I am writing as an Australian with permanent psychosocial disability who is already being locked out of the NDIS. I am extremely distressed by the recent budget measures to further restrict access to the Scheme. I am one of the people these changes are supposed to ‘target’, and I need you to understand that I am already living the reality of being denied essential supports despite clear medical evidence and multiple advocates backing my case.
Over the last year I have been rejected and declined by the NDIS despite:
- long-term diagnoses including schizoaffective disorder,
- recent psychiatric admission and discharge summary,
- detailed reports from my GP and psychologist since 2007, and
- a disability advocate supporting my current Tribunal review.
The supports I am seeking are modest and clearly disability-related: help with grocery shopping (supermarkets are a trauma and psychosis trigger for me), supported community access so I can safely leave the house, and disability-specific help to keep any employment sustainable. Even these basic supports have been refused. I have been pushed into extreme financial hardship and psychological distress by a system that tells me I am ‘not disabled enough’ while my clinicians say the opposite.
Against that reality, I find it shocking that the government is now moving to take even more people out of the Scheme and make access even harder. From where I am sitting, The problem is not ‘too many people getting support’ – it is that people like me, who clearly meet the intent of the Scheme, are already being excluded and harmed.
I live with schizoaffective disorder, a serious and enduring mental health condition that has required ongoing treatment and multiple psychiatric hospital admissions. Recently I applied for NDIS access on the basis of this psychosocial disability and was declined. I have now lodged an application for review at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (ART, b ut the process so far has been confusing, distressing, and, in my view, unfair.
I have provided reports from my long-term general practitioner, my psychologist of many years, and the full discharge summary from my most recent psychotic episode, as well as a personal statement written with the help of a disability advocate about how my illness affects my day-to-day functioning. I have clearly outlined the supports I am seeking: help with grocery shopping and weekly food preparation (because supermarkets are a major trigger for me and have directly preceded a severe psychotic and suicidal episode), support to safely access the community (for example, being able to attend a local poetry event with a support worker so I am not isolated at home), and assistance to obtain and maintain suitable employment (including coaching and structure so I can either sustain a full-time role or find part-time work that will not
Despite this, the decline letters I have received give no meaningful explanation of why my evidence has been considered insufficient. They do not engage with the details already provided, nor do they clearly identify what specific further documents are required. I have repeatedly asked my Local Area Coordinator (LAC) for help in gathering additional evidence and for guidance on what exactly is needed, and I have effectively been told to just wait for an outcome, with no advocacy or practical assistance. This has left me trying to navigate a highly complex system on my own, while also being too financially constrained to book repeated, non–bulk-billed long appointments with my GP to chase every possible report the NDS might want.
The impact of this process on my mental health has been severe. On multiple occasions while trying to handle the NDS application and review steps by myself, I have become suicidal from the stress, anxiety, and sense of being dismissed and unheard. I am not asking for special treatment; I am asking for a fair and transparent assessment of my situation, clear communication about what is required from me, and recognition that for someone with my condition, the process itself can be genuinely dangerous if it is not handled carefully.
I write this submission to highlight my experiences, and advocate for a more humane and accessible process for people with psychosocial disabilities who are trying to do the right thing. I am happy to provide copies of the correspondence and medical evidence I have already submitted if that would assist. Thank you for taking the time to read this and for any support you are able to offer.
I am also asking you, as members of parliament, to urge your federal colleagues to reconsider this direction and to listen to lived-experience evidence from people currently being denied access. I would welcome any response explaining how these changes are consistent with the original promise of the NDIS, and how someone in my position is supposed to survive without the supports the Scheme was designed to fund.