National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 3034
Submission regarding NDIS Amendment Legislation – Impact on Participants with
Complex Support Needs
I am writing to provide feedback regarding the NDIS Amendment legislation and to highlight concerns about the potential impact on participants with complex disability support needs, their families, and unpaid carers.
While I acknowledge the importance of ensuring the National Disability Insurance Scheme remains sustainable, reform must not result in participants losing access to supports that are essential to their safety, wellbeing, independence, and ability to participate in the community.
The NDIS was established on the principle of individualised support. Decisions about funding should continue to be based on the participant’s functional capacity, disability related needs, risks, goals, and evidence provided by qualified professionals. Broad changes to eligibility, supports, or funding approaches must not override the individual circumstances of people with significant and complex disabilities.
For participants with high support needs, the impact of reducing or limiting funded supports can be significant. Supports are not simply services; they are often the difference between a person living safely in the community and experiencing increased vulnerability, crisis, family breakdown, hospitalisation, or loss of housing stability.
A key concern is that legislative changes may create a pathway where essential supports are reduced through general rules rather than through a genuine assessment of a participant’s circumstances. This creates a risk that participants with complex needs may not receive the level of support required because their needs do not fit within simplified models or assumptions.
Functional Capacity Assessments, allied health reports, specialist recommendations, risk assessments, and evidence from people who know the participant well must remain central to decision-making. Where professional evidence identifies a need for supports, that evidence must be meaningfully considered rather than discounted.
The impact on unpaid carers must also be recognised. Families and carers often provide substantial support because funded supports are insufficient or unavailable. This can result in significant physical, emotional, and financial strain. Carer burnout is not only an individual issue; it can create wider risks including breakdown of informal supports, emergency interventions, increased reliance on health services, and more costly responses from government systems.
In Riley’s situation, the current concerns demonstrate the importance of considering the whole person and their environment. Funding decisions must take into account:
- the level of daily assistance required due to disability-related functional limitations;
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 3034
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the need for safe and consistent support arrangements;
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the role of supports in preventing harm, deterioration, and crisis;
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the impact on family members providing unpaid care;
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the consequences if supports are reduced below what is clinically and functionally required;
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the importance of maintaining participation, routine, independence, and quality of life. A reduction in supports may appear financially beneficial in the short term but can create significant long-term costs through increased risk, loss of independence, crisis services, medical intervention, and pressure on families.
The legislation should strengthen safeguards by ensuring:
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participants retain genuine choice and control;
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funding decisions remain person-centred and evidence-based;
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participants with complex needs are not disadvantaged by standardised approaches;
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carers’ capacity and wellbeing are considered;
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there are clear pathways for review where decisions do not reflect professional evidence;
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participants are supported to live safely and meaningfully within their communities. The NDIS should not measure success only by reducing expenditure. A sustainable Scheme must also measure success by whether people with disability are safe, included, supported, and able to achieve the outcomes the Scheme was created to deliver.
Any legislative reform must uphold the rights of people with disability and ensure that changes do not shift unreasonable responsibility onto families who are already providing significant unpaid care.
Thank you for considering this submission