National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 3447
Senate Standing Committees on Community Affairs
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Via community.affairs.sen@aph.gov.au
Submission to the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for
Future Generations) Bill 2026
To the Committee,
My name is Judy Kuo. I am a community member writing to express my deep rage and concern about the proposed amendments to the NDIS.
I have many friends and colleagues who rely on the NDIS to get by in their day-to-day lives. The proposed changes to eligibility criteria and reassessment requirements will jeopardise their safety and health if their access to support workers, specialist appointments and aids are reduced or taken away. My friends and colleagues deserve the material and professional supports they need to live in their homes safely, work safely, socialise and access leisure and recreation. Disabled people contribute significantly to my life in the workplace, in the arts and in my community. I strongly oppose changes to the NDIS that will make it harder for them to participate in, contribute to and enjoy community. I strongly oppose changes to the NDIS designed to “cut costs” to the system, because they simply shift the costs and risks onto people with disabilities. The cost to the NDIS may be a dollar figure, but the cost to a disabled person is their actual survival.
I also strongly oppose the proposal to increase the administrative barriers to renew, review and apply for funding in the NDIS. The administrative burden placed on NDIS participants and people with disabilities trying to access the NDIS is already significant. It is already extremely difficult for low-income individuals and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds to get the right documentation together for their applications. The costs to access health specialists is already skyrocketing with patients waiting months for appointments. The proposed requirements will actually increase this unnecessary administrative burden, worsening inequality in the scheme and add additional stress to the already struggling healthcare system. As a healthcare user, like literally every other person who exists, I want to make sure our healthcare practitioners are not tied up in pointless appointments to tick boxes for a broken system. If I ever become seriously disabled, I want to know that there are systems in place for me to get the support I need.
I am also deeply concerned about proposals that make it harder for participants and applicants to dispute decisions. The lack of accountability built into the proposed changes to the review process (especially given the increased reliance on automated systems) is deeply undemocratic and unfair. Things go wrong all the time, whether that is due to human error or machine error. Dispute resolution needs to be made easier, not harder, in order to make sure the NDIS is working as it
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 3447
should be. I cannot support a government seeking to shrink and shirk its responsibilities to everyday people who rely on government systems to get by.
The negative impact of the proposed changes are not limited to disabled people. There are also serious knock-on economic consequences for the friends and families of people with disability, who will shoulder more unpaid caring responsibilities to respond to the additional administrative burdens or lost NDIS funding for their loved ones. Without secure funding for support work, friends and family will be forced to fill in the gaps left behind, eating away at time that could be spent elsewhere (e.g. in paid work or education), worsening their economic security and opportunity during a cost of living crisis. If my friends and family members on the NDIS are unable to access the support they need, I will likely be picking up unpaid caring responsibilities despite my current underemployment, making it even harder for me to get more paid hours of work to pay for my own living expenses.
Similarly, for support workers, cuts to their clients plans means that opportunities for paid work are squeezed. This government should be focused on creating job opportunities that support the disabled community, not taking this job opportunities away. My spouse is an independent support worker whose income relies on NDIS funding. Cuts to the NDIS will have immediate consequences for the economic security of our household, undoing any good from other cost of living measures put in place by this government. This bill is a threat to the survival of people with disabilities, as well as a threat to the economic security of everybody in their circles too.
The NDIS needs to be protected, not gutted, during the cost of living crisis. Disabled people deserve the dignity and opportunity to be full participants in our communities and that means funding support workers, mobility aids, physical access adjustments and specialist healthcare that can allow that to happen. The proposed amendments to the NDIS must be rejected to protect fairness and secure the survival of our loved ones.
Thanks for your time.