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

Submission 3648

Dear Committee Secretary,

I am writing to you as an Occupational Therapist and a constituent deeply concerned about the proposed National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill currently before Parliament.

I urge the committee to oppose this legislation. As OTs working across the Fleurieu region, we see firsthand that the NDIS does not fund the essential healthcare systems for our participants; it funds basic survival, safety, regulation and healthcare that is restricted to covering only a part of their healthcare needs. Many of our regional clients are particularly vulnerable, lacking access to alternative allied health and community supports if you were unaware. As an OT who specialises in ’Mental Health and ‘psychosocial care’ I have seen the impact of this proposed bill already surfacing with participants already going into crisis and suffering from this, so it is my duty of care to be their voice.

My concern relates to the part of the Bill that would reduce capacity building supports / reduce social and community participation supports / restrict plan reassessments / change eligibility / allow future funding reductions across groups of supports. It is my wishes and I feel a duty of care to raise my concerns for parliament to change the Bill to ensure that there are no reductions to participants access to occupational therapy, capacity building supports or community participation supports. You can also encourage the Committee to adopt Occupational Therapy Australia’s recommendations and express support for the No OT, No NDIS campaign.

The disability community is increasingly being portrayed as a financial burden rather than human beings entitled to safety. This proposed legislation threatens to dismantle the core principles of the NDIS by:

• Narrowing disability recognition: Potentially forcing families into impossible conversations about whether they are “disabled enough”.
• Reducing choice and control: Limiting access to trusted, non-registered providers who are vital in regional areas where registered options are sparse.
• Increasing burdens: Adding impossible reassessment burdens and discretionary powers within the NDIA. Furthermore, removing these supports will not magically remove disability or support needs. It simply shifts the burden onto already exhausted unpaid carers, as well as local schools, hospitals, and emergency systems in the Fleurieu area. Removing essential funding forces primary carers—who are often sacrificing their own health, wellbeing, and employment—to absorb an unsustainable burden behind closed doors.

As an OT collective down here in the Fleurieu Peninsula we ask that you stand with people with disabilities, their families, and the professionals who support them by firmly opposing this bill.

I will continue to be an advocate to the participants that I work with and their families as I can see the impact that this will cause if the bill is passed.

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

Submission 3648

I welcome the opportunity to discuss how these changes will negatively impact our local community.