Submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs
I welcome the opportunity to make a submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs regarding the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026.
I am the full-time primary carer and family member of a person with permanent and significant disability.
I wish to outline the harm this Amendment Bill could cause if it is passed in its current form. I believe the Bill is too far-reaching and requires substantially greater scrutiny before Parliament considers its passage. Many of the proposed changes remove safeguards that people with disability and their carers rely upon to live safely, independently and with dignity.
Parliamentary Scrutiny and Transparency
The consultation period for this Amendment Bill is only two weeks. This is insufficient to allow meaningful consultation with people living with disability and their carers.
Participating in consultations is extremely difficult for our household. The person I care for experiences severe cognitive fatigue, memory impairment, communication difficulties and debilitating photophobia, making it difficult to read lengthy documents or use screens for extended periods. Preparing submissions requires information to be reviewed gradually over many days and often requires me to explain complex material in accessible ways while balancing full-time employment and caring responsibilities. A two-week consultation period effectively excludes many people with complex disabilities and their carers from participating in decisions that directly affect their lives.
Recommendation: Amend the consultation period to a minimum of 30 days in line with best-practice consultation standards.
Key decisions left to ministerial instruments, not law
The Bill would allow Ministers to determine eligibility criteria and funding levels through legislative instruments rather than primary legislation.
This creates significant uncertainty for families relying on the NDIS. The person I care for depends on disability supports to remain safely at home and maintain their health and wellbeing. Decisions about eligibility and access to essential supports should be made transparently through Parliament, not through ministerial instruments that can be changed without the same level of scrutiny. Any reduction or reinterpretation of eligibility could have profound consequences for safety, independence and quality of life.
Recommendation: Require that all decisions affecting NDIS eligibility and funding be made through primary legislation subject to full Parliamentary scrutiny.
Existing participants face narrower criteria and fewer rights to challenge decisions
The Bill would reduce review rights and make it more difficult for participants to challenge decisions affecting their plans.
The person I care for has a complex disability that fluctuates significantly. Some days they are completely bedbound, while on others they can tolerate only very limited activity before experiencing severe deterioration. If essential supports were reduced or automatically renewed without proper review, vital assistance could be lost despite worsening functional capacity. Reducing review rights leaves participants and their families with fewer protections against decisions that may not accurately reflect their needs.
Recommendation: Introduce a “no harm” safeguard to ensure participants do not lose supports without equivalent alternatives and preserve independent review rights.
Unreviewable ministerial power to cut funding across all support categories
The Bill would allow funding reductions across support categories without review rights and remove the ability to carry over unspent funds between plans.
The supports relied upon by the person I care for require careful planning because of the complexity and unpredictability of their disability. Specialist equipment, assistive technology and allied health services are often high-cost items that require funding to be accumulated over multiple plan periods. Removing carry-over provisions or reducing funding without appeal rights would place essential supports at risk and could lead to worsening health outcomes.
Recommendation: Allow participants to carry forward unspent funds where they are saving for high-cost supports and provide independent review rights before funding reductions occur.
Requirement to exhaust treatment options before eligibility
The Bill proposes that people with disability must exhaust treatment options before becoming eligible for the NDIS.
The person I care for has undergone years of assessment and treatment through numerous medical specialists and allied health professionals. Many treatments have provided little benefit, while others have resulted in significant side effects or worsening symptoms. Despite receiving ongoing medical care, they continue to experience permanent functional impairment affecting every aspect of daily life.
Requiring people to continually prove that every possible treatment has failed before accessing disability supports misunderstands the distinction between medical treatment and disability support. Many people continue to experience profound disability despite receiving appropriate clinical care.
Recommendation: Remove the requirement to exhaust treatment options before eligibility.
Unvalidated functional capacity assessment tool risks misidentifying need
The proposed assessment framework relies upon a single eligible impairment and the I-CAN assessment tool.
Complex and fluctuating disabilities cannot always be accurately measured during a single assessment. Functional capacity can vary dramatically depending on fatigue, neurological symptoms, pain, cognitive impairment and sensory overload. A point-in-time assessment risks underestimating support needs, particularly where disability results from the interaction of multiple neurological, cognitive, physical, psychiatric and sensory impairments rather than a single diagnosis.
Functional assessment tools should accurately reflect how a person functions over time in their everyday environment, rather than relying on a single observation.
Recommendation: Do not implement I-CAN until it has been independently validated for people with fluctuating, episodic and complex disabilities.
Supports cut before replacement system is ready
The proposed reductions to community participation and capacity-building supports would take effect before Foundational Supports have been established.
Community participation and capacity-building supports are essential for maintaining mental health, preserving social connection and maximising independence. Reducing these supports before replacement services exist risks increasing isolation, worsening disability and transferring even greater responsibility onto unpaid family carers. For carers already balancing employment with intensive caring responsibilities, this significantly increases the risk of burnout and financial hardship.
Recommendation: Delay any reductions to community participation or capacity-building supports until Foundational Supports are fully operational, adequately funded and proven to meet participant needs.
Closing Statement
The NDIS exists to enable Australians with permanent and significant disability to live with dignity, independence and safety.
This Bill proposes significant changes that reduce safeguards for participants while increasing uncertainty about eligibility and support. For families living with complex and fluctuating disabilities, these changes are not theoretical—they have real consequences for health, safety, independence and quality of life.
I respectfully ask the Committee to recommend substantial amendments to this Bill to ensure participants retain meaningful review rights, transparent decision-making, appropriate assessment processes and continued access to the supports they rely upon every day.
Thank you for considering this submission.