NDIA Accountability Project

Impact of NDIS changes on a child with disability and family carer

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Date: 29/5/2026

I welcome the opportunity to make a submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs about the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026.

I am a mother of a disabled 16yo child NDIS participant.

I want to outline the harm this Amendment Bill will cause if it passes Parliament. This Bill is too far-reaching to pass as it stands. I believe the Bill requires further scrutiny and amendment before it proceeds.

Parliamentary Scrutiny and Transparency

The consultation period for the Amendment Bill is two weeks, which is insufficient to allow for appropriate consultation, considering accessibility and communication needs. The Australian Government Guide to Policy Impact Analysis says consultation should occur for a minimum of 30 days where possible.

The short timeline impacts me because it is inefficient time to understand and respond to the Amendment Bill as I am the primary hands on carer for my kid who is largely housebound and unable to attend school.

Recommendation:

Amend the consultation period for a best practice minimum of 30 days.

Key decisions left to ministerial instruments, not law

The issue: The Bill allows Ministers to change who gets NDIS support (Schedule 1 Parts 8 and 9) and how much funding people receive (Schedule 1 Part 4; Schedule 3) by signing an instrument, without going back to Parliament. The rules that will determine critical eligibility thresholds (Schedule 1 Parts 1, 8 and 9) have not yet been written.

How this affects participants: The decisions that shape the lives of participants, whether they qualify for the NDIS and what supports they can access, could be changed without parliamentary debate or public scrutiny. Participants may not know supports or eligibility rules have changed until their plan is affected.

This is already the case with my child’s NDIS plan having been slashed recently due to a Change of Circumstance application. Supports it has taken me 2.5yrs to put in place have suddenly be removed from my child’s new plan. The impact has been immediate and devastating to both my child who has lost funding for three regular weekly appointments (she is even more house bound and sedentary than before which will cause a loss in functional capacity and resulting negative mental health and myself who is

  • having do all the extra hrs of caring, and admin to advocate and launch an internal review (all whilst having parental responsibility which is already well beyond normal) Recommendation: Require that all decisions affecting NDS eligibility and funding levels be made through primary legislation subject to full parliamentary scrutiny, with mandatory advance notice to affected participants before any changes take effect. Existing participants face narrower criteria and fewer rights to challenge decisions The issue: The Bill changes the rules for existing NDs participants and makes it harder to challenge some decisions about supports and funding. It also restricts when you can request a reassessment, removes review rights for automatic plan renewals, and makes funding reductions unreviewable (Schedule 1 Parts 1 and 8). Combined with restrictions on reassessment requests (Part 2), automatic plan renewals without review rights (Part 5), and unreviewable funding reductions (Part 4), existing participants face narrower criteria with significantly fewer avenues to challenge decisions about their supports. How this affects participants: This does not protect participants already on the NDIS, who could be reassessed under stricter rules. If someone’s funding is reduced or their plan renewed automatically, they may have limited or no ability to challenge that decision. This could make it harder for people to get extra support when their circumstances or disability change. I am already experiencing how difficult it is to have my child’s needs met in the current system, let alone having any rights to challenge decisions made by unqualified NDS staff and are directly harmful to my child further limited Recommendation: Require a “no harm” safeguard ensuring no current participant loses access to supports unless equivalent supports are in place, with independent review rights before any exit decision and access to unscheduled reassessments preserved. Unreviewable ministerial power to cut funding across all support categories The Minister can reduce funding for any support or group of supports by a specified percentage through an instrument that cannot be challenged (Schedule 1 Part 4). This applies across all budget categories. Unspent funds will no longer carry over at plan renewal(Schedule 1 Part 5). How this affects participants: A participant’s community participation, capacity building or assistive technology funding could be cut without

warning and without any right to appeal

Participants who save unspent funds across plan periods for high-cost items will lose that ability entirely. My child’s NDIS plan is already insufficient in funding to support community participation, capacity building and assistive tech. Further loss of funding will result in my kid being even more isolated and sedentary at home. Plan periods don’t work at all as we require the flexibility to spend what is needed, when it is needed particularly with report writing and higher cost consumables/assistive tech. We have even lost the tiny amount of consumables we had in the latest disastrous new plan I can’t even buy noise cancelling headphones for my kid

  • Recommendation: Require that unspent funds carry over at plan renewal for participants saving for high-cost items and require independent review rights before any funding reduction takes effect.

