National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 3302
To the committee and members relevant to this matter,
I am writing to you with concerns about the proposed Securing the NDIS for Future Generations legislation. My name is , I am a 30 year old Australian from Queensland who lives with complex and chronic health conditions. Through learning to live with my illnesses I have associated closely with many members of the community throughout Australia who live with a disability or chronic illness, from friends, family members, acquaintances and members of the public in disability and chronic illness forum groups, which combined has granted me insight into the general perspective of life an Australian who lives with health conditions that result in being disabled.
I feel lucky enough to live in a country that supports its citizens who are doing it tough as a result of having poor health, and are able to live their lives as productive and contributing members of our society with the support of the NDIS funding. However, after reading the bill, I fear that these changes will leave many Australians unable to access the critical supports which allow them to engage with our society and live a meaningful life, or possibly to live life at all. I am not, and have never been, a participant of the NDIS, however I have seen firsthand how fundamental the social, medical, and financial supports acquired through NDIS funding have been to people living with disability, and how key points of the reform threaten to strip autonomy and safety from the lives of these people.
I oppose this bill for multiple reasons, but at the heart of it is the notion that to remove this access from people who are already reliant on the current NDIS funding systems, without the due process of establishing accessible alternatives, is to throw people into high risk situations and cause extensive suffering. For individuals I know personally, this NDIS funding allows them to maintain a baseline level of quality of life, such as the ability to leave the house, to access physical and medical supports to assist with pain relief, to live independently as opposed to being forced into a health or aged care institution. The proposed functional assessment changes put many who, like myself, have fluctuating illnesses and invisible disabilities, at a high risk of being left with no support. It is clear to me when reading the proposed reform that those involved in making these decisions have not consulted at length those most vulnerable members of our society which these changes are going to affect.
I think that the committee needs to delay any changes to the NDIS until more thorough investigation of the negative ways in which many of these changes will effect disabled people has been given thorough consideration, and demonstratable alternatives to funding cuts are established.