Submission 661
Submission to the inquiry into the National Disability
Insurance Scheme
Amendment (Securing the
NDIS for Future
Generations) Bill 2026
The Federal Government must delay implementation of changes to the NDIS until genuine consultation has occurred, and alternative supports can be resourced and rolled out.
29 May 2026
Submission 661
Introduction
Acknowledgement of Country
Community Legal Centres Australia recognises that the land we work, live, and learn on is unceded Aboriginal land. Our office stands on Gadigal Land. We acknowledge Elders, both past and present. We acknowledge the First Nations workers in our sector across a great many Aboriginal lands on this continent and its surrounding islands, and we thank them for their generosity and persistence in supporting our sector to always be on a journey of learning and growth
About us
Community legal centres help hundreds of thousands of people each year to resolve the legal, social, health, financial and other related problems making their lives harder. We deliver high-quality, rights-based, integrated services. We learn from clients’ experiences to understand how laws and legal systems need to be changed and then we advocate for those changes. For a number of specialist community legal centres in our membership, core business involves supporting people with disabilities to access and navigate the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Their expert assistance is critical to ensuring people with disability can access just outcomes and have the appropriate supports to enable safety, autonomy, and fair access to community life. Community Legal Centres Australia is the national representative voice for the community legal sector. Our members are the eight state and territory community legal sector peak bodies. Together, we represent over 150 community legal centres (including 13 Women’s Legal Services), 11 Family Violence Prevention and Legal Services, and two Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services. About this submission
This submission draws on expertise from disability specialist community legal centres in our membership and raises serious concerns with both the substance of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 (‘the Bill’) itself, and the process of its creation and introduction. It recommends that the Federal Government delay implementation of changes to the NDIS until genuine consultation has occurred, and alternative supports can be resourced and rolled out. Thank you for taking the time to consider our submission. If you need further information, please contact Emily Hamilton, Advocacy and Communications Manager, on .
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Submission 661
You don’t secure a safety net by cutting holes in it.
All people deserve autonomy, safety, and fair access to community life. The Bill will give effect to changes that would deny these rights to many people with disability and rip gaping new holes in our essential safety net. People who fall through those holes will lose access to social connection and participation, be denied choice and control over their lives, and face increased risk of mental and physical harm or even death. No two people are the same. When making decisions about the support a person needs, a good decision-maker looks at the context of someone’s life, their unique circumstances, and provides the supports that meet them. This Bill explicitly stops that from happening, and steps away from the principle that people’s NDIS plans are individualised. If a person is living in a regional area, too poor to afford treatment, in a family with more than one person with disability, or has any other unique circumstances, it matters. Cuts to services for whole groups of people without considering their individual circumstances will lead to institutionalisation, violence, abuse and neglect. When government removes supports, people’s need for support doesn’t just vanish – it gets shifted. The Bill will harm people with disability. It will also drive significant increases in downstream costs to communities and governments. Pressure will increase on crisis services and hospitals, which aren’t designed for disability support. Families will also bear the brunt of providing care, at a cost to their own wellbeing and the economy. You don’t rush life-threatening decisions.
All people deserve to have a say on the laws and systems that impact our lives. All people deserve a level of certainty that the politicians making decisions that impact our lives are well-equipped to make them. The Federal Government’s disappointing choice to hold a symbolic 2-week “consultation” on a 109-page bill and its 300 pages of explanatory material undermines these things. People with disability are the experts on disability and the systems surrounding disability support. The process and timeframe for consultation don’t allow for anyone – least of all the people with disability it is most important for the government to listen to – to fully engage with the bill and provide meaningful input. This is not enough time for legal experts to fully assess the bill for all its consequences. This timeframe is also not long enough to allow for even parliamentarians themselves to understand the bill, especially without the benefit of expert input that would be provided via a genuine consultation process.
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Submission 661
The Federal Government has extensively consulted with the disability community in recent years, only to disregard recommendations made. The NDIS Independent Review received almost 4,000 submissions and travelled to every state and territory to hear directly from people with disability. The Review said that the NDIS “cannot achieve sustainability without improving outcomes for people with disability”. The Disability Royal Commission heard from about 10,000 people, many of whom shared experiences, aspirations and ideas, as well as traumatic stories, with the hope of a better future for the disability community. The Disability Royal Commission identified a key theme for an inclusive Australia as “people with disability having the support they need to exercise choice and maximise their independence”. In contrast, it is not clear who the Federal Government has listened to in creating this new NDIS Bill or what evidence, including an economic analysis, supports the proposed changes.
Recommendation: Delay implementation of changes to the NDIS until genuine consultation has occurred, and alternative supports can be resourced and rolled out.
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