National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment
(Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Dear Committee Members,
I am writing to you to provide feedback on the legislation proposed in the above Bill.
Who am I?
, a mother to 2 children who have needed extra support since the age of 18months. My son “L” who is 10 has diagnoses of adhd combined, Autism Level 1, Anxiety and ODD. “L” now goes to a small special school where they have 1 teacher and 1-2 SLSO in the classroom of 6 kids where he needs support throughout the day and needs 1:1 support from myself at home to help regulate and work through other goals he has and this can be challenging.
My daughter “R” who is 8 has ADHD Combined,Autism Level 1, Mild
Intellectual Disability, Mild Global Development Delay and Severe speech
delay. “R” goes to a special school because her last 2 schools could not support her 1:1.
Why am I writing this submission?
My son “L” who is 10 has diagnoses of adhd combined, Autism Level 1, Anxiety and ODD. “L” now goes to a small special school where they have 1 teacher and 1-2 SLSO in the classroom of 6 kids where he needs support throughout the day and needs 1:1 support from myself at home to help regulate and work through other goals he has and this can be challenging.
My daughter “R” who is 8 has ADHD Combined,Autism Level 1, Mild
Intellectual Disability, Mild Global Development Delay and Severe speech
delay. “R” goes to a special school because her last 2 schools could not support her 1:1.
I am worried that their funding will be cut and they will struggle even more without proper access to therapy such as Occupational Therapist, Speech Therapist and Behaviour Therapist. The only reason they have improved over the years is from weekly/fortnightly therapy sessions and a lot of hard work from myself, “L” and “R” and therapists. If they lose funding they will struggle in all aspects of life and all the progress that we have made will be harder to get back.
What am I concerned about?
I hold significant concerns about the changes proposed to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), in particular:
1: Removal of participants from the NDIS when there are no supports or structures in place to provide necessary interventions.
I believe that access to the early intervention provided by the NDIS in “L” and “R”early years has contributed to their current ability to engage with the world, and that without it, their disabilities would be significantly worse.
We cannot, in all good conscience, allow disabled children and adults to be removed from the NDIS without a transition plan in place to enable them to access the disability supports they need.
2: Insufficient time to consult with the disability community.
I am very concerned that the short amount of time available for the disability community to provide submissions is both ableist and obstructive.
Creating a consultation period wherein the very people it impacts the most are unable to participate fully is cruel and discriminatory at its best and un Australian and a violation of disability rights at its worst.
- Ineffective consultation with the disability community, their providers and their existing supports.
I believe that the NDIS requires reform and change in order tobe sustainable and effective, and I support reform and change taking place. However, I believe that it needs to be done with meaningful engagement and consultation with those involved with the NDIS, from the ground level up.
It is impossible to create meaningful change and reform if those being consulted have only experienced disability in itsconceptual state and not through lived experience.
- Proposed removal of 50% of Community Access Supports. Community Access Supports are not an optional support for many disabled people.
Every person with a disability is different, and making wide, sweeping changes puts severely disabled children and adults’lives at risk, even more so than they already are.
What Is Needed? The existing NDIS needs to change, there is no doubt about that, but cutting funding from children who truly need it is absolutely ridiculous. Imagine if your child needed extra help, would you decide to cut funding? I would think a parent would want to do anything to make sure their child has the same opportunities and support that they deserve.
I would propose the following:
- An accessible consultation period wherein meaningful consultation is undertaken with the disability community, providers,
advocacy organisations, and people with lived experience caring for severely disabled children and adults.
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An established transition plan for NDIS participants who are to be removed from the scheme and transferred to alternative supports, ensuring that these supports are both present and have the capacity to deliver the therapy required.
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Independent assessment of NDIS participants needs with the capacity to both roll-over plans and/or seek reassessment without incurring unnecessary reporting and assessment costs on annual plans where the participant’s disabilities are considered stable by their therapeutic team; but also allowing for review when participants with dynamic disabilities require same.
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Remove cancellation fees when services cannot be provided due to medical or disability-related issues. Disabled people are significantly more likely to become unwell and to require hospitalisation (Australian Institute of Health and Wellness) which means that they are unfairly represented in cancellations of services and providers are essentially charging their target demographic fees for traits inherent to the demographic of clients they choose to service.
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Establish a section of the NDIS to explicitly address and support NDIS participants who are complex and severely disabled, with staff who are experienced in this level of severity and are able to support dynamic, permanent disabilities so that appropriate and effective supports can be directed where they are needed, in a timely manner, preventing participant crisis’ and facilitating inter-agency communication.
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Recognition that not all NDIS participants under the age of 18 can remain living at home and may require inter-agency co operation to support them to live safely with their disability and establishment of a clear, identifiable path for parents who need to engage in this process, with the goal of minimising trauma and
maximising retaining the existing family relationships to the best outcome for the child.
- For the above process to be possible without having to relinquish the accommodation or medical aspects of parental responsibility. It is a cruel and outdated practice to force parents who can’t meet their severely disabled child’s needs in the home to relinquish aspects of parental responsibility in order to access residential support for their child.
Conclusion
I urge the committee to hear the voices of the disabled community and those who care for them.
I ask the Committee not to allow these changes to progress as they are.
The Australia I know and love can do so much better than this.