National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 43
To the Community Affairs Legislation Committee,
I am a disabled South Australian with multiple disabilities and chronic health conditions. I am deeply concerned and enormously disappointed about the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 and the impact it is having on disabled Australians, particularly those with complex, fluctuating or less visible disabilities.
I understand the importance of ensuring the long term sustainability of the NDIS and there are many potential solutions to this. Sustainability cannot come at the expense of access, basic human dignity or safety for participants. Many disabled people already face enormous administrative burdens when navigating support systems. Increased reassessments, stricter definitions or additional barriers to accessing supports excludes people who genuinely need assistance but struggle to continually prove their disability to people who are not medically educated - when they have already proved it in a medical setting - it is nonsensical and needlessly cruel.
I know firsthand that disability is not always static or easily measurable; I struggled to be diagnosed, not because medical professionals couldn’t see anything wrong, they most certainly could - but because it was difficult to place me in a box that covered everything and even more difficult for me to find ways to access medical care in a system that fails those who are not privileged to be born into wealth. The system also must recognise that support needs can fluctuate and that preventative supports are often what allow disabled people to remain engaged in work, education, community, and independent living - that is within the medical definition of many disabilities that are accepted by the NDIS. This is a medical system not run by professionals educated in the field and not empowered to help those who need it. The system, as it was, left disabled people vulnerable, disability workers often untrained and a pay check away from losing their own homes. Corporations took money off the top and there were clear ways to improve support and reduce costs that have not been addressed. One example is a disabled person who lives on the border of two states. She lives about 10 minutes from a centre that provides care to people like her however they are not authorised to engage with her as she is technically across the state line. Instead, support workers have to drive three hours from the second nearest centre within her state and stay the night in her area so that they can help her. It’s a mess and a failing of your policy ending in a significantly higher cost for an individual to receive care and the system is riddled with these. Instead of sorting out these issues you have chosen to take away supports from people who need it. Instead of regulating corporations who take the lion’s share off the top, you leave people vulnerable to injury, illness and death. How to fix it, you wonder? Listen to us. She had made repeated requests for this to change. We’re not sorry, good-for-nothing, greedy people sitting at home all day on our backsides, watching the amount of money spent on our plan go up and up, grinning from ear to ear which I’m certain is surprising to politicians as it may be difficult to find someone without that nature in a room full of them. We know ourselves, what we need, how to manage all of it and where to save money and what would benefit both sides better than anyone else.
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 43
I recently looked into psychology at a self identified disability friendly centre that is NDIS registered. This business has a strong social media presence in support of NDIS participants but when I looked at their pricing, it was troubling. This so-called disability affirming business was charging significantly higher amounts to NDIS participants. For assessment, I completely understand as it is more work, but charging double for a regular psychology session just because someone is an NDIS participant isn’t just unwelcoming, it is discrimination. It is truly sick that any other group of people can walk into a business and be charged the same price for, say, a coffee - or therapy - but if a person is disabled, it is completely legal to charge them double. How would you like it if you couldn’t get to work because your car broke down and a mechanic charged your double to get it fixed because you have a beard, wore a dress, had brown hair, smiled when you walked in the door? You’d go to another business. Only that’s the problem for participants; every single business has seen this as an opportunity for profit and the government has done nothing to regulate it because the money is going into their friend’s pockets. You complain of fraud and yet you designed a system for it. And they tell me that I’m the one who’s sick, perhaps we should start assessing the people writing these bills and implementing these systems instead as they clearly lack capacity or perhaps even regular human empathy.
I urge the Committee to ensure that any reforms prioritise:
● An immediate pause on this bill ● A longer period for disabled people and all those affected by the cuts to respond ideally 6 months ● Genuine consultations with disabled people from all backgrounds ● Clarity and transparency around eligibility and supports ● Protection for participants with psychosocial, neurological, and fluctuating conditions ● Reduced administrative burden and reassessment stress ● A human centred approach that values quality of life, not just cost reduction
Disabled Australians deserve stability, autonomy, and respect. Reforms to the NDIS should strengthen these outcomes, not undermine them.
This is violence and you are killing us. If you don’t believe me, look at the increase in suicide rates for people simply waiting for NDIS support between the time that they apply and their application is accepted. Look at the percentage of disabled people who are homeless, food insecure or living below the poverty line. The truth is you think you’re safe, and you might be, but you probably aren’t. Many of us weren’t born disabled, it can happen to you at any time. In fact, the only way to avoid becoming disabled is to die young and otherwise healthy. Would you consider that lucky? I know I wouldn’t. It would only be sensible to design a society that supports the inevitable, not punishes it. Will you reconsider this bill when it’s you or maybe your child? You might have been fortunate so far but the only thing that is certain in life is that everything changes.