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

Submission 3923

SUBMISSION RE: PROPOSED NDIS CUTS

I do not support the proposed cuts to the NDIS.

I am a support worker with several clients who have NDIS funding. I have seen first-hand the enormous difference the NDIS has made to people’s lives. It supports people to work, study, maintain their homes, undergo necessary medical procedures, contribute to the community, and have fulfilling and meaningful lives.

The proposed changes threaten the lives and wellbeing of thousands of people in our community.

Schedule 1 - Access and planning

Part 1 - Defining functional capacity:

I do not support the proposed changes to functional capacity assessments. A generic assessment does not allow for the nuances of functional capacity that are the reality for people with disability. This is highly likely to result in an overestimation of many people’s functional capacity, and a loss of necessary support.

Part 3 - Strengthen link between an impairment and the need for support

The system of focusing on a single impairment for a person to access the NDIS is an absurd and illogical determination of disability. Specific disabilities rarely operate in isolation. Determining that a person with a degenerative physical disability as their ‘primary impairment’ cannot qualify for mental health support, for example, is a cruel and ignorant position. While ostensibly reducing costs to the NDIS, this proposed change is likely to put pressure on other government services and reduce quality of life for NDIS participants and their families.

Part 4 - Support determinations

Threatening to cut funding for social and community access is especially abhorrent. This funding enables my clients with physical and psychosocial disabilities to access medical appointments, shops, and rare trips for personal enjoyment and enrichment such as art galleries, parks and cafes. I have supported clients in hospital (where they otherwise would have been physically unable to, for example, reach their own belongings or drink water – nursing staff do not have ), to attend Centrelink appointments, and to access blood tests.

The ability to leave the house and access nature and culture, and to socialise with others, is a human right and essential for everyone to live a meaningful life. These activities are crucial, but the government is treating them as optional.

Schedule 2 - Fraud measures

Part 1 - Registration of NDIS providers

Many NDIS participants work with providers who are sole traders, and have carefully selected these providers to ensure best possible support arrangements. If mandatory registration is introduced it must acknowledge and support the continuation of these arrangements. Registration

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

Submission 3923

must be affordable and accessible – on par with a Working With Children Check. It must not be prohibitively expensive for individuals whose livelihoods depend on this work, to the detriment of support for NDIS participants.

Schedule 3 - Governance arrangements

I do not support the proposed changes to governance arrangements.

I do not support giving unprecedented power to the Commonwealth Minister to control NDIS pricing.

I do not support the automation of administrative action, which is cruel and absurd. Automation - especially when it cannot be overruled by a human worker - is already causing enormous problems in Aged Care and has previously created the Robodebt debacle. This is an abhorrent proposal that is designed to under-assess people’s very real and urgent needs. It will save money at the expense of people’s lives.

I urge you in the strongest possible terms to reconsider the proposed changes to the NDIS, and take into account the thousands of lives that will be negatively affected.