National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 3443
My name is Jessica Dennis, I am a Support Worker in New South Wales, who has worked with a range of NDIS participants with varying disability. I am addressing issues concerning the Objects of the Act, particularly the vital role of accessibility to Support.
“That’s just the support worker.”
When you think of a support worker, what comes to mind? Sure, as in any industry, there are many who are unsuitable, many who think of it as just a paycheck. However, at its ideal, the role of a Support Worker, enables a participant with disability to live with dignity - that is to be treated as more than just a patient having their basic needs met. Showering, toileting, having clean clothes, having an hygienic environment to live in, having suitable meals prepared, getting to work, being able to study, being able to get to appointments, and yes, being able to go out for a coffee or a haircut. These are just the basics of being able to live and be treated as a person - a human being in society. Nothing more than what anyone else would take for granted as things that they would be free and able to do. All only possible for a person with disability to do with adequate access to Support. Let me be clear that the NDIS is not paying for the coffee or the haircut, but the support needed to be able to access these ordinarily things that the able bodied take for granted everyday.
An “easy job” - As I said these are only the basics of Support Work. What is often overlooked is that with the right Support a participant with disability can begin to thrive. Individualised Support allows for two things that institutionalisation and the systemic groupings of “people with disability” all together cannot provide. That is, Individualised Support allows a participant with disability to have Choice and Control over how and what kind of support they receive, and who they receive it from. (As a side note, there are a lot of providers that have failed in this aspect of the NDIS).
A participant with disability can thrive with the right support that they have chosen for themselves, and that works closely and intentionally with them to achieve their individualised goals. In my role as a Support Worker, I have witnessed this happen on numerous occasions. The right Support Worker can help build confidence and independence, provide and enable access to information and services, and be an advocate for a people group that is often overlooked, silenced and treated like children.
The right Support Worker works side by side with a participant, prioritising their individual preferences and values. Why is this important? Because people with disability have much to offer to society and community. This has been shown by increasing accessibility for everyone, by being and becoming more visible members of society (no longer confined to their homes), by being seen as able to contribute to the workforce, by being able to get a higher education, by having the accessibility to be there in the first place.
For some people living with disability a Support Worker may be the first person to help them identify their strengths and to give them a voice. For others they may have found themselves becoming disabled later in life, and it can allow for them to continue to live their lives as they would ordinarily have. For others, it may allow for their only interaction with the outside world for that day or that week because they have been confined to their homes. For children, it can provide a role model or a safe space to develop communication skills with someone they
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 3443
trust who is not their parent, giving them the confidence to build friendships with peers and have social interactions. And for others still, sadly, their support workers may be the only human contact they have where they are treated as an actual person.
In closing, yes there is need for reform in the NDIS, however, we should not throw out its principles and goals because the able bodied have taken advantage of the system. Apply regulation to service providers, and give voice to those who are actually the ones the NDIS was created for. This is not done by a rushed bill where the main priority is to limit and cut funding to the people who need it. People with disability should not be the ones to suffer the effects of being unheard and taken advantage of as they so often are, and they should definitely not be the scapegoats for why we as a society are having a budget crisis. They are members of our society who deserve the same rights as everyone else to be treated as human beings and to live with dignity.
Thank you for taking the time to hear me,
Jessica Dennis
1/06/2026