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AUDIOLOGY AUSTRALIA SUBMISSION: Inquiry into the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future
Generations) Bill 2026
INTRODUCTION
Audiology Australia welcomes the opportunity to provide a submission to the Senate
Community Affairs Legislation Committee regarding the National Disability Insurance
Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026.
Audiology Australia is the peak professional body for audiologists in Australia and represents 94% of audiologists currently working across private practice, hospitals, universities, government, education, disability, aged care and community sectors. Audiologists play a critical role in supporting people with hearing and balance disorders across the lifespan. This includes assessment, diagnosis, rehabilitation, hearing technology prescription and management, communication support and early intervention services for people with permanent and significant hearing-related disability.
Audiology Australia supports efforts to improve the long-term sustainability, integrity and effectiveness of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). We acknowledge that these reforms arise in the context of the Independent Review into the NDIS and the Disability Royal Commission, both of which identified challenges relating to sustainability, consistency, participant safeguards and service quality.
However, we have significant concerns regarding the potential unintended consequences of several proposed reforms for people with hearing loss and related communication and participation support needs.
Hearing loss is often an invisible disability whose impacts may be underestimated within systems focused primarily on visible or physical disability. While hearing aids, cochlear implants and rehabilitation can significantly improve access to sound and support communication and participation outcomes for many individuals, they do not restore typical hearing or eliminate the functional impacts of hearing loss. Rather, these interventions form part of an ongoing support pathway to manage a lifelong disability, often alongside additional supports that enable communication and participation. Despite these interventions, many individuals continue to experience substantial functional limitations in complex listening environments, workplace and education settings, as well as in social contexts. The communication and participation impacts of hearing loss can affect language development, educational attainment, employment participation, mental wellbeing, safety and social inclusion. Communication capacity is imperative for participation in individual engagement with health professionals when treating all health conditions.
The proposed reforms may unintentionally narrow access to participation supports, increase evidentiary burdens and create additional barriers for participants whose
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AUDIOLOGY AUSTRALIA
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AUDIOLOGY AUSTRALIA SUBMISSION: Inquiry into the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future
Generations) Bill 2026
Reduction in funding
The proposed power to reduce funding across categories of support is particularly concerning for people with hearing loss and communication disability. Audiology services, communication supports, and hearing technology are not optional extras- they are essential supports that enable participation in education, employment, healthcare, and community life. Allowing funding to be reduced below what has been assessed as reasonable and necessary undermines the principle of individualised support and risks leaving participants without the services they require to communicate effectively and safely. The proposed safeguard requiring the Minister to consider participant safety is insufficient, particularly if safety is interpreted narrowly as protection from immediate harm rather than the broader risks of social isolation, reduced independence, communication breakdowns, and exclusion from everyday activities. Any future funding reductions should be subject to transparent impact assessment, independent oversight, and review mechanisms to ensure participants with hearing loss are not disproportionately disadvantaged.
Eligibility based on access to other services
This change risks limiting access to the NDIS for people with hearing loss who may also be eligible for other systems such as state-based industrial hearing loss schemes, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) programs, or the Hearing Services Program (HSP). While reducing duplication across schemes is important, a blanket exclusion approach is not appropriate where alternative systems provide different, time-limited, or partial supports that may not meet a person’s full ongoing needs.4
There is also limited clarity regarding what would constitute a “declared alternative support” across these schemes, or how differences in scope, duration and funding levels would be assessed. In the context of hearing loss, these programs often provide specific or capped services that do not fully address broader functional and participation needs.5
Any policy settings in this area should be developed collaboratively across jurisdictions and ensure that access to appropriate supports is not inadvertently reduced. Consideration should also be given to how different funding systems can complement rather than exclude one another to ensure continuity of support.
SCHEDULE 2 – FRAUD MEASURES
Audiology Australia supports strengthened safeguards against fraud, exploitation and inappropriate conduct within the NDIS, where these measures protect participants and Scheme integrity. However, increased registration, reporting and recordkeeping 7
AUDIOLOGY AUSTRALIA
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AUDIOLOGY AUSTRALIA SUBMISSION: Inquiry into the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future
Generations) Bill 2026
SELECTED REFERENCES
National Disability Insurance Scheme [NDIS]. (2026). NDIS Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 - fact sheet. Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/2026-05/ndis-amendment-securing-the ndis-for-future-generations-bill-2026—fact-sheet.pdf
NDIS. (2026). Provider FAQs: Hearing Supports. Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. https://www.ndis.gov.au/media/2833/download
NDIS. (2025). Mainstream and community supports. Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. https://www.ndis.gov.au/media/7826/download?attachment
Hearing Services Program [HSP]. (2026). About the program. Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/hearing-services program/about?language=en
World Health Organization [WHO]. (2021). World Report on Hearing. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240020481
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare [AIHW]. (2025). Ear and hearing health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people 2025. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/indigenous-australians/ear-hearing-health-indigenous 2025/contents/ear-hearing-health-in-australia/ear-and-hearing-health-services
CITED REFERENCES
- Shojaei, E., Jafari, Z. and Gholami, M. (2016). Effect of Early Intervention on Language
Development in Hearing-Impaired Children. Iranian Journal of
Otorhinolaryngology, 28(84), p.13. Available at: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4735612/.
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Ching, T.Y.C., Dillon, H., Button, L., Seeto, M., Van Buynder, P., Marnane, V., Cupples, L. and Leigh, G. (2017). Age at Intervention for Permanent Hearing Loss and 5-Year Language Outcomes. Pediatrics, 140(3), p.e20164274. doi:https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-4274.
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Department of Health (2020). Contracted Service Provider Notice National Disability Insurance Scheme Transition Arrangements - Updated. Hearing Services Program. Available at: https://hearingservices.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/hso/ee1868dd 15b6-422d-874c-f2a740fdd612/CSPN+2020-07+-+NDIS+transition+Updated+ +Jul2020.pdf?MOD=AJPERES.
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P: 03 9940 3900 | E: info@audiology.asn.auAUDIOLOGY AUSTRALIA SUBMISSION: Inquiry into the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future
Generations) Bill 2026
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Safe Work Australia. (2023). Comparison of Workers’ Compensation Arrangements in Australia and New Zealand (29th ed., p. 141) [Review of Comparison of Workers’ Compensation Arrangements in Australia and New Zealand]. https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/book/comparison-wc-arrangements-29ed
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WorkSafe Victoria. (2025). Hearing services and devices policy [Review of Hearing services and devices policy]. WorkSafe Victoria. https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/hearing services-and-devices-policy
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P: 03 9940 3900 | E: info@audiology.asn.au