Submission on the NDIS Amendment Bill
I am a: Family member of an adult participant I am the aunty of an adult participant. I have supported my sister in advocating for my niece throughout her whole life and have been a very important part of her NDIS journey. I hold great concerns regarding the outcome of this Bill on my niece’s funding, wellbeing, and overall quality of life. She is unable to express these views herself. I fear that the progress my niece has been making will regress and that she will be worse off in her everyday life if these changes are implemented.
My Overall Position on this Bill
I do not support this Bill. The NDIS already has many requirements and rules. Adding more will place even greater pressure and stress on participants and their families. I understand that the government believes spending is out of control and wants to reduce costs, but these changes are hurting the very people the NDIS was designed to support. The NDIS was created to provide disabled people with:
- Choice and control
- Individualised support
- Full participation
- Community integration This new Bill will make these goals much harder to achieve.
My Key Concerns
- The Bill will make life harder for disabled people.
- The Bill will abolish many of the founding principles of the NDIS.
- The Bill will further isolate disabled people.
- The idea that people must access, try, and prove they have tried all other avenues before being accepted onto the NDIS is terrifying. This goes against choice, control, and basic human rights. At what point do people have control over their own lives? Support in a first-world nation is a human right.
Administrative Burden – There Is Already Too Much Red Tape
Families and participants are already overwhelmed by paperwork, evidence requirements, reviews, and processes. Adding more barriers will increase stress and reduce access to support.
Loss of Supports
No support means:
- No hope of friendships
- No opportunity for study, training, or employment
- No ability to learn new skills safely
- A greatly reduced quality of life
Community Participation – This Is a Human Right
Reducing community supports is taking huge steps backwards. Why shouldn’t disabled people be able to go to a park, have a coffee, or watch a movie? The NDIS does not pay for the coffee or the movie. It pays for the support worker so my niece can safely get there and participate in the community. The worker helps ensure
she is safe, not taken advantage of, discriminated against, or financially exploited — all of which has happened multiple times in the past. My niece has difficulty even saying the days of the week in order and cannot say the months of the year. She cannot use public transport independently or drive herself anywhere. She is totally dependent in this area, and that is not a choice she made. She deserves the same opportunities as everyone else — to go out, experience life, and be part of society. Crisis / “Not Contactable” Rules People with disability, especially those with cognitive impairments, are often unable to manage appointments or communication requirements independently. Families are already stretched to their limits, even with support.
Eligibility and Assessment Changes
It is already difficult enough to access the NDIS. These changes will result in fewer people receiving the help they genuinely need.
Automated Decision-Making
Automated systems remove individuality and fail to acknowledge the complex interaction between diagnoses and how they impact all areas of life.
Funding and Ministerial Powers
These changes create fear and make it feel as though the government wants to control the lives of disabled people simply because support is being provided.
Foundational Supports and System Changes
These changes will lead to:
- Increased isolation
- Less individualised plans
- Reduced choice and control Cutting social supports is inhumane. Everyone needs connection with others. Without support, many disabled people will remain inside their homes or institutions, hidden away and unable to access meaningful social interaction. My niece cannot drive. Without support, she would spend her life isolated in a room on a device by herself or only with family. That is not inclusion. Social interaction is a human right. Grouping disabled people together in homes is not the answer either. These changes place money ahead of human rights. Participants’ lives change, and funding and plans should be reviewed by real people — not automated systems. Every person has unique needs. Reviews should consider a person’s capacity, functioning, and circumstances rather than diagnosis alone. The NDIA also spends millions fighting participants through appeals instead of properly listening to recommendations and evidence in the first place.
My Lived Experience
My niece has had many hospital admissions. During these periods, she is unable to attend appointments and may be considered “non-contactable.” Although she has a support coordinator and public guardian, there can be delays in notifying services because our focus is on caring for her during crises — not administrative processes. Due to her lifelong impairment, she cannot manage appointments independently.
She has a whole team involved in her care, including:
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A support coordinator
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A guardian
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A trustee What the government fails to understand is that people with multiple diagnoses have complex needs. Her diagnoses include disability, medical conditions, and mental health conditions. None of these can be viewed in isolation, yet the NDIS repeatedly fails to acknowledge or support this complexity. The new Bill will only make this worse. For example:
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An OT recommends physiotherapy, but the NDIS says it is “health related.”
