Submission 650
Submission to the Senate Inquiry: NDIS (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill on
behalf of Peer Motivation Pty Ltd
My name is Jenna Oakley. I am a parent and carer of two children with disabilities (aged 13 and 16), and I am the Director of Peer Motivation.
I have a unique perspective as both a parent of children with disabilities and a business owner working on the frontline. Every day I’m juggling systems that are in overdrive and increasingly inconsistent, and I’m watching those systems fail the very people they were created to support and protect.
I started Peer Motivation because I could see a painful gap between what people need to recover, stabilize, and build a life and what many people are able to access, especially in regional communities. My eldest child was fortunate to receive early NDIS intervention at the beginning of the scheme, and I will always be grateful for what that support made possible.
But I also meet adults every week who were not that lucky, people who went through childhood and early adulthood without the right support, and who are now living with the long-term impacts of trauma, disability, and systems that did not respond early or respectfully. I founded my company to provide trauma-informed, practical support to people with psychosocial disability and complex trauma, including those who have been failed by the traditional medical model of mental health.
I am writing from regional Queensland to share lived experience across three perspectives: as a family navigating the NDIS over many years, as a carer trying to keep my children safe and supported, and as a provider and advocate, supporting people with disabilities in the community- Most of the time for free.
I strongly oppose this Bill.
I support strong stewardship of public funds and I understand the need to address waste and poor practice. But I do not support reforms that effectively balance the budget by narrowing eligibility, reducing choice and control, or stripping back the everyday supports that keep people safe and connected.
If governments want to find savings, they should target waste and administrative failure — not make people with disability and their families carry the burden. People with disability already fight hard enough each day just to be treated as human beings.
I am deeply concerned that elements of the proposed reforms will:
Reduce choice and control and increase the risk of people being trapped in unsafe or unsuitable support arrangements Narrow access to supports through restrictive interpretations of “reasonable and necessary” Reduce community participation supports, increasing isolation, exploitation and long-term costs
pg. 1- Permission to publish and availability to give evidence This submission may be published on the Senate inquiry submission website and may be quoted in part or in full by the Committee.
Submission 650
Submission to the Senate Inquiry: NDIS (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill on
behalf of Peer Motivation Pty Ltd
Increase expectations on families and unpaid carers without adequate safeguards Reduce transparency and fairness through weaker review/appeal pathways and increased administrative or automated decision-making Shift costs to already overburdened state systems (health, education, child protection), particularly in regional areas My family’s experience shows the NDIS can work — and can also cause harm
My 16-year-old was accepted into the NDIS when the scheme was first created. Before that, I was paying out of pocket for private speech pathology.
With early NDIS supports, she received amazing help. I am genuinely grateful for what those early interventions made possible.
However, one of her support coordinators later abused both her and I. Since that experience, she has never trusted the NDIS or its representatives again and has refused further supports.
This matters for the Committee to understand: the NDIS is not only about funding. It is also about safety, trust, and safeguarding. When safeguarding fails, the impact can last for years and can effectively exclude a person from the scheme even if they remain eligible.
My 13-year-old has had a very different experience. She was diagnosed late because professionals repeatedly refused to test her for the same disabilities as her sister, instead saying she was “mimicking her older sister”.
She had about two years of OT and speech supports, but she was older and did not want to feel different from her peers. Over time, she disengaged.
She has now completely stopped, because the supports she is offered are not the supports she needs or wants. They are not building her independence or self-esteem. Instead, they make her feel defined by deficits and deprive her of the ability to shine in her own way.
This is what “choice and control” looks like in real life: supports only work if they are safe, appropriate, and acceptable to the person receiving them.
Reducing funding for social and community participation will isolate some of the most vulnerable people in our communities.
Community access is not a luxury. It is often the difference between:
Participation and isolation Skills-building and decline Volunteering or paid employment versus long-term welfare dependence
pg. 2- Permission to publish and availability to give evidence This submission may be published on the Senate inquiry submission website and may be quoted in part or in full by the Committee.
Submission 650
Submission to the Senate Inquiry: NDIS (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill on
behalf of Peer Motivation Pty Ltd
If people lose the supports that help them participate safely, the costs do not disappear — they shift to hospitals, crisis services, policing, and families who are already stretched.
In regional Queensland, I have worked with multiple clients who report they have been abused by registered NDIS providers. Some have reported this abuse to police.
These participants are extremely worried they will be forced back into a company structure where they were harmed. They also feel that when they reported concerns, it was covered up or not taken seriously.
People with disability must be able to choose supports that feel safe and culturally and emotionally appropriate. Many participants do not feel safe being supported by staff who are “just there for a pay cheque”. They need workers who understand that every person and every situation is unique, and who can actively listen, communicate clearly, and advocate.
Any reform that reduces choice and control, or makes it harder to change providers, risks trapping people in unsafe arrangements.
I am also very concerned about any changes that effectively reduce the right to appeal or make review pathways less accessible.
