Submission to the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee
Inquiry into the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for
Future Generations) Bill 2026
3 July 2026
To the Committee,
My name is .
I am writing this submission as both:
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an NDIS participant with Autism Spectrum Disorder Level 2 (and ADHD, and OCD) and
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an Accredited Exercise Physiologist who works with NDIS participants across Western Australia.
This dual perspective allows me to understand both the participant experience and the practical realities of delivering disability supports.
Firstly, I support efforts to ensure the NDIS remains financially sustainable for future generations. Fraud, exploitation and poor-quality providers should be addressed, and public money should be spent responsibly.
However, I have significant concerns that aspects of this Bill could unintentionally reduce access to essential supports for genuine participants and create uncertainty for people whose disabilities are lifelong.
Functional capacity:
The proposed changes place much greater emphasis on functional capacity when determining eligibility.
While functional capacity is important, it does not always reflect the real impact of disability.
For many people with autism, ADHD, intellectual, or psychosocial disability and fluctuating conditions, functioning changes from day to day.
Someone may appear capable during an assessment while requiring extensive supports to maintain employment, education, community participation or independent living.
I am concerned that brief assessments may not capture these fluctuations and may underestimate genuine disability.
Permanency and “all appropriate treatment”:
The proposal requiring consideration of whether “all appropriate treatment” has been attempted before recognising permanence is particularly concerning.
Many disabilities, including autism, are lifelong.
Supports improve quality of life, independence and participation, but they do not cure the disability.
There is also considerable variation in what clinicians consider “appropriate treatment.”
Participants should not be expected to endlessly trial therapies simply to maintain eligibility.
Greater Ministerial powers:
I am concerned about provisions allowing future Ministers to determine categories of supports that may be reduced or excluded.
Such significant decisions should remain transparent and subject to strong Parliamentary oversight rather than being made primarily through delegated legislation.
Participants need certainty that essential supports cannot easily change with future governments.
Reliance on mainstream services:
The Bill assumes people who leave the NDIS will be adequately supported by mainstream systems.
From both my professional and personal experience, this is often not the reality.
Mental health services, allied health, public rehabilitation and disability supports already have significant waiting lists.
Removing people from the NDIS before equivalent community services are fully established risks leaving vulnerable Australians without appropriate supports.
Exercise Physiology:
As an Exercise Physiologist, I regularly see how NDIS-funded exercise physiology improves participants’ health, independence and long-term outcomes.
Exercise interventions frequently reduce falls, improve mobility, decrease hospital admissions, increase confidence, improve mental health and allow people to participate more actively in their communities.
These supports are preventative.
Reducing access to evidence-based allied health may increase long-term healthcare costs rather than reduce them.
Individualised decision-making:
One of the strengths of the NDIS has always been that supports are tailored to the individual.
People with the same diagnosis often have completely different support needs.
I encourage Parliament to ensure any future assessment systems preserve individualised decision-making rather than relying too heavily on standardised tools or automated processes
Personal perspective:
The NDIS has fundamentally changed my life.
As an NDIS participant with Autism Spectrum Disorder Level 2 and ADHD, the supports I have received have enabled me to develop skills, improve my independence and complete both my Bachelor of Sport and Exercise Science and my Master of Clinical Exercise Physiology.
Without these supports, I do not believe I would have been able to achieve employment as an Accredited Exercise Physiologist or contribute back to the disability community in the way that I do today.
I am now in the unique position of giving back by working with NDIS participants every day, helping people improve their independence, physical function, confidence and quality of life through evidence-based exercise. My own lived experience has also helped me better understand the barriers many participants face.
The NDIS has not made my disabilities disappear, but it has provided the supports that allow me to function more independently and meaningfully participate in society. This demonstrates what well-targeted supports can achieve.
Impact on participants with higher support needs:
While my own supports have allowed me to become more independent, I also work closely with many participants, and have family members, who require support for much of the day because of lifelong physical, intellectual or psychosocial disabilities.
For many of these individuals, goals that most Australians take for granted are significant achievements. Sitting upright independently in a chair, standing from a seated position, walking across the house, transferring safely, showering, communicating or leaving the home can require ongoing support and therapy.
Exercise Physiology is often one of the few services available that focuses on maintaining or improving physical function. Without ongoing intervention, many participants lose strength, mobility and confidence, increasing their dependence on others.
Unfortunately, if people lose access to qualified allied health professionals, many will instead rely on misinformation found online or simply stop exercising altogether because they no longer have appropriate guidance or supervision.
Importance of Exercise Physiology:
As an Exercise Physiologist, I regularly see participants avoid functional decline because they receive appropriate exercise intervention.
Exercise Physiology is not simply about fitness. It helps people:
- maintain the ability to transfer safely;
- reduce falls;
- remain mobile within their homes and communities;
- manage chronic pain;
- improve mental health;
- reduce behavioural concerns through structured physical activity;
- reduce hospital admissions; and
- delay or prevent the need for higher levels of care. For many participants, Exercise Physiology is the difference between maintaining independence and requiring significantly more support.
Broader consequences of reducing supports:
I am concerned that reducing supports without equivalent alternatives may have consequences beyond the NDIS itself.
If participants lose access to allied health and disability supports, many may experience worsening physical health, mental health and functional capacity. This could increase demand on emergency departments, hospital admissions, community mental health services and residential care.
As someone with autism, I understand how overwhelming daily life can become without appropriate supports. In the past, I have personally experienced periods of significant distress and suicidal thoughts. Many autistic people experience burnout, anxiety and depression, and early intervention and appropriate supports can help prevent these crises from escalating.
If supports are reduced, there is a risk that more people will present to emergency departments during periods of autistic burnout, mental health crisis or severe functional decline because they have nowhere else to turn.
The role of families:
The Bill should also recognise that families cannot always replace funded supports.
Parents, siblings and carers often work, study, care for other family members or manage their own health conditions. While families frequently provide extraordinary support, it is neither reasonable nor sustainable to expect them to replace trained disability support workers and allied health professionals.
When formal supports are reduced, the burden often shifts directly onto unpaid family carers, increasing carer stress, burnout and financial hardship.
Workforce impacts:
The disability sector also supports a significant workforce.
Reductions in participant funding may result in fewer hours for support workers, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, Exercise Physiologists, psychologists, speech pathologists and other allied health professionals.
This not only affects employment within the disability sector but also reduces participants’ access to experienced clinicians and support staff, making it more difficult to receive timely services.
Ultimately, I am concerned that reducing early intervention and ongoing supports may create greater costs elsewhere in Australia’s health and disability systems while reducing independence and quality of life for many people living with permanent disabilities.
Recommendations:
I respectfully ask the Committee to recommend:
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stronger safeguards around functional capacity assessments, particularly for fluctuating and neurodevelopmental disabilities;
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clearer protections for participants with lifelong disabilities such as autism;
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greater Parliamentary oversight over decisions affecting categories of funded supports;
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implementation of foundational and mainstream services before reducing NDIS eligibility;
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continued recognition of evidence-based allied health, including exercise physiology, as an important component of disability support; and
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ongoing co-design of reforms with people with disability, carers and disability professionals.
Conclusion:
The NDIS has changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Australians.
I believe reform is necessary to ensure its sustainability.
However, sustainability should not come at the expense of fairness, individualisation or the independence of people living with permanent disability.
I encourage the Committee to amend the Bill to ensure reforms strengthen the Scheme while preserving its original purpose: enabling Australians with disability to live meaningful, independent and connected lives.
Thank you for considering my submission.
Yours sincerely,
Accredited Exercise Physiologist
NDIS Participant
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