National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 4234
My son is a very cheery, outgoing talkative 24-year-old young man. He is in many ways very capable and he is ongoingly increasing his capabilities with the help of the NDIS. Since very early childhood has been totally blind (no perception of light). He has an intellectually disability and also lives with a hemiparesis, meaning one half of his body has limited sensations and mobility. He can use only one of his hands. Whenever awake, my son needs support and supervision (for safety reasons to start with). My son’s disabilities have been permanent since the has been a young toddler, and they will be permanent to the end of his life.
The NDIS has enabled my son
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to live a life with purpose and dignity.
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to ongoingly expand his capabilities and life skills
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to learn meaningful skills
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to make a meaningful contribution to the community, for which he is well recognised.
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to be recognised and included in the community.
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to be able to do volunteer work in the community.
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to be able to provide Braille services for both seeing and blind people
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to deliver educational workshops at High School and University, with the mission to bring the abled and dis-abled communities together and to foster true inclusion.
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to give his burnt-out parents who have been unpaid carers for 24 years the occasional break The proposed funding cuts of the NDIS, which are not clearly explained as yet, are causing enormous stress for my son and his parents. He heavily relies on his little team of “support workers”, which are “handpicked” on the basis of their attitude and capabilities. All his support workers are undergoing voluntary training (including reading Braille) to enable them to support my son with his vision to make a meaningful contribution to the Australian community and to help him run his social micro enterprise.
After completing High School, my son was “cared for” one year in a very reputable disability service organisation. It became quickly clear that group care environment did not work for him for various reasons. It would be absolutely devastating for my son, his family and his friends if he cannot have highly dedicated, highly capable one-to-one support workers anymore! It would be the end of ’s mission to contribute meaningfully to society. His hard-worked-for development would end … and possibly reverse.