Submission 3424 — Name Withheld — NDIS Future Generations Bill

National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026

Submission 3424

Submission

Please accept my apologies for the roughness of this submission. The timeframe allocated made it extremely difficult to respond properly.

Two of my adult children are NDIS Participants. I have been their sole carer since their father left when they were 4 and 7 years old. The introduction of the NDIS was life changing for our family. It enabled my sons to live a typical life and allowed me to work in full time employment. My sons are very different people who have different needs. One is using his NDIS supports to gain employment skills so that he can work. He has become more independent with daily activities over the past couple of years, but isn’t completely independent. My other son isn’t safe if he is unsupervised. He uses his supports on weekdays in a mix of ways while I am at work. These include supported employment (2 jobs), group support, support to attend therapy sessions, errands (groceries, haircuts, appointments such as dentist/blood test/gp), going to the gym (he pays the membership) and being a part of his local karate club (he pays the fees). He also attends STR, which he loves and has been invaluable to our whole family. At STR, he is involved with all aspects of keeping the house running - cooking, shopping, domestic tasks. As a result, he is increasingly independent with these tasks at home, though requires supervision and some assistance. He does use his funding to attend social activities on weekends, with groups or with individual support. He, of course, covers all associated costs for these activities. If my son isn’t using paid supports, I am his carer.

As a carer, I have no issues with being accountable for the funding used. I follow the plan, keep records and understand that there are rules to follow. Most participants and carers use supports as intended, are meticulous in their record keeping and cannot lead typical lives without the support provided by the NDIS. Most carers I know are the same. The NDIS does not provide 100% of the support required. I find it incredibly disrespectful that the government are choosing to present participants and families as people who are out to get something for nothing. It minimises the challenges faced by people who are an easy target.

I have many concerns about the NDIS Future Generations Bill 2026. I recognise that I can’t list them all, so I will focus on the cuts to Social and Community funding. I haven’t seen any mention of employment in the discussion about these cuts. The impression given is that the funding is used for coffee and shopping, and that it pays for workers to sit around on their phones. I think that is very shortsighted view, and is disrespectful to the Participants involved and to many of their supports who work hard to provide experiences for people that they can’t do independently. My sons deserve a life of their choosing, just as their sisters have. They should be able to work, and so should I. I can only work if my older son has support. He cannot be left alone. If his social and

National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026

Submission 3424

community funding is cut by 50%, he will lose his job and so will I. The ripple effect of that will be crippling for our family.

There has been mention of funding for “Inclusive Communities” but no details. I can only assume that the expectation is for community groups to include disabled people in their groups. Unfortunately, it isn’t as simple as that - support is needed to get to the group, to transition into the group, for the members of the group to know how to adapt, etc. These groups need to be chosen for funding. What happens if there is no “Inclusive Communities” group that covers the interest of the participant? What will people do when you cut their funding but these groups aren’t yet available? What happens if these groups aren’t able to appropriately include a person?

There are many things that I would like considered, but I will list the ones that are most important to my family:

1. Separate employment funding from Social and Community funding, recognising that participants may work nights or on weekends ie supports need to be able to be paid to work weekends if needed then

2. Provide details about what you think participants who cannot be left without supervision will do, recognising that most adults who don’t have NDIS plans are out of the house (in work, study or recreation) most days. Do you expect participants to sit at home - out of sight, out of mind? Do you expect informal carers to leave employment to stay home with their participant and keep them safe?

3. Government plans need to be clearer. The stress caused to participants and their families by the uncertainty is disgraceful. My older son doesn’t understand what may happen, but I take on that stress. My younger son is extremely anxious that his supports will stop before he is able to find employment. His capacity has taken a hit because of the announcement. My stress is higher because I’m worried for my boys, about my job, about the fact that we have uncertainty once again. The government is again forgetting that we are people, that informal supports are already stretched thin and that anybody can join the ranks of participants/nominees/carers without notice.

4. Before removing funding from Participants, tackle the issues of fraud and erroneous spending by the Agency. I hear of cases where the Agency has spent several thousand dollars on lawyers for ART that is going to cost less than that amount if approved. People wouldn’t need ART if the plans were funded appropriately in the first place.

I am happy to answer any questions or give my thoughts on the other issues I have with the Bill.