National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 3670
31 May 2026
Submission to the Senate Enquiry into the “Securing the NDIS Bill”
Dear Senators,
I am a family friend and NDI nominee for a young autistic woman and I am also the carer for my husband who has dementia. In the recent budget it was flagged to cut NDIS supports for large number of people. I realise that there must be restraints on ballooning costs however I understand that you are targeting support for social and community participation for autistic people. I believe these supports are essential for my autistic friend. She is unable to do many, many tasks without help and I fear her quality of life and indeed her life will be in jeopardy if her current supports are reduced. She faced discrimination in not being diagnosed until eight years ago, when she was twenty years old due to bias towards diagnosing boys and not girls. She has missed out on all the accommodations and help given to children who are diagnosed at a younger age. Years of struggling with her disability has left her with a legacy of crippling anxiety. She can rarely leave her house unaccompanied. She suffers chronic depression and has self harming behaviours such as hair pulling (which leaves her with disfiguring bald spots) and suicide ideation. She cannot easily wash herself due to sensory overwhelm. Her lack of social understanding has left her isolated and lonely for most of the time. Her poor executive function precludes her from paid and most voluntary employment. She currently has 12 hours per week of paid support. Her two support workers help her to shop for food, attend medical appointments, care for her personal hygiene and her home. It has taken eight years for her to build up a trust with these familiar workers. She lives by herself in a small private rental house in Castlemaine, a town in rural Victoria. She does not have the means or ability to move to a town with greater resources. Any changes in her life are usually too disruptive to contemplate and I feel the situation is precarious. She is very trusting and vulnerable. She has very little understanding of how this system works and needs her support workers to help her navigate rental issues, banking and emergencies. All functional capacity assessments have shown that this young woman is severely affected by her disability. Her mother is often in poor health and is trying to support herself with part time jobs. Her father died in 2024. I am currently able to help (informal support) for a few hours per week however with my husband’s degenerating health this will soon be negligible. Also I am 69 and have some health problems of my own. Her mum and I are both exhausted. Where is help going to come from and given that this is a lifelong condition what will happen to her when we are gone?
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 3670
There is no other family support available and if the NDIS cuts her plan I don’t know how we will manage. It is a very stressful situation.
I am feeling afraid that changes to the legislation specifically Section 34A where the minister can cut a percentage off whole categories of the NDIS plan and Section 33(2EA) where the minister can cap any support by cohort will result in unfair disadvantage to disabled people as it doesn’t allow for individual circumstances.
I am also concerned that decisions may be made by algorithms or officials with limited powers to change a plan that needs to be modified. Will appeals and reassessments be fair and heard by a person with training and knowledge?
Please amend the proposed legislation to avoid causing severe harm to this young person and others with similar disabilities. Autism is a widely misunderstood condition and I feel it is extremely unfair that this vulnerable group of people is being demonised and blamed for budget blowouts. They still need support.