National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 3272
To the Committee,
I am a white LGBTQIA+ person working on an application to access the NDIS.
I moved to Naarm (Melbourne) from rural Victoria to access public healthcare and community.
When I speak of the value of the NDIS, I am speaking from experiences of accessing essential public resources such as social housing and Flexible Support Packages that temporarily paid for supports like weekly physiotherapy. Each time I have accessed an essential public service that gave me choice and control to improve my health and material conditions, I have been in an even better position to strengthen my health, well-being and community connection. My life is so different already that I feel fortunate, but accessing a disability-led NDIS, with choice and control, would be even more hugely life-changing.
Like many people, I find purpose and meaning through engaging with community, and often through activities that also seek to benefit my communities. With the right support, I can do this. But at the moment, accessing that support through the NDIS has been a challenge for me due to the financial barrier of private specialist reports and many years long wait times through the public health system to get these. The NDIS Future Generations Bill that is currently proposed, with the new requirements to have accessed “all appropriate treatments”, would mean that I can never access the NDIS. This is going to be true for anyone living in rural areas or who accesses other essential public services like I do.
Disabled people have been clear about what is required. We know that the government can adapt quickly to make the changes needed. After years of navigating them, I can confidently say that the people who are navigating public systems are the ones with the expertise to say what changes are needed. If changes to the NDIS are led by the expertise of disabled people, then I would be able to access the NDIS, and subsequently the appropriate ongoing therapies and supports to meet even more of my base needs and to engage with my community. Just like any person who has the appropriate support for their individual circumstances, I could plan for a future of well-being.
I hope that the committee will recommend that this bill does not proceed without the disability led alterations that are required. When the essential public service of the NDIS is led by the expertise of disabled people then it will continue to create enourmous, life-changing, life-saving change.
Yours, with hope,