Many matters that go to the Tribunal are ultimately decided in favour of participants once evidence of support needs is properly considered.
If the system made evidence-based decisions earlier, it would keep money within the NDIS and directed to participants — rather than being spent on lengthy legal processes where matters are dragged out and then settled shortly before hearings.
Reducing appeal rights does not fix the underlying problem. It risks entrenching incorrect decisions and increasing harm.
As a sole parent and carer who gets approximately $470 per year in child support for both children, when supports that assist with respite and daily living skills are taken away — or when we are prevented from using funds in ways that actually suit our family — We, as human beings, go into severe burnout.
When carers burn out, children suffer first. Then communities suffer. And in my case, my clients and staff also suffer.
Being told that respite “two times a year for a couple of days” is not a good use of taxpayer money ignores the real-world consequences. Burnout leads to crisis presentations, reduced capacity to work, and in some cases family breakdown.
I live and work in regional Queensland. Our health system is already struggling. In my region, hospitals are frequently at capacity, with no beds for people who need them.
pg. 3- Permission to publish and availability to give evidence This submission may be published on the Senate inquiry submission website and may be quoted in part or in full by the Committee.
Submission 650
Submission to the Senate Inquiry: NDIS (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill on
behalf of Peer Motivation Pty Ltd
If NDIS supports are reduced or delayed, people will not simply cope without them. They will present to emergency departments, mental health services, and other crisis systems that are already overwhelmed. Leaving our most vulnerable at server risk of harm and breaching our duty of care obligations as a society.
I provide trauma-informed support for clients with psychosocial concerns that have not been addressed through the traditional medical model of mental health.
I have witnessed countless times where the mental health system fails patients and their families. These systems need to be strengthened — not undermined and replaced by approaches that do not address underlying trauma and drivers of distress.
People carrying an overwhelming mental load—especially those who haven’t benefited from traditional medical models—should be able to access alternative supports that actually fit their needs.
When support is trauma-informed and tailored to the individual, clients often build capacity over time and can reduce the level of support they need, because they feel understood, safe, and genuinely equipped with practical tools. It’s not about forcing people into a one-size-fits-all system; it’s about matching the right approach to the right person.
Prevention will always be better than cure. If we invest earlier in families, children, and young people—with the right supports at the right time—we give them the strongest possible start and reduce long-term harm and lifelong costs to the taxpayer.
If reforms reduce flexibility, choice and control, or access to the supports that keep families stable, my options become very limited:
Shut my business, return to Centrelink, and care for my children the way they deserve, or Keep going, burn out, and leave everything to everyone else to sort out
Neither outcome is good for my children, my clients, my staff, or my community — especially in regional areas where support services are already thin and providers are struggling and going into liquidation.
Recommendations
I respectfully recommend the Committee:
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Reject the Bill in its current form o Do not proceed with reforms that reduce rights, narrow access, or shift responsibility onto families.
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Protect choice and control as a safety mechanism pg. 4- Permission to publish and availability to give evidence This submission may be published on the Senate inquiry submission website and may be quoted in part or in full by the Committee.
Submission 650
Submission to the Senate Inquiry: NDIS (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill on
behalf of Peer Motivation Pty Ltd
o Ensure participants can change providers and support arrangements quickly where safety concerns exist.
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Do not narrow “reasonable and necessary” in ways that exclude community participation and capacity-building o Recognise community access, daily living skills, and respite as preventative supports that reduce long-term public costs.
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Strengthen safeguarding and accountability for provider abuse o Improve response pathways when participants report abuse, including clear escalation, transparency, and trauma-informed processes.
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Maintain strong, accessible review and appeal rights o Improve early decision quality and evidence consideration, rather than reducing participant rights.
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Find savings in the right places o Target waste, poor commissioning, administrative duplication, and drawn out legal disputes. o Invest in early, evidence-based decision-making so public funds go to participants, not unnecessary process.
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Do not shift costs to state crisis systems, especially in regional areas o Require impact assessment on hospitals, mental health services, and child/family systems before implementing changes.
The NDIS has shown it can change lives for the better. My eldest child benefited from early intervention that I will always be grateful for. But my family has also experienced serious harm when safeguarding failed, and we have seen how unsuitable supports can push a child away from help altogether.
Please listen to people with disability, families, and frontline providers. Protect the supports that keep people safe, connected, and able to contribute. Stop wasting public money on avoidable legal fights and crisis responses and invest it where it belongs: in the everyday supports that allow Australians with disability to live with dignity and our local communities to benefit from their input and experiences.
Thank you to the Committee for taking the time to read this submission and for considering my lived experience perspective on this extremely important and life-changing Bill. I appreciate the opportunity to contribute to the inquiry, and I ask that you place the voices of people with disabilities, families, and those supporting them at the center of your deliberations.
pg. 5- Permission to publish and availability to give evidence This submission may be published on the Senate inquiry submission website and may be quoted in part or in full by the Committee.