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

Submission 3683

Submission for NDIS Inquiry 2026

As a full-time unpaid carer for my partner of 8 years, the NDIS has enabled me and my family begin to live fuller lives. Before we were accepted into the program, work, social activities, and domestic duties depended upon the health and well-being of my parter. Specifically, she needs almost constant care, so if a family member could not be with her, I would have to forgo work and other opportunities.

Right now, the NDIS enables us to work fulltime while still being able to care for my partner. The carer hours have enabled us to employ carers to help my partner leave the house, develop her business within the community, and begin to live the life that us able-bodied people take for granted. Additionally, the budget that we have for assisted living technologies has greatly expanded my partner’s ability to move themselves around outdoors, reduced their pain while at home, and generally allowed for a far greater quality of life.

The proposed changes to the NDIS legislation are not acceptable. They are under-developed, and unclear. Just as the previous cuts to the NDIS were. This uncertainty has caused significant anguish within the disability community. The lack of clear guidance from the government on the exact nature of the cuts and how they will apply to existing NDIS participants has many people deeply afraid.

My professional background is in public health. I completed my Master of Public Health in 2024 and have worked in both laboratory and not-for-profit settings. I know that cuts to social services disproportionately affect people with chronic illness and disabilities. These cuts will cause deaths in the community. Already the anxiety and fear felt by NDIS participants has negatively affected the health and wellbeing of my parter.

Specifically, the proposed change to the definition of ‘permanence’ in relation to disability will disproportionately affect the poorest members of the community. Even while on the NDIS my partner pays a significant amount of money out-of-pocket for medications and treatments from her doctors and specialists. Many people with complex disabilities do the same. Under the proposed changes the NDIS will be able to delay treatment indefinitely by refusing funding to people who do not have the financial capacity to access all available medical treatments. This is fundamentally cruel.

I hope that those with the power to review the proposed changes to the NDIS never need apply for the program. I hope that they can spend time with people with disabilities and begin to learn what life is like for them. Hopefully this can occur before these people are thrown off their life-sustaining funding.

Best regards,