Committee Secretary, Senate Standing Committees on
Community Affairs
Parliament House, Canberra
RE: Inquiry into the NDIS Amendment (Getting the NDIS
Back on Track) Bill
Dear Senators,
I am writing to formally express my deep concerns regarding the proposed changes to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
I am a mother of a family directly impacted by the NDIS. Specifically, I see the daily realities of .My 22-year-old son who lives with me has autism and mental health challenges. The daily challenges are profound , and navigating life with limited support is difficult. Over the last 23 years, I have cared for my son with the sole wish that he can enjoy a normal quality of life-the kind of standard health, safety, and community participation that those of us without a disability often take for granted.
Due to the intensive level of care required, I have had to reduce my professional hours of work Caring for my son is a 24/7 responsibility shared tightly within the family, a juggling act that is relentless
Like many carers, I am aging and carrying the heavy psychological burden of worrying about what will happen to my child when i and my partner are no longer around, and whether this care will become an unfair burden on my other children.
The NDIS is a vital lifeline for my family. It provides the essential support structures that allow us to catch our breath, reset, and sustain our long-term caregiving roles. Based on my firsthand experience, I am deeply concerned by the following aspects of the proposed legislation: . Unilateral Ministerial Powers: Giving the Minister the power to overrule the NDIA and cut participants’ plans arbitrarily undermines trust and strips stability away from vulnerable families.
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Shifting the Burden of Care: The proposed 30% cuts to social and community supports will inevitably shift the unpaid care burden back onto families-disproportionately impacting women who are already stretched to breaking point.
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Threat to Local Service Provider Viability: Reducing community participation budgets will cause essential, specialized local providers-to lose clientele, threatening their financial viability and reducing choice for participants.
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Social Isolation: These cuts will reduce participants’ worlds, making their lives smaller and more isolated. Eliminating community access cuts out the very activities that foster joy, friendships, and independence.
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Lack of Meaningful Consultation: This framework is being advanced without genuine co-design or thorough consultation with the very participants, carers, and frontline service providers who will bear the consequences.
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Undermining Early Intervention: Reducing early intervention supports is a short-sighted approach that will drastically increase long-term costs. Unmet needs do not disappear; they simply manifest later as crises in health, mental health, emergency departments, and the justice system. Furthermore, state governments have explicitly indicated they cannot replicate individualised NDIS services.
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Automated and AI Decision-Making: The implementation of automated algorithms to assess and monitor plans is highly alarming. Human functional needs cannot be calculated by a computer program. We saw the devastating psychological and systemic harm caused by Robodebt when automated government systems lack human empathy and oversight.
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Shift Towards a Welfare Model: These changes signal a regressive shift in how the government views the NDIS treating it like a capped income-support or welfare scheme rather than an entitlement-based support system designed to foster community inclusion and independent living.
The NDIS was designed to ensure equity and dignity for Australians with a disability. I urge the Committee to reject changes that compromise these fundamental values and place undue hardship on participants and their families.
Thank you for considering my submission.
Yours faithfully,