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Health services then say she does not qualify and tell us to go back to the NDIS.
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An OT recommends psychology, but the NDIS refuses to fund it.
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Public health may provide limited sessions, but after that we are told to use NDIS funding — which again is refused. My niece cannot afford private psychology. Because of her cognitive impairment, mainstream psychological services are often ineffective. She requires modified programs and specialised professionals, which are extremely difficult to access. Every support already requires endless evidence and battles for approval. Every two years we complete an extremely detailed OT functional capacity report to prove, once again, her disability and daily functioning. Each review includes multiple supporting documents and professional recommendations aimed at improving her quality of life. Most recommendations are still rejected. I genuinely suspect the NDIA has never fully read the 30+ page reports we submit. Currently, my niece is funded at a 1:2 support ratio, despite substantial evidence showing she requires 1:1 support. This has continually been ignored. The NDIA stated they were “willing to migrate the risk.” I cannot imagine asking one worker to safely support my niece alongside another participant. The new Bill will make every part of her life harder:
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Applying for support
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Maintaining support
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Accessing appropriate services
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Living safely and independently Her quality of life will be significantly impacted. Without adequate support, I may be forced to stop working entirely in order to care for her. She requires 24/7supervision and support — not physical care, as she can eat, walk, and talk independently — but support to remain safe and function in daily life. My niece currently has restrictive practices in place. If her support hours are reduced, she would likely be forced to leave her Supported Independent Living (SIL) placement and move back into our family home. This would not be beneficial for her or our family relationships. At present, because she lives independently with support, we are able to maintain a healthy relationship.
Apart from family and support workers, my niece has very few friendships. She desperately needs face-to-face social interaction and community connection. Reducing support will further isolate her. I am also not financially able to stop working permanently in order to provide full-time care.
What I Believe This Bill Gets Wrong
The NDIS does not need to be harder to access. It is already incredibly difficult to receive the funding and supports people genuinely need. My niece has already had essential supports rejected despite professional recommendations. Making access even harder will result in harm. The system fails to see disability support as an investment. When people are properly supported:
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They thrive
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Their quality of life improves
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Hospital admissions reduce
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Skills and independence can increase Reducing supports and increasing restrictions will lead to:
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More hospital admissions
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Longer hospital stays
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Greater harm to vulnerable people
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Increased isolation
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Reduced quality of life There will be serious consequences if these changes proceed.
What Needs to Change or Be Protected
Provider Accountability
Providers need to be far more accountable. The government should:
- Introduce caps on administration fees
- Cap excessive “NDIS pricing”
- Prevent companies from profiting unfairly from disabled people
Registration and Training
Any company providing NDIS-funded supports should:
- Be registered
- Complete mandatory training
- Prove legitimacy and competence Support workers should be properly trained and qualified. This would provide better value for money and reduce poor-quality support from workers who are untrained or disengaged.
Stop Making Participants Constantly Re-Prove Disability
People with lifelong disabilities should not need to repeatedly prove their disability. Functional reports should only be required when necessary and should actually be used to implement supports. A better system would involve major functional reviews every 10 years unless circumstances significantly change.
Allow Families to Be Paid Carers
Families should have the option to be paid carers if they wish to provide support. This could save money while also ensuring quality, trusted care. Many families would willingly provide support themselves if properly funded instead of relying on expensive external providers.
Plans Must Be Reviewed by Real People
Participants’ plans must always be reviewed by real people who understand disability and complex needs. Automated systems should never determine a person’s supports. Every participant is unique and deserves individual consideration. There must also continue to be strong pathways for appeal and review. The NDIA would save significant money if participants did not need to constantly fight decisions through appeals.
Final Statement
I ask the committee to genuinely consider my lived experience when reviewing this Bill and reject these proposed changes. Disabled people are already disadvantaged, and this Bill will make their lives significantly harder. These reforms represent a major step backwards and will cause real harm to some of the most vulnerable people in our communities.