NDIA Accountability Project

Communication challenges for participants with AuDHD and impact of NDIA contact requests

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Submission 3850

Mr Dean Hollister

Submission to the Senate Inquiry

Senate Committee

01/06/2026

deeply concerned about this issue.

Dear Committee Members

I hereby present a submission into the proposed amendments into the NDIS, particularly the legislation labelled “Securing the NDIS for future generations” amendments.

I am a 56 year-old NDIS participant, I am also the current secretary for the Fibromyalgia Support Network of Western Australia.

I have appeared before the Royal Commission back in 2022, providing evidence of abuse, neglect and violence towards people with disabilities.

My experience within the disability community is extensive, described by an LAC as “a passion”. In 2000, my mother acquired a disability, of which I helped her for the last 24 years of her life.

I was born with AuDHD, experienced extreme instances of abuse in all stages of my life.

I have serious concerns about the proposed amendments, especially ones involving participants with communication needs being completely ignored by NDIA staff.

40A Participants who are not contactable

This is the most alarming of all. This does nothing to address adult participants with Autism Spectrum Disorder and/or ADHD.

For ASD, ADHD & AuDHD Participants, communication needs can be very strict, in order to manage symptoms and prevent situations such as meltdowns, shutdowns & burnouts.

For example, my communication needs are stated as email & post. This has never actually been respected or adhered to. Contact requests are seldom fair and reasonable.

Submission 3850

I have participated in Participant First Focus Groups, where this has been expressed repeatedly. In my late 2022 plan review, I received an SMS, which stated someone would be calling ‘in the next hour’. This was closer to 10 minutes in reality.

I have also presented evidence of this nature to the Royal Commission in to disabilities.

Unreasonable and harassing contact requests cause a multitude of actual harm, including:

  • Fear
  • Anxiety
  • Aggression
  • Distrust
  • Loss of confidence in the agency
  • Meltdowns
  • Total disengagement / disconnect
  • Anger
  • Panic
  • Disrespect
  • Confrontation
  • Self-harm, including suicidal ideation
  • Breaches of the Disability Discrimination Act
  • Participants ceasing to take medications
  • Loss of essential services
  • Neglect
  • Abuse
  • Adversarial & combative

Submission 3850

  • Decisions made without the participant being a party to those decisions

  • In situations where a participant is under the protection of a Violence Restraining Order, serious threat to life

I attach a Reddit thread on this issue. I am also aware of participants who are deaf or approaching deafness, and the agency ignores communication needs. This is very evident in situations where the agency staff are impatient with participants that require adjustments to make communication easier.

Yours faithfully,

MR Dean Hollister