National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 788
Senate Enquiry submission
To: Committee Secretary, Community AƯairs Legislation Committee
Re: Inquiry into the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing
the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
(1) Cut for social and community support places participants at significant risk, particularly when no alternative support is provided. The proposed cut cross all participants (50% or other figures) is simply a reduction in participants’ support hours without addressing the gap between diƯerent forms of support.
People with disabilities live 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, just like everyone else. Participants require support during daytime, nighttime, and other daily situations. Participants cannot simply be isolated or confined like prisoners.
One of the key problems in the design of the NDIS is the lack of properly funded facilities, hubs, or centres where participants can gather for social and community activities. As a result, outside observers may wrongly assume that people with disabilities are merely “going on holidays” in public places. In reality, social and community participation is not a luxury or welfare benefit; it is essential for participants’ psycho-social wellbeing and mental health.
Without proper facilities, hubs, or centres, it is also diƯicult to implement group support models, even though they are more economically eƯicient. Many providers are reluctant to support multiple participants together because of the potential risks and challenges that participants may face or display in public settings.
(2) Initially, we were told that the NDIS reforms were intended to target fraud and rorting. However, the proposed bills now appear to focus primarily on simple funding cuts while doing little to address fraud and misuse within the system.
In practice, these reforms are targeting already vulnerable people with disabilities. EƯective reform legislation should include clear and practical measures to prevent fraud and rorting. Instead, many of the proposed changes appear to punish participants by restricting their rights and reducing their supports.
(3) The current NDIS system itself wastes a significant amount of public money through repeated planning processes, reviews, and legal proceedings, including matters before the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART).
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 788
Many of these problems originate from poor initial planning decisions made by inexperienced or incapable planners, which then lead to unnecessary reviews and legal disputes. However, instead of fixing the underlying problems within the NDIS system, the proposed reforms appear to focus on restricting participants’ rights to appeal inadequate or problematic plans.
A major cause of poor planning outcomes is the lack of proper communication, understanding, and discussion with participants.
Currently, diƯerent NDIS staƯ handle diƯerent stages of the assessment process. For example, Local Area Coordinators (LACs) verbally discuss participants’ situations and collect information, while the actual planner often makes decisions solely based on reading documents without directly confirming important details with participants.
As a result, the competency and capability of planners in understanding and assessing large volumes of information from multiple reports are critical to producing fair and reasonable plans. Unfortunately, many cases suggest that planners do not fully understand participants’ individual circumstances.
To improve the system, one dedicated staƯ member should follow a participant’s case throughout the entire planning and assessment process to ensure consistency, accountability, and a better understanding of the participant’s needs.