NDIA Accountability Project

Child with complex disabilities experiences bullying, assaults, and safety risks

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Submission 45

Submission to the NDIA – NDIS Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026

Personal Circumstances and Lived Experience

I am a single parent caring for a child with complex disabilities. My child is unable to attend school despite repeated attempts across three different schools including support units.

My child has experienced:

  • Bullying
  • Physical assault at school
  • Repeated suspensions
  • Partial attendance arrangements that were not sustainable
  • Being excluded from school activities and events
  • Frequent distress calls requiring early collection

Despite all the reasonable efforts, the school environment was not safe or appropriate for my child. As a result, I have been forced into homeschooling, not by choice but due to lack of viable alternatives.

My child:

  • Cannot cope in public or noisy environments
  • Will only engage with familiar individuals
  • Frequently absconds, creating serious safety risks
  • Experiences daily meltdowns
  • Is unable to independently toilet, shower, prepare meals, dress or education

This means my caring responsibilities are constant and intensive.

Impact on myself as a Parent with Disability

I also live with my own disabilities and receive no NDIS support.

I have:

  • No family support

Submission 45

  • No informal supports or friends
  • A current AVO in place for protection from a family member
  • Ongoing sleep deprivation due to caring responsibilities

I am effectively isolated at home and unable to participate in the community. I cannot afford to go out, and even if I can, our disabilities and safety prevent this.

System Failures

My experience highlights several critical failures within the current NDIS and broader service system:

Failure to Support Families Holistically

The NDIS treats participants in isolation. Children with complex disabilities rely entirely on their carer.

There is:

  • No recognition of the carer’s disability
  • No integrated support approach for families
  • An assumption that informal supports exist when they do not

Inappropriate Reliance on the Education System

The expectation that children must attend school is unrealistic in complex cases.

Schools:

  • Are not equipped to manage high support needs
  • Exclude children when behaviours escalate
  • Shift responsibility back onto parents

This leaves families without adequate education, without support, and without alternatives.

Lack of Recognition of Extreme Functional Impairment

My child’s inability to perform basic daily tasks and regulate behaviour demonstrates significant functional impairment.

Submission 45

However:

  • The system often underestimates these needs
  • Reports may misrepresent the level of support required
  • Funding decisions do not reflect real-world care demands

Isolation and Risk to Carers

Without adequate support:

  • Carers experience burnout
  • Mental and physical health deteriorates
  • Risk of system collapse increases

If I am unable to continue, there are no safeguards in place. My child would end up in state care. His father has not seen our child in over 5 years of his choice. We went through the entire family court process, which was just over 4 years in total.

Concerns About the Proposed Amendments

While the Bill aims to ensure sustainability, I am concerned it may:

  • Further restrict access to necessary supports
  • Increase reliance on informal supports that do not exist
  • Reliance on mainstream supports which do not exist
  • Tighten funding without understanding real-life complexity
  • Penalise families already in crisis

Cost-saving measures must not come at the expense of vulnerable families. Especially families that their child/ren cannot attend school. Forcing parents out of the workforce.

Recommendations

  1. Recognise Carers with Disability
  • Automatic consideration of parent/carer disability in child plans
  • Access pathways for carers who are clearly eligible but unsupported

Submission 45

2. Fund High-Intensity In-Home Supports

  • Where school is not viable, provide adequate in-home supports
  • Recognise homeschooling in complex disability cases as a necessity

3. Strengthen Accountability of Assessments

  • Independent review of reports used in decision-making
  • Consequences for inaccurate or misleading professional reports

4. Reduce Reliance on Informal Supports

  • Remove assumptions that family or community support exists
  • Base decisions on actual circumstances, not theoretical ones

5. Crisis Prevention Measures

  • Early intervention for families at risk of breakdown
  • Emergency supports for isolated carers

Conclusion

My situation is not unique. Families like mine are invisible in policy but living in crisis daily.

The NDIS must reflect real-world complexity, not idealised assumptions.

Without meaningful reform, the system risks failing those with the highest needs—while placing unsustainable pressure on carers who have no support left to give.

Regards,