National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 3189
Hello,
I am writing to say please don’t pass the NDIS Amendment Bill in it’s current format.
There definitely needs to be changes but the current format includes many cutbacks to services for people with disabilities but does not seem to include intentions to eliminate the fraud. Another area to look into is the travel time and kms. Companies often charge participants to travel to them to provide supports and also charge them to travel to the next client. when this happens, they are double charging for the same hours. When they travel between the clients, they are charging both clients for the same time and kms. I don’t know any plumbers or cleaners etc that can charge clients to travel between them, so how can companies charge double.
Removing the right of appeal would mean the participants cant explain their disability or express their needs. Many people who access the NDIS suffer from communication difficulties. They need to have the ability to have a support person with them during a review so they can explain the actual meaning of the questions to be able to answer accurately. Some participants have been called and during the call were told it was a check in, when really it was a review and they lost funding.
It is unfair to judge the capacity and needs of a person with disabilities against a checkbox they don’t fit into, and often without even reading the professional reports requested. Removing the right to appeal would mean participants would not be able to explain their needs that don’t fit into the boxes. Often the people conducting the review have no real understanding of disabilities. The anxiety already surrounding planning meetings, where there is often discrimination, creates a fear of asking for necessary services as it could make things worse e.g. losing funding.
It removes the rights of people with a disability and their families. It will have a greater cost on communities as people lose supports. Lost time and reliability for employers and lost income for families as they need time off to care for their loved ones, sometimes leading to them relying on welfare. When outside supports are available, capacity is increased and they become more useful members of society sometimes including capacity for employment.
Cutting people off the NDIS without having the alternative supports available first is detrimental to all involved, so please also consider your timelines.
Employment created by the NDIS and its participants apparently creates more income for the government that it costs. I am not a financial expert, but if this is so, it seems like the changes currently on the table may not actually reduce costs.
Please review the changes on the table and consider the human cost as well as the monetary costs, especially if the monetary costs are just being shifted.