National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 442
Role: Clinical Director
Date: 28/05/2026
Senate Inquiry Submission – Proposed NDIS Reforms
Introduction I am writing on behalf of an allied health provider delivering occupational therapy, speech pathology, allied health assistant supports and community-based services across the Illawarra and Shoalhaven regions of New South Wales. Our organisation supports children, adolescents and adults with a wide range of disabilities and complex support needs, including autism, intellectual disability, psychosocial disability, neurological conditions, physical disabilities and developmental delays. Through our work across both metropolitan and regional communities, we have seen firsthand the significant positive impact the NDIS can have when participants are able to access timely, individualised and evidence- based supports. However, we are increasingly concerned regarding the cumulative impact of recent and proposed NDIS reforms on participants, families, providers and the broader health and disability system.
This submission outlines significant concerns regarding the proposed NDIS reforms and the cumulative impacts of recent NDIS changes on participants, families, allied health professionals and providers.
Over the past year alone, the NDIS sector has already experienced extensive reforms and funding changes, including major reductions to travel funding and increasing administrative and compliance requirements. These changes have already had substantial impacts on service delivery, workforce sustainability and participant access to supports, particularly within regional and rural communities.
There are currently extremely high levels of stress and uncertainty across the disability sector. Participants, families and providers are all experiencing significant anxiety regarding the proposed reforms and the ongoing instability within the NDIS environment.
Impact on Providers and Workforce The disability and allied health sector is already experiencing major workforce impacts as a result of recent NDIS changes.
We are seeing: • providers closing services • clinicians leaving NDIS-related roles • increasing workforce shortages
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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 442
Role: Clinical Director
Date: 28/05/2026
• reduced service availability • growing waitlists • reduced access to regional services
Within our own organisation, the travel funding cuts introduced last year had significant impacts on service sustainability and delivery across regional communities. We were required to make multiple allied health assistant positions redundant following the cuts. This directly impacted our ability to provide services to clients and reduced capacity within the local disability workforce.
The reduction in travel funding has disproportionately impacted regional and remote communities where clinicians already travel significant distances to deliver services. Many participants in our area are no longer receiving the services they previously had access to because providers cannot sustainably deliver supports under the current funding structure.
There are also significant concerns regarding increasing restrictions and complexity associated with delivering services within schools, which further impacts accessibility for children and families.
The proposed changes related to “Thriving Kids” and the exclusion of many private practices from early intervention pathways has the potential to create substantial workforce impacts across the sector. Many private allied health providers have extensive experience in early intervention and have developed highly skilled multidisciplinary teams supporting children with developmental delays, autism and complex support needs.
Excluding private practices from these pathways risks: • loss of experienced clinicians from the sector • reduced workforce capacity • increased waitlists • reduced access to specialised early intervention services • reduced service availability in regional communities • poorer continuity of care for children and families
This may result in many experienced clinicians leaving paediatric and NDIS- related practice areas altogether, further worsening workforce shortages and reducing access to therapy for vulnerable children.
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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 442
Role: Clinical Director
Date: 28/05/2026
Impact on Participants and the Health System These reforms are not occurring in isolation. The impacts on participants are already significant and are likely to worsen if further funding reductions and access barriers continue.
We are deeply concerned these reforms will: • increase hospital admissions • increase length of stay in hospital • increase crisis presentations • increase safeguarding concerns • increase carer burnout • reduce preventative intervention • worsen long-term health outcomes • increase disability-related complications • reduce participant safety and independence
Our local hospitals are already experiencing: • bed block • long delays to services • workforce shortages • increasing demand pressures
Reducing access to therapy, supports, assistive technology and community- based intervention will not improve outcomes. It is highly likely to increase pressure on already overstretched health and disability systems in the long term.
As allied health professionals, our role is to restore function, maximise independence and support people to participate in the activities that are meaningful to them. These cuts reduce quality of life for participants and limit their ability to engage in education, employment, social participation and independent living.
