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

Submission 3769

Submission to the Senate Inquiry – National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment

( Securing the NDIS for Future Generations ) Bill 2026

I am writing this submission as the partner of a mother and caregiver supporting multiple family members with disability and significant support needs.

Although I do not live within the household full time, I have spent significant time understanding the realities of this family’s daily life and the level of care, coordination and responsibility involved in supporting three NDIS participants with complex and competing needs.

I am particularly concerned about proposed changes that may reduce access to community participation supports, increase reliance on informal family supports, and make it more difficult for families with complex needs to access the supports that help maintain safety, wellbeing and participation in everyday life.

Through my relationship with my partner, and through what I have personally witnessed and learned about her family, I have developed serious concerns regarding the potential impact these changes may have on families with highly complex circumstances.

I have seen firsthand the level of responsibility she carries every day. She is not simply parenting children with additional needs. She is coordinating and managing the needs of multiple people with disability while navigating behavioural challenges, medical complexity, advocacy, appointments, support teams, crises, emotional regulation needs and daily functioning across an entire family system.

What stands out to me most is that many of the supports being discussed publicly are often spoken about as though they are optional extras or luxuries. From what I have observed, they are not.

Supports such as community access, behavioural support, respite, support workers and structured routines are often the very things that keep people safe, regulated, connected to life and able to participate in the world around them.

I am particularly concerned about the potential reduction in community access supports and increasing assumptions surrounding informal family supports.

For example, I understand that her youngest son requires regular opportunities to leave the home environment in order to maintain regulation and reduce escalation. These outings are not recreational luxuries. They are essential supports connected to safety, wellbeing and maintaining family functioning.

Without appropriate supports, the impact is not isolated to one individual. Entire households are affected.

I understand there have been serious safety incidents, including episodes of absconding behaviour where her youngest son left the home environment during the night and remained missing for several hours. There are also ongoing risks involving severe dysregulation, physical aggression, property destruction and risks to both himself and others when support needs are not adequately met.

These are not matters of convenience. They involve genuine safety concerns and the need for ongoing preventative supports.

I also believe it is important to recognise the broader impact that disability support and respite funding can have on relationships, connection and family life.

The realities of the household environment, behavioural complexities and safety risks already place significant limitations on what our relationship can look like compared to what most people would

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

Submission 3769

consider typical. I am not able to simply visit freely or spend extended periods within the home because of the level of dysregulation, unpredictability and safety concerns that can arise. Although we would ideally like to share a more ordinary life together, the current circumstances already make this extremely difficult.

This is why I am deeply concerned about any reduction in respite, daily supports or community access funding.

Without those supports, the level of isolation experienced by both my partner and her family would likely increase significantly. It would further reduce opportunities for rest, connection, emotional wellbeing and the ability to maintain adult relationships outside of caregiving responsibilities.

I do not believe people with disability or their caregivers should be expected to live lives defined by isolation, crisis management and survival.

Appropriate disability supports do not only assist with physical care and safety. They also help preserve ordinary human experiences such as relationships, companionship, connection and participation in life outside the home.

Reducing those supports risks increasing not only practical strain, but also emotional isolation and long-term impacts on wellbeing for entire families.

I also think it is important to recognise that disability can affect any person or family at any time. As a member of the public, this concerns me not only because of the people I love, but because none of us knows what could happen in the future to ourselves, our children or our loved ones. Life can change in an instant.

I also have a close friend with disability who relies on disability funding and supports to access the community, participate in life and maintain independence and wellbeing. Seeing the difference appropriate supports make in people’s lives reinforces for me how important systems such as the NDIS are.

I believe social services such as the NDIS represent what public funding should be used for: supporting vulnerable people, preserving dignity, improving quality of life and helping people live safer, fuller and more connected lives.

I fully support protecting the integrity and sustainability of the NDIS. However, I do not believe sustainability should come at the cost of increasing risk, isolation or hardship for people with disability and the families supporting them.

I ask the Committee to carefully consider the real-world consequences these changes may have for families already carrying extraordinary levels of responsibility.

Thank you for considering my submission.