National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 3108
Dear Committee,
I am writing this submission as a disabled person who has disabled loved ones. I am concerned that this bill will make it harder for people to access the NDIS.
I struggle with psychosocial disability that is not supported by the current mental health system, and am not currently on the NDIS but have been considering applying. My loved ones, either on the NDIS or attempting to apply, have physical, and energy limiting disabilities.
It is already difficult to get on the NDIS. I am anxious that the use of administrative or automated systems will make it next to impossible. You only have to look at past automation (e.g. Robodebt) to see how people can be discriminated against. I am not visibly disabled, but cannot work full time. If I can’t explain my individual circumstances to someone I fear if I need to apply for the NDIS in the future I will never even get a foot in the door. Extra support could help me maintain work during tough periods, so I would not have to access other social systems. To loose this option would mean greater drain on social resources in the long run
The proposed participant engagement rules are also concerning. My friends with energy limiting disabilities such as ME go through periods of being bedbound. It can be so severe that they cannot move much or look at screens, and taking these small actions can result in deeper energy loss. I fear that they will have supports taken away if they cannot respond by arbitrary dates that do not consider their circumstances. It’s ridiculous to me that someone may be punished for how their disability affects them by the very thing that is meant to support them.
This is not to mention the extreme difficulty they have had attempting to pull together an application for the NDIS. Not everyone has family to rely on to help them, and I have limited capacity and knowledge of the system myself to help in any meaningful way. I believe the increased administrative processes proposed will further disadvantage them. This is not laziness. At their worst they struggle to eat. Making support inaccessible is a death sentence, no exaggeration. I believe there are many more people struggling like this than you would think. But if there’s no platform for them to be heard then they fall through the cracks.
Finally, the proposed 50% cut to social and community participation funding seems to me to be deeply dehumanising. This funding can pay for support workers to help disabled people leave their buildings. I have one friend needs help getting into/out of their wheelchair and cannot leave their house without a support worker. If this funding is cut they might not be able to do things like get a haircut or meet with a friends outside. Are disabled people less deserving of the same rights to community inclusion, connection and dignity that everyone else expects? I don’t think so, and I hope you don’t either.
All of this said I do not support this bill and request it be withdrawn.
Thank you.