Submission to the Senate Community Affairs
Legislation Committee
Inquiry into the National Disability Insurance Scheme
Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
About Me
I make this submission from three interconnected perspectives.
I am an NDIS participant, the parent and carer of two children who are also NDIS participants, and a Developmental Educator who works daily alongside children, young people and families navigating the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
I support the intent of ensuring that the NDIS remains sustainable for future generations. I recognise that public funding must be managed responsibly and that safeguards against fraud and misuse are important.
However, I am deeply concerned that if this legislation results in further reductions to participant supports, increased barriers to accessing services, or greater reliance on unpaid carers, it will ultimately increase costs across other government systems while reducing the quality of life of people with disability and their families.
The NDIS should not be measured solely by what it costs. It should also be measured by what it enables.
My Experience
Several years ago, I experienced severe burnout associated with my disability. My health deteriorated to the point where I became largely bed-bound and lost the ability to walk independently. Recovery required years of rehabilitation, learning to walk again, rebuilding my physical capacity, and understanding how to live sustainably with my disability.
The NDIS has been fundamental to that recovery.
Because of the support I received, I have been able to gradually rebuild enough capacity to return to meaningful employment as a Developmental Educator. Today I work alongside other NDIS participants and their families, helping them build skills, participate in their communities, engage in education, and develop greater independence.
Without those supports, I would almost certainly not have returned to work, and if my supports are removed, I will not have the capacity to continue this work.
My experience demonstrates that disability supports are not simply an expense—they are an investment. Appropriate supports allow people with disability to contribute to their communities, participate in the workforce, reduce reliance on other government services, and live meaningful lives.
The Reality for Families
My greatest concern regarding this Bill is the continued assumption that families can absorb increasing caring responsibilities when funded supports are reduced.
Current NDIS plans are already significantly underfunded, especially for many children and adolescents.
Too often, essential disability supports are considered to fall under “parental responsibility.”
This assumption fails to reflect reality.
Parents are expected to provide ordinary parenting. Disability-related supports are different.
Many teenagers with disabilities require assistance well beyond what would typically be expected of a young person of the same age. This may include support with personal care, showering, dressing, preparing meals, emotional regulation, executive functioning, communication, transport, community participation, social relationships, safety, and developing independence.
These are disability-related support needs.
They do not disappear simply because a young person lives with their parents.
When Parents Also Live with Disability
An issue that receives little attention is that many parents of children with disability are themselves living with disability, chronic illness, neurodivergence, mental illness or significant health conditions.
I am one of those parents.
The assumption that families will simply “pick up the slack” when funded supports are reduced ignores the reality that many carers are already operating beyond their own capacity.
Parents cannot pour from an empty cup.
When carers become overwhelmed, they become unwell.
When carers become unwell, they cannot support their children.
When carers cannot support their children, families reach crisis.
What Happens When Supports Are Reduced?
I ask the Committee to genuinely consider the practical consequences of reducing supports.
What happens when a teenager who already receives only two hours each week to develop community participation skills has that funding reduced even further?
Who supports them to learn to catch public transport safely?
Who helps them build friendships?
Who assists them to attend community groups?
Who teaches the daily living skills that will eventually reduce their dependence on paid supports?
Who supports emotional regulation in the community?
Who helps them safely navigate a world that is not designed for them?
If those funded hours disappear, the support needs do not disappear.
They are transferred onto parents.
If parents cannot provide that support because of their own disability, illness, work commitments or already extensive caring responsibilities, then those opportunities simply disappear.
The result is increased isolation, poorer mental health, reduced independence and fewer opportunities to participate in society.
This is the opposite of what the NDIS was designed to achieve.
The Hidden Work of Caring
As both a parent and a Developmental Educator, I see the enormous amount of invisible work that caring for a person with disability requires.
Every waking moment is carefully planned.
Daily routines that many families take for granted often require constant prompting, supervision, emotional regulation, problem solving and support.
Tasks such as bathing, getting dressed, eating breakfast, getting to school (if the young person is able), completing homework, attending appointments, managing sensory overload, maintaining friendships and preparing for adulthood all require significant time and energy.
This invisible workload is rarely recognised.
Reducing funded supports does not reduce the workload.
It simply transfers it to unpaid carers. It also strips the dignity away from young people who want to find their own place in the world and find independence away from their parents. How many teens or adults want their parents to bathe them or be by their side in all social situations?
