National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 38
Dear Committee Members
I am writing to express my deep concern regarding proposed NDIS legislative and policy changes relating to mandatory provider registration, commissioning of supports, restrictions on self-directed arrangements, and reported plans to reduce funding in participant plans for social and community participation supports. Cuts to social and community participation funding risk increasing isolation, reducing independence, and undermining the inclusion and wellbeing of people with disability.
These proposed reforms risk taking the NDIS backwards and undermine the very principles on which the Scheme was built: choice, control, flexibility, individualisation, and human dignity.
Many participants and families intentionally use self-managed and self-directed arrangements because they provide safer, more responsive, and more personalised support than traditional provider-led systems. Trusted sole traders, independent workers, services-for-one, and small flexible providers often know participants best, understand complex support needs, and provide continuity and stability that larger systems cannot.
Forcing participants into government-selected or commissioned service models will significantly reduce genuine choice and control. It risks trapping vulnerable people in one-size-fits-all systems that may not meet their needs, cultural preferences, communication styles, behavioural supports, routines, or safeguarding requirements.
For many participants with high and complex support needs, the ability to choose who enters their home, who provides intimate care, and who supports them overnight is not a luxury — it is fundamental to safety, dignity, trauma prevention, and quality of life.
In our family’s circumstances, self-directed supports are essential to safety, wellbeing, and dignity. is a non-speaking autistic adult with intellectual disability and very high support needs who relies on carefully selected and consistent support workers who understand his communication style, routines, sensory needs, behaviours of concern, and safeguarding requirements. He requires highly individualised support, close supervision, and trusted relationships to remain safe at home and in the community. Large provider models, rotating staff, or commissioned systems would significantly increase distress, dysregulation, anxiety, and risk of harm. Our current self-directed arrangements have been built carefully over many years and are specifically designed around unique needs, strengths, and vulnerabilities. Removing genuine choice and control over who supports him would not increase safety — it would undermine it.
The Disability Royal Commission showed clearly that registration alone does not guarantee safety. Some of the most serious abuse and neglect occurred within registered systems. Real safety comes from trusted relationships, participant control, responsive supports, family involvement, and the ability to change providers when things are not working.
The proposed expansion of commissioning and block-funded models is especially concerning. These approaches shift power away from participants and back toward systems and organisations. This is contrary to the original vision and intent of the NDIS.
I strongly urge the Government to:
- Protect self-managed and self-directed support arrangements
- Preserve participant choice and control over workers and providers
- Establish a dedicated self-directed registration category
- Ensure people are not forced into commissioned or block-funded models
- Prevent pricing changes that make trusted independent supports financially impossible
- Protect funding for social and community participation supports that enable inclusion and connection
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 38
- Properly consult with people with disability and families before legislative change
- Refer any major legislative reforms to a Senate Committee for full public scrutiny People with disability deserve more autonomy, not less.
These changes could have devastating consequences for participants who rely on flexible, individualised supports to remain safe, connected to community, and able to live meaningful lives.
Please ensure that any future NDIS reforms strengthen participant rights rather than eroding them.
Thank you for your consideration.
Kind regards,