National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 489
Hello,
I am writing as the parent and primary carer of S , J , R and ZP who are autistic and live in QLD. I am submitting this to the Senate
Standing Committee
on Community Affairs in response to the NDIS Amendment (Securing the NDIS)
Bill
- I am writing about Schedule 1 Part 3 of the Bill, which requires every funded support to arise directly from the specific impairment a person was assessed for. My children autism does not present alone. They also have ADHD / anxiety / Hypermobility / sensory processing disorder / a sleep disorder / PDA / Language disorder / ODD. These conditions interact constantly and cannot be separated into neat categories. The support my children needs are complex and interplay with daily expectations. They require a combination of ongoing supportive therapy with support worker assistance to manage daily living tasks. Justin has explosive behaviour that directly puts the other members of the house at risk of harm, 1:1 support to help each person is vital. Meanwhile I am only 1 carer, alongside this I have my own disability needs. This system doesn’t see that when more than one person living with disability are in the same home there is a complex interplay of how others are also effected. I cannot work when my son is suspended from school for at risk behaviours. Yet he cannot be left alone at home. If I cannot work I will not be able to afford to live/ support my household. If he manages school and I get some work in the afternoons are filled with anxiety-driven meltdowns. My daughter has major executive dysfunction, needing consistent support in reminder, step sequencing and following through. Yes she is able to physically complete the tasks, without 1:1 assistance she won’t be able to complete them. If I am at work/dealing with another child or having any issues of my own I cannot support her. If I support her I have to reduce work/household tasks/ attention to another child. Soohie can do 5 cartwheels in a row, but be fatigued walking in a supermarket and spend the rest of the week bed/house bound from hypermobile joints that ache. Sophie can smile, look you in the eyes and show you the cute personality you want to see, put on a show for her survival. Then go home and be unable to leave the home for days, wanting to hold onto me physically being carried because the social interaction for her was to much.
This bill fails to see the intersecting complexity in the lives of disabled people.
The ndis legislation says no activity’s can be charged under the NDIS meaning a local acrobatics class that offer both social skill building and gross motor development cannot be charged to the ndis. Instead, she needs fortnightly physio for 3 times the price! We cannot get a delegate to listen to the request to fund the activity 1 because of legislation and 2 because the delegate just takes that as a loop hole to fund neither.
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 489
The NDIA cut have already pushed by family is to survival mode. Any further cuts and I don’t know how to continue. I don’t have any more for them to take. I am not coping already! This is going to ruin any chance of accessing supports.
Under this Bill, the NDIA could determine that this support does not directly arise from the autism diagnosis and therefore should not be funded. My child’s presentation would not change. Their needs would not change. But their funding could be removed. This is not a theoretical risk. Many autistic people are already being told their co occurring conditions are not part of their NDIS-recognised impairment. Research published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders (Guan et al., 2021) confirms that the majority of autistic people have at least one co-occurring condition. These are not separate issues. They are part of the same person. I ask the Committee to remove the word directly from the Bill and restore the NDIA’s obligation to fund support for the whole person, not just an isolated diagnosis. Yours sincerely,
NDIS Amendment (Securing the NDIS) Bill 2026
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