National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 3406
To whom it may concern,
I am writing to strongly oppose the proposed reforms to the NDIS that may result in reduced funding and supports for participants and families already struggling to meet complex disability-related needs.
I am a single mother living with my own disability while also raising two children with disabilities, we are all NDIS participants. We have no informal support network to rely on. There are no family members or other unpaid supports available to step in if our funded supports are reduced. Every support we currently receive is essential to maintaining our family’s safety, wellbeing, stability, and ability to function.
The current supports funded through the NDIS are not excessive or optional. They are what allow our household to cope with daily life. These supports help manage disability related challenges, maintain routines, reduce distress and crisis, support regulation, and allow us to participate in the community and access essential appointments and services.
Any reduction to our current funding would have serious and immediate consequences for our family. It would increase stress, instability, and risk of burnout for me as both a parent and a person with disability. Without adequate support, I would be placed in an impossible position of trying to meet my own disability related needs while also managing the significant support needs of my two children alone.
The likely impacts of reduced funding include:
- Increased family stress and crisis
- Reduced ability to maintain essential routines and supports for my children
- Greater risk of mental and physical exhaustion for me as sole carer
- Increased likelihood of support breakdown
- Higher long-term costs to the system through crisis intervention, hospitalisation, or more intensive future supports
The NDIS was designed to provide reasonable and necessary supports that enable people with disability and their families to live with dignity, safety, and stability. Reforms that reduce access to these supports risk causing significant harm to families like mine who are already doing everything possible to make the system work.
I urge decision makers to carefully consider the real world impact these changes will have on vulnerable families. The proposed reforms do not account for families with multiple disabilities, sole parent carers, and those without informal support networks.
For my family, maintaining our current level of funding is not about convenience. It is essential for our survival, functioning, and wellbeing.
I respectfully ask that these proposed reforms be reconsidered, and that protections remain in place for families with complex support needs.