National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 3037
Dear Senators, Ministers and all those reading , My name is and I am a 40-year-old resident of and i am an NDIS participant. I live independently in a privately rented unit by myself and being able to do so is very important to me. I am writing to outline the impacts of some of the proposed changes of this new bill and my concerns for my well-being in the future. While I agree that fraud, non-compliance and misspending need to be addressed. I have some serious concerns about proposed funding cuts. I currently receive funding for support workers for six days a week for several hours per day due to my significant physical neurological and autoimmune disabilities. These supports allow me to leave the house as I am unable to do so alone and require transport and active one to one experianced support to attend appointments, go to the pharmacy, complete grocery and other shopping, volunteer at animal aid, run errands and receive medical care. I also require assistance with general house hold management and cleaning, laundry and outside maintenance as well as help to organise my day and help to advocate and support me with my communication around my cognitive difficulties. The other supports I currently receive are for a psychologist for 26 hours per year, a physiotherapist for 12 hours a year and occupational therapy for 40 hours per year. I have a transport budget for $2,500 per year and meal preparation allowance which assists with the cost of meal preparation and delivery costs as I am unable to cook due to my occupational therapists assessment and my Drs medical instruction. These services and funding are essential for me as without physiotherapy. I would lose the ability to maintain my current level of functioning which recent assessments and loos of capacity and difficulties arising in my everyday life show I have moderate to severe loss of functioning in my legs and moderate function loss in my arms. These functional losses have required me to be assessed for manual wheelchair with power assist which I am in the process of applying to be funded for. I would also loose the physical abilities and capabilities and skills i have been able to develop and maintain due to regular on going therapy sessions which has been a difficult process. If I were not able to access regular physiotherapy and appropriate mobility aids my function and mobility would decline. Without specialist psychology I would have a lot of difficulty processing and working through my complex mental health history and my very late diagnosed autism diagnosis. I was diagnosed with level two autism just after I turned 40 and I work with a psychologist who specialises in autism to help me understand and navigate all of my challenges in the present and to help me understand my past. These services are essential to me and my well-being. If these much needed supports are cut or defunded it would be devastating to both my physical neurological and emotional safety, my quality of life and well-being. I would lose my ability to maintain my home to a reasonable standard I would struggle to access my basic needs such as medical care, allied health services and general shopping. I would also loose the ability to access my community work at animal aid where I have volunteered for the last eight years. It brings me
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 3037
a sense of joy purpose and increases my self-esteem to be able to continue my volunteer role there for so many years as my health has declined I have been able to , with the support of the staff at
animal aid to adapt my volunteer role to change depending on myabilities and now I currently volunteer with the support of a support worker and I wouldn’t be able to attend without them. I socialise the cats and provide them with support as they adjust to their new environment. The goal is for the cats to get adopted by members of the community. It brings me great joy and a feeling of pride to be able to contribute to my community in this way. If my my current services were no longer longer funded or cut back significantly I would experience significant physical, psychological and neurological hardship. This would most likely eventually develop into a crisis situation where there is a good chance emergency services will become involved. In relation to value for money this scenario would become a complex cycle of care after hospitalisation or required treatments are completed. Individuals regular care supports are us usually there to recommence supports on discharge but in the case of cuts to funding there may not be enough to maintain stability and I may lose the regular support workers that are familiar with me and my needs. This would further lead to emergency services crisis support and hospital services needing to be accessed again and again this will increase the government spending to a much higher high-level than what sufficiently funding an NDIS plan would cost. Being someone in a venerable position due to my disabilities it is a comfort to me that the support workers that I have been able to choose both independent and through an agency all have qualifications and experience and I think it’s very important that regulations are in place around appropriate qualifications, such as instituting and industry standard of support workers must have a minimum of a certificate 3 in disability support work. Currently anyone can start working with the NDIS as a provider all they need is an ABN and the participants who are plan managed can hire them. Most of these service providers are legitimate but you do get those who have never had any experience and decide they want to be a support worker so they can charge the money in the price guide. This places participants in danger and this is probably where a lot of the fraud and mis spending comes from. If we can build policy around catching the real people doing the wrong thing that would be much better, both for the governments spending and for the participants and thier families who depend on the NDIS to live a supported and well functioning life.I agree addressing fraud over spending and
miss use of funds are very important and need resolutions butshould not come at the cost of the dignity and quality of life of the people that the NDIS was designed to support.