The Economic Reality
Reducing disability supports may appear to create savings within the NDIS budget.
However, those costs do not disappear.
They are transferred elsewhere.
They become increased hospital admissions.
They become increased mental health presentations.
They become increased reliance on income support and housing support.
They become reduced workforce participation.
They become family breakdown.
They become increased pressure on schools, emergency departments, child protection and aged carers.
The NDIS should not be viewed in isolation from the broader economy.
Supporting participants and carers to remain healthy, employed and connected to their communities is not only socially responsible—it is economically responsible.
The Value of Community Participation
One of the most concerning trends I have observed is the reduction of funding for community participation.
Community access is often viewed as optional.
It is not.
Community participation is where independence is built.
It is where communication develops.
It is where friendships are formed.
It is where confidence grows.
It is where future employment skills begin.
It is where isolation is prevented.
For many participants, these supports represent only a few hours each week.
Removing or reducing those hours may appear insignificant on paper, yet the long-term impact on a person’s quality of life can be profound.
My Perspective as a Developmental Educator
Every week I work alongside families trying to stretch plans that are already insufficient.
Parents are exhausted.
Young people are missing opportunities.
Professionals are spending increasing amounts of time trying to prioritise essential supports because there is simply not enough funding to meet identified needs.
This is not because families are asking for luxury services.
They are asking for the minimum support required for their children to participate in everyday life.
As professionals, we are increasingly being asked to help families achieve greater outcomes with fewer resources.
At some point, mathematics takes over.
Less support cannot continue to produce greater outcomes.
Recommendations
I respectfully ask the Committee to amend the Bill to ensure that:
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disability-related support needs are clearly distinguished from ordinary parental responsibilities;
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decision-makers recognise that many carers also live with disability or chronic health conditions;
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community participation funding is recognised as an essential support rather than a discretionary one;
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legislation recognises fluctuating disability, invisible disability, executive functioning challenges and cumulative fatigue;
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decision-making considers the long-term economic benefits of adequate supports rather than focusing solely on short-term expenditure;
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participant wellbeing, workforce participation, family sustainability and prevention of crisis remain central objectives of the Scheme.
A Final Reflection
As a Developmental Educator and a postgraduate student, I understand the importance of evidence-informed policy. There is an extensive body of peer-reviewed research supporting the long-term benefits of early intervention, adequate disability supports, community participation, caregiver wellbeing and workforce participation.
Ordinarily, I would have welcomed the opportunity to prepare a fully referenced submission.
Unfortunately, my circumstances reflect the very issues this Bill seeks to address.
Every minute of my day is already accounted for.
I am an NDIS participant managing my own disability.
I am caring for two children who are NDIS participants.
I work as a Developmental Educator supporting other families.
I manage appointments, reports, unpaid administration, household responsibilities and the countless invisible tasks associated with disability.
This submission has taken several days to prepare, fitting it into the small spaces between work and caring responsibilities.
Every hour spent writing has come at the expense of my own rest and recovery.
I am once again putting my own health aside because I believe it is important that Parliament hears directly from the people whose lives will be affected by these decisions.
I know what happens when I push beyond my limits.
I have lived through severe burnout that resulted in losing the ability to walk and requiring years to rebuild my capacity.
I write this submission knowing that every additional demand carries the risk of returning to that place.
I do not say this to seek sympathy.
I say it because this is the reality for many participants and carers.
The people with the greatest lived experience are often those with the least capacity to participate in government consultations.
I respectfully ask the Committee not to mistake the absence of extensive academic references for an absence of evidence.
The evidence exists.
It is substantial.
Unfortunately, the people who would benefit most from contributing that evidence are often too busy surviving the realities of disability to produce the kind of detailed submissions that government processes favour.
Finally, I ask the Committee to remember that behind every budget figure is a person.
A child learning to make a friend.
A teenager trying to become independent.
A parent trying to remain healthy enough to keep caring.
A participant trying to stay employed.
A family trying to avoid crisis.
The NDIS has enabled me to rebuild my life and return to meaningful work. It has enabled my children to participate in opportunities they would otherwise miss. Every dollar invested in appropriate support has generated benefits far beyond the individual participant.
I ask that this legislation protects not only the financial sustainability of the NDIS, but also its original purpose: enabling Australians with disability to live ordinary lives, participate in their communities, and reach their potential.
Thank you for considering my submission.