NDIA Accountability Project

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Submission 3280 — Ms Melissa Carey — NDIS Future Generations Bill

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FORMAL SUBMISSION

NDIS Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026

Opposition to Proposed 50% Reduction in Community Participation Supports

Submitted by: A Sole Trader Support Worker and Parent of an NDIS Participant —

Queensland

Opening Statement

I am submitting this document as an experienced sole trader support worker and as the parent of an adult NDIS participant. I am strongly opposed to the proposed 50% reduction in community participation supports. As at December 2024, there were 693,000 active NDIS participants nationally (AIHW, 2025). The scale of impact these cuts would have across Australian communities cannot be understated. Fraud and misuse within the NDIS is a legitimate target for reform. Isolating vulnerable Australians from their communities is not. These are not the same problem and should not be treated as such.

Key Points

  1. These cuts are not cost effective.

  • Isolated participants face higher risk of mental health deterioration, hospitalisation and crisis services — costing the health system far more than community access funding

  • 31% of adults with disability already experience high or very high psychological distress (AIHW, 2024). Cutting community access will worsen this directly

  • 54% of carers already report high psychological distress and 59% report financial stress (AIHW). Reducing NDIS supports transfers this burden back to families

  1. Community access funding circulates back into the local economy.

  • When participants leave home they spend money in local cafes, shops and businesses

  • Cutting community access funding removes participants from local economic life — it is not a saving, it is a cost transfer

  1. These cuts will end years of meaningful community contribution.

  • One participant I support has volunteered with a disability support organisation (RDA) for many years — made possible entirely by NDIS community access funding

  • This is not a social outing. It is purposeful, sustained community service by a person living with significant disability

  • Cutting her funding ends her contribution and isolates her completely

  1. NDIS investment in community participation delivers employment outcomes.

  • My son has been in stable employment for 2.5 years as a direct result of his NDIS- funded transport support

  • He is now a taxpaying, contributing member of the workforce — a direct return on NDIS investment

  • Prior to his NDIS funding I reduced to part time work as his carer. I continue to see a psychologist for the ongoing toll this has taken. This is the hidden cost that never appears in the reform debate

  • Cutting similar supports will prevent other participants from achieving the same employment outcome

  1. The timeline is dangerous.

  • Cuts begin October 2026 but replacement Foundational Supports are not yet designed, funded or operational (Advocacy for Inclusion, 2026)

  • Participants will fall through this gap with no safety net in place

Recommendation

I respectfully urge Parliament to abandon the proposed 50% reduction in community participation supports and to redirect reform energy toward documented fraud and misuse within the scheme. The participants whose stories are reflected in this submission are not recipients of excessive funding. They are Australians with disability living as independently and contributively as their conditions allow.

References

AIHW (2025) People with disability — specialised support services. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-welfare/supporting-people-with-disability

AIHW (2024) Australia’s Disability Strategy Outcomes Framework: Mental health. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-disability-strategy/australias-disability strategy-outcomes-framework/contents/health-and-wellbeing/mental-health

AIHW (2025) Informal carers. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias welfare/informal-carers

Advocacy for Inclusion (2026) What’s in the 2026-27 Federal Budget for Canberrans with Disability? https://www.advocacyforinclusion.org/whats-in-the-2026-27-federal budget-for-canberrans-with-disability13-may-2026/

Declaration

I declare that the information in this submission is accurate and based on direct personal experience. All participant identities have been fully de-identified to protect privacy.

Role: Sole Trader Support Worker and Parent of an NDIS Participant

Location: Queensland, Australia

Date: 01 June 2026