Impact of impairments on daily living (Family or carer experience)

Submission 3295

1 June 2026

I am the parent of a delightful, sociable young man who happens to have multiple physical and intellectual

impairments. His current NDIS supports are essential to sustain his daily living, communication, health, safety and

social engagement. A such, his development into a young adult living his approximation of an ordinary life is an

NDIS success. His story, and that of other NDIS participants who now live engaged lives with dignity and purpose, is

something of which the Australian community can be justly proud.

Although I take issue with many of the proposed legislative changes to the NDIS and their likely impact on the

wellbeing of my son, my primary concern is that any future reduction in supports will compound for him and other

Australian’s with complex disability support needs. I note that it was the needs of this cohort of Australians which

compelled inception of the NDIS as an integrated system.

Although perhaps not immediately obvious without lived experience of the circumstance, functional impairments

rarely sit within neatly prescribed categories, whether those categories are medically or otherwise determined.

Intersectional impact of impairment is inevitably highly individual and so can only be effectively addressed by a

whole-of-person provision of supports.

Functional deficits (physical, cognitive and sensory) along with chronic health conditions can and often do interact

profoundly. Such interaction cannot be summarily legislated out of existence. Far from an academic concern, these

circumstances describe the essence of struggles experienced by my family for the past 27 years.

I note that it is currently proposed that the whole-of-person. approach is being narrowed (s 34(1)(aa)). Section

34(1)(aa) adds the word “directly” such that support needs are only met if they arise “directly” from a qualifying

impairment. For people whose disabilities interact – physical and psychosocial, or sensory and cognitive – that

interaction may stop being funded.

Suggestion: : Delete the word “directly” from s 34(1)(aa), restoring the whole-of-person approach of the 2024

amendments.

Please seek amendment of the proposed legislation accordingly.