National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 3749
Thank you for this opportunity to submit my feedback on the proposed NDIS changes.
My name is , I’m an Occupational Therapist working in the Central Highlands region of Victoria. I have autism but do not receive NDIS supports. I have friends with disabilities, psychosocial, physical disabilities and autism who do receive NDIS supports. I write this submission both as a professional, as well as an informal carer.
The NDIS has been amazing for some of my friends. I have seen them gain confidence to go out, find support to better support their physical health which in turn brings greater mental health benefits and also allows my friends to participate economically.
As a professional, the NDIS has been fantastic in giving children access to vital equipment and also providing the families I work with support to lessen the innumerable burden of caring for someone with a disability. I am not a parent but I understand that all parenting is complex. However, for the families I work with, the complexity of their every day lives would make any parent shudder. Then on top of that, having to be the medical guardian, making decisions for their children long past childhood, having to remember all the things and ways of how to do the things is immense. I am often in awe of the families I work with, the care they provide their child in an increasingly bewildering world is often extraordinary to witness. Having access to paid work for these families is sometimes the only opportunity for them to have interactions with other people that are not based in the needs of their disabled child.
The NDIS is an amazing scheme that gives back economically to Australians. The scheme provides so many jobs, and it makes seeing people with disabilities in the community a normal thing. As an autistic individual in the community, it is so heartening to see disability awareness growing, however the proposed changes to the NDIS bill challenge that in a way that I think undermines the fabric of Australian society, where everyone “deserves a fair go.”
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 3749
organisation who takes accountability seriously, but my friends in Melbourne have told horrific stories about their experience of registered providers. Please listen to people with disabilities in regards to mandatory registration. I will repeat, mandatory registration will not increase safe guards for people with disabilities, it is likely to cause more harm instead.
Changes to the definition of permanent disabilities as proposed by the new bill are harmful. One of the submissions by my friend details how felt pressured to undergo a complex medical procedure to reduce the impact of their disability. This resulted in a stroke and caused to have to live in a nursing home, and then a group home. The NDIS helped live independently. is an incredible artist, throughout their whole lives. If they hadn’t been pressed into that operation, they very well have had more capacity for independence.
As a professional, I see am concerned about the growing misinterpretation of science by the community and the potentiality of “health grifters” exploiting the market place and advocating for unproven treatments such as stem cell therapy for autism. This is harmful and will cost families in increasingly harder economical times to pursue unproven treatments. This change puts more Australians at risk of harm through unnecessary medical procedures and also places them at risk of exploitation.
Changes to access criteria. This is undeniably harmful to people with disabilities as well as the proposed changes to functional capacity. As a person living with autism, I’ve never had the support of therapy or access to groups specifically for me. This has been so harmful to my mental health. Autism is an extremely difficult disabilities to live with, there is no easy definition of a person with autism because the variation is so wide. A return to block funding for these participants especially in rural areas is undeniable very frightening for parents.
The use of artificial intelligence has been very harmful already to participants. It has caused therapy teams to have to resort to imapirment based language and catergories to define our participants needs. This is incredibly disheartening. Cuts to NDIS staff have meant that staff are not able to give proper consideration to requests.
The NDIS has the capacity to be an ongoing source of pride for our country in providing equity to participants and their families. The proposed changes represent a neoliberal perspective and will have far reaching consequences not only on the lives of people with disabilities and their families but also our conception of ourselves as a nation who “gives a fair go” to Australians.
Thank you for reading this submission.
Occupational Therapist