Negative Client Examples Already Being Seen I am extremely concerned regarding the impact these reforms are already having on participants. We are already seeing detrimental effects of funding cuts and reduced access to therapy and supports, particularly for participants with the highest levels of need.
Examples currently being experienced within our service include: • young wheelchair-dependent clients with no therapy funding despite requiring extensive assessment, intervention and ongoing review to access appropriate
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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 442
Role: Clinical Director
Date: 28/05/2026
mobility equipment • families experiencing lengthy battles to secure appropriate wheelchairs and assistive technology • participants being required to independently fundraise for essential vehicle modifications • clients with multiple sclerosis requiring extensive assistive technology and home modifications without adequate therapy funding to support assessment, implementation and ongoing management • participants losing access to regional outreach services following travel funding cuts • children experiencing reduced access to therapy due to changes impacting service sustainability • families facing increasing difficulty navigating complex NDIS systems and administrative requirements
These situations place participants at significant risk of: • reduced independence • reduced community participation • reduced safety • increased carer burnout • delayed intervention • worsening functional decline • increased hospitalisation and crisis presentations
This is not good enough. The system must do better in supporting participants with significant disability-related needs.
Quality of Care and Assessment Concerns We are deeply concerned that many of the proposed reforms do not appear to place participant needs, safety and quality of care at the centre of decision- making.
The increasing standardisation of assessments and the proposed use of assessors who may not know the participant or have relevant allied health expertise creates substantial risk for participants with complex needs.
There is significant risk associated with: • assessments not being completed by allied health professionals • assessments being completed by individuals unfamiliar with the participant • reduced consideration of environmental and contextual factors • reduced clinical discretion
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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 442
Role: Clinical Director
Date: 28/05/2026
• benchmarked or standardised funding models
Occupational therapists and allied health clinicians spend years undertaking university education, clinical training, supervision and evidence-based professional development to ensure high quality and safe care delivery.
Removing allied health expertise from assessment and planning processes risks: • poorer quality assessments • inappropriate funding outcomes • reduced participant safety • underestimation of support needs • increased safeguarding concerns • poorer long-term functional outcomes
These changes are likely to reduce quality of care and result in poorer outcomes for participants rather than improving services.
Positive Outcomes Through NDIS Supports We have seen life-changing outcomes for clients through appropriate NDIS- funded supports and therapy.
Examples include: • clients receiving appropriate mobility equipment that dramatically improved independence, safety and community participation • participants returning to employment and increasing workforce participation • children developing functional communication, emotional regulation and independence skills • adults maintaining independence within their homes and communities • reduced carer burden and improved family functioning • prevention of hospitalisation, injury and support breakdown
These outcomes are evidence-based, measurable and directly linked to improved quality of life, participation and long-term reduction in support needs. We are concerned that the proposed changes to NDIS will impact our clients and reduce access to essential allied health services.
Administrative Burden We are deeply concerned regarding the growing administrative burden associated with NDIS processes.
The extensive documentation requirements, repeated requests for information
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National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 Submission 442
Role: Clinical Director
Date: 28/05/2026
and duplication of administrative processes are wasting substantial clinical time and financial resources that could otherwise be directed toward participant care.
One example from our service involved being required to resubmit the same report three separate times in different formats for a single item of assistive technology. These repetitive administrative processes create unnecessary delays for participants, increase provider burden and contribute to significant inefficiency across the Scheme.
Conclusion The cumulative impact of the reforms already introduced, combined with the currently proposed changes, is creating significant instability across the disability sector.
We strongly urge the Senate Inquiry to carefully consider the long-term impacts these reforms may have on: • participant safety • quality of care • access to therapy and supports • workforce sustainability • regional service access • hospital systems • long-term health and disability costs
The NDIS was designed to improve quality of life, independence and participation for people with disability. Reforms should strengthen these outcomes, not reduce them.
We respectfully ask that participant wellbeing, functional outcomes, safety and access to evidence-based supports remain central to all future reform decisions.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need any additional information.
Kind regards,
Clinical Director
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