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

Submission 3966

Submission to the Senate NDIS inquiry

e have a family member who is blind since birth. She managed her childhood years and school with support from the family. As an adult she has always protected her independence, and managed well as both a single mum and worker. Although she is active in her community, the NDIA support she has received since its inception has greatly improved her daily quality of life.

In the last couple of years, though, NDIS officials have repeatedly questioned her about her obvious and intractable condition and needs when withdrawing funding. On one occasion the officer in charge of her funding made a disparaging comment “now you’ll see what it’s like for the rest of us.”

My immediate thought when she told me of this rudeness was of course, that the “rest of us” don’t struggle daily with services, housing , transport etc. not geared to people who are blind, people in wheelchairs etc. She is now deeply unsettled by what the government’s drastic defunding of NDIS and culling of clients proposed in the recent budget will mean for her and our fellow citizens in the disability community.

Savings should not be made by culling clients but rather looking at the systemic issues, and a more targeted oversight of providers could weed out those not efficiently meeting their clients’ needs or rorting the system. I had a look at ads to recruit providers and what they focused on was how much money you could make as a provider, this focus might very well encourage scrupulous providers. Instead I believe my daughter and all other NDIS clients should enjoy high quality and reliable support and not left in a state of constant fear of being excluded from the scheme.

The original vision of NDIS was to enlarge the lives of people with disabilities so they could participate in services and spaces that enhance our community’s quality of life and well-being, to provide services, education and recreation to prevent their social exclusion. The proposed cuts are simply a backward step and effectively destroying those objectives. Please look at the systematic issues and improve the system for both clients and the bona fide providers and not just a simple and crude measure to save money in the short term by attacking the most vulnerable citizens in our community.