Requirement to exhaust treatment options before eligibility The issue: A person with disability will need to exhaust treatment options before they can be eligible for the Scheme (Schedule 1 Part 8). There will also be a removal of whole-of-person assessment, replaced by single eligible impairment consideration (Schedule 1 Part 3). The note that previously acknowledged environmental factors and other ineligible impairments could affect support needs will be removed (Schedule 1 Part 3). How this affects participants: People with disability will need to prove their impairment cannot be treated before they access the NDIS. Once in the scheme, their supports will only be assessed against a single eligible impairment rather than their whole experience. A person’s individual circumstances will not be considered, including ability to pay for treatment, where they live or whether treatment is actually available to them. It’s ridiculous that a person who has a lifelong disability will have to prove they cannot be cured prior to being funded by NDIS. Also ridiculous that a person isn’t seen as a whole human within the context of their life circumstances when NDIS decide what supports that person will most benefit from. How can an impairment not be viewed within the context of a full human being and the circumstances in their life, stupidity!

  • Recommendation: Do not proceed with a requirement to exhaust “appropriate treatment” options – there are no safeguarding measures around participant harm due to side effects or complications, a participant’s financial ability to pay, or their geographic capacity to access treatments. Unvalidated functional capacity assessment tool risks misidentifying need

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The Issue:

The Bill shifts assessment from whole-of-person consideration to a single eligible impairment (Schedule 1 Part 3). Read together with the eligibility thresholds in Parts 8 and 9, the tool used to conduct functional capacity assessments must be capable of sufficiently identifying whether a person meets the threshold for that single impairment. The named assessment tool is the Instrument for Classification and Assessment of Support Needs (I-CAN). I-CAN requires validation to ensure it will sufficiently identify the needs of all people with disability, including those whose needs may be fluctuating or episodic and may not be captured through a point-in-time assessment, and to ensure it is culturally appropriate for First Peoples with disability. How this affects participants: If the assessment tool does not accurately capture the full extent of a person’s disability, including needs that fluctuate or vary over time, a participant may be found ineligible or have their supports undercounted, with no guarantee the result reflects their actual experience. The Functional Capacity assessment from OTs already exists. So stupid for participants to have to spend even more money proving their needs when the system already requires detailed reports and standardised testing. Recommendation: Do not proceed with I-CAN as the functional capacity assessment tool unless it has been demonstrably validated to identify the needs of all people with disability, including those with episodic or fluctuating disability, and demonstrated to be culturally appropriate for First Peoples with disability. Supports cut before replacement system is ready The issue: From 1 October 2026, the government has announced funding for social, civic and community participation supports will be cut by 50 per cent and capacity building daily activities by 10 per cent for all participants, reductions that will be implemented through the ministerial instrument power in Schedule 1 Part 4. The Foundational Supports system intended to fill that gap has no confirmed implementation date and is not yet operational. How this affects participants: Supports that help participants connect with their community, build skills and maintain independence may be cut before anything exists to replace them, leaving carers and families with greater responsibilities and no additional support. These supports are often what help people stay visible, connected and safe. I am already battling for my child losing

  • funding from an already inadequate plan when I lodged a CoFC.

  • NDIS

  • planner has gone against all the evidence and recommendations of the

  • therapists reports and it is my child and family supports around my kid (ie

  • me and sibling) who are suffering as supports have been suddenly

  • removed

  • Recommendation: Require that no reductions to community participation

  • or capacity building supports take effect until Foundational Supports are

  • fully operational, adequately funded and demonstrably able to meet the

  • needs of those who will lose NDIS supports.

  • Reasonable consultation must be engaged with the participants and wider

  • disability community before the NDIS funding system becomes even harder

  • to access