National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 3376
Dear Committee Members,
My name is Karen Carty and I am an NDIS participant living in a Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) apartment in Blacktown, NSW. I have primary lymphoedema, a severe progressive condition, and I am bed-bound and completely dependent on disability support workers for my daily care. I support the concerns raised by Tenant Voice in their submission and would like to add my own personal experience.
My greatest concern is that the proposed changes reduce participant choice and remove important safeguards such as independent review of decisions. Decisions made about people with complex disabilities have profound consequences. Participants must continue to have access to fair review processes when decisions are wrong.
I am also deeply concerned about changes that could reduce our ability to choose our own support providers. My physiotherapist has specialist expertise in lymphoedema that has helped keep me out of hospital. My support workers know my complex care needs and provide safe, personalised support. Smaller specialist providers should not be disadvantaged by additional administrative requirements that make it impossible for them to continue operating. Participants should remain free to choose the providers who best meet their individual needs.
After spending almost two years in hospital, I was discharged into a shared SDA home. Unfortunately, staff reductions and changes to the resident mix resulted in an environment where I no longer felt safe. Other residents regularly entered my room, including during the night, and my family visits became restricted because my young granddaughter was frightened by aggressive behaviour and shouting. As someone who is physically unable to protect myself or leave my bed independently, this was extremely distressing.
I now live in my own SDA apartment with Onsite Shared Supports, and it has completely changed my quality of life. I feel safe, I have privacy, my family can visit again, and I am able to live independently with the right supports around me. I am concerned that changes affecting OSS funding, participant choice or provider arrangements could place this independence at risk for myself and many others.
I respectfully ask the Committee to recommend amendments that preserve participants’ rights to independent review, protect freedom of choice in providers and support workers, safeguard Onsite Shared Supports for SDA tenants, and ensure people living with disability are meaningfully consulted before changes affecting our lives are implemented.
Thank you for considering my submission.
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 3376
Kind regards,