National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 3213 Monday 1 June 2026
Subject: NDIS Functional Capacity Assessments and NDIA Staff Training and
Qualifications
Dear Honourable Member,
Thank you for responding to my previous email regarding my concerns about the changes to the NDIS. I appreciate you taking the time to consider the perspectives of participants as these reforms continue to develop.
My purpose in writing again is two-fold. Firstly, I am concerned about the upcoming changes to assessment and reassessment processes, both for entry onto the scheme and for participants seeking to remain within the scheme. In particular, I am concerned about the significance of Functional Capacity Assessments within these processes. Secondly, I seek a greater understanding of the processes within the NDIA regarding the qualifications, training, and professional standards of assessors and planners responsible for interpreting Functional Capacity Assessments and building appropriate participant support budgets.
On the whole, I am in favour of a model of support that focuses on a participant’s genuine functional capacity and day-to-day support needs, rather than relying solely on diagnosis alone. I also believe that strong professional input from medical and allied health professionals who have an existing relationship with the participant must remain central to the assessment process. These professionals often have the most comprehensive understanding of a participant’s condition, support requirements, and changes in functional capacity over time.
Disabilities can affect individuals very differently, even within the same condition. For example, I am a participant living with Multiple Sclerosis, which is a prime example of the wide range of differences in functional capacity and disability experienced within the MS community alone. While some people may experience relatively minor impacts on daily life, others live with significant physical, cognitive, sensory, and episodic impairments that greatly affect their independence, safety, and support needs. A functional approach should therefore allow the system to create fairer and more individualised support outcomes that reflect the diverse ways disability affects people when implemented appropriately.
Functional Capacity Assessments provide key information for understanding a participant’s daily life by identifying their abilities, limitations, and the practical impacts of their disability that demonstrate their need for supports. These assessments need to be conducted by registered allied health professionals who have an existing relationship with the participant and an ongoing understanding of their condition, support needs, and functional capacity over time. However, obtaining such assessments is extraordinarily expensive. With assessments often costing approximately $2,000 each, it is evident that substantial amounts of funding are being directed toward data collection, evidence gathering, and bureaucratic processes that may, in some cases, be better spent on the actual supports participants require in their daily lives. This figure represents a significant amount of funding from a participant’s plan and ultimately costs the NDIA, and therefore the taxpayer, a great deal of money.
The questions I have regarding Functional Capacity Assessments are these:
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How can assessments performed by registered allied health professionals be simplified so that the cost of the overall process is reduced?
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Is there bureaucratic red tape within the process that could be reduced or removed?
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Could reports be written in clearer, more practical language that is more easily understood and takes significantly less time for professionals to prepare?
I would now like to turn to the other side of Functional Capacity Assessments — the NDIA planners’ and assessors’ interpretation of these assessments, and the process of building an individual participant’s plan and budget.
These are some of the questions I have regarding this aspect of the system:
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What qualifications, education, experience, and professional requirements does an NDIA planner or assessor require for employment?
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What educational resources are being invested into ensuring NDIA planners and assessors have the knowledge and expertise required to accurately interpret Functional Capacity Assessments?
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How are NDIA planners and assessors supported to understand the lived experience of participants with such wide and varied needs, especially complex, fluctuating, or degenerative conditions when making decisions to develop the most appropriate support budgets for their needs?
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Are there departments within the NDIA that work specifically with different disability subsets, such as complex
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 3213 physical disabilities, neurological conditions, intellectual disability, psychosocial disability, or degenerative conditions?
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How does the NDIA match planners and participants to ensure the planner is appropriately equipped with the knowledge, training, and experience to work with the participant in relation to the specific areas of disability impacting their life?
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What resources are being invested into interpersonal communication skills training and education for NDIA staff to better support participants throughout the planning process and work collaboratively with participants to build the best individual plan?
I have personally experienced the stress and anxiety that these planning meetings create, and the significant impact they can have on both my own physical and mental health. There are countless participants who could testify to the negative effects of working with planners who lack effective communication skills, empathy, or respect for participants’ lived experience of disability. Without the ability to communicate effectively, and specifically listening to the participant, there is an increased risk of plans and budgets being developed that do not accurately reflect a participant’s circumstances or support requirements.
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What role will Artificial Intelligence (AI) play in the assessment, planning, and budget-setting processes within the NDIS, and what safeguards will be in place to ensure that NDIA staff retain the ability to meaningfully engage with participants, exercise professional judgement, and adjust plans before they are finalised? Artificial Intelligence cannot take the place of a listening person.
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What review processes will be available during the life of a current plan if a participant’s circumstances, functional capacity, or support needs change, and how will participants be supported to access timely reassessments or plan adjustments when required?
Thank you for taking the time to consider these concerns and questions. I appreciate the complexity involved in balancing the sustainability of the NDIS with the genuine support needs of participants, and I look forward to gaining a greater understanding of these processes and receiving clarification on some of the questions raised within this letter.
Kind regards,