Neurodevelopmental support services at risk due to reform (Family or carer experience)

Submission 795

1 June 2026

Committee Secretary

Senate Standing Committees on Community Affairs

PO Box 6100

Parliament House

Canberra ACT 2600

Dear Committee Members

National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future

Generations) Bill 2026

I write both as the Director of Jigsaw Autism Services and as the parent of an adult daughter with disability.

Jigsaw Autism Services (Jigsaw) is a long-established neurodevelopmental and inclusion-focused service with over 17 years’ experience delivering early childhood intervention and developmental supports for children with low to moderate support

needs,  developmental  delay,  autism, ADHD,  learning  differences,  emotional

regulation difficulties, and broader neurodivergent presentations. Established during the Helping Children with Autism (HCWA) initiative in 2009, Jigsaw was developed in response to a significant gap in specialised developmental supports on the NSW Central Coast.

Jigsaw delivers evidence-based, neurodevelopmentally informed supports through a

transdisciplinary  model   integrating   educational,   allied   health,   behavioural,

developmental, and participation-focused approaches

At any point in life, any person could become disabled. This issue is far bigger than any one individual or family, and government should represent and protect all

members of the community.  It  is deeply disappointing to see both media and

government narratives increasingly relying on fear-based messaging, particularly around fraud within the NDIS. The responsibility for wrongdoing should never be placed on families living with disability, such as ours, or on carers already carrying enormous emotional, financial, and practical burdens. This is even more significant in

Jigsaw Autism Services ABN 43 144 823 978 31 Amsterdam Circuit, Wyong, NSW, 2259 m: e: info@jigsawautismservices.com www.jigsawautismservices.com

Submission 795

areas such as where Jigsaw operates on the NSW Central Coast which is an area of low socio-economic families and high levels of domestic violence.

The actions of a small number of individuals doing the wrong thing should not tarnish the broader disability community. There are thousands of participants, families, carers, and providers across Australia, such as Jigsaw, who act with integrity every single

day, working  tirelessly  to support vulnerable people and improve  lives. Their

contribution deserves recognition and respect, not suspicion and the stigma now been placed on persons with a disability.

I am deeply concerned about the proposed changes the Minister is seeking to introduce as part of the current reform process for our daughter, and this is also being experienced by families in conversation at Jigsaw. Many families, providers, and individuals with disability are feeling significant uncertainty and fear about what these changes may mean in practice. There is growing concern that reforms focused primarily on cost containment may unintentionally reduce access to essential supports, increase barriers to eligibility, and undermine the individualised approach that has been central to the Scheme’s success. Any changes to the NDIS must be approached with extreme caution, transparency, and genuine consultation with the people whose lives will be directly affected.

While it is proposed that thousands of people are to be cut from the NDIS in the name of reducing costs, many of these same individuals, once abandoned without adequate support by the government, will ultimately cost society far more through increased reliance on crisis services, mental health systems, homelessness supports, hospitals, and welfare systems. The long-term consequences of withdrawing support cannot be ignored.

I would genuinely invite decision-makers to come to Jigsaw and work alongside us for a week to witness firsthand the real change the NDIS is making to genuine families. Behind every plan and every funding package are people fighting every day for stability, dignity, independence, and hope for their children’s futures.

For many families like ours, the introduction of the NDIS represented something far greater than funding. We were promised that our children would not be abandoned once they grew up. We were promised that disability support in Australia would finally move beyond survival and crisis management toward genuine participation, dignity, safety, and opportunity.

For many autistic individuals and people with neurodevelopmental disability, the NDIS has been the first system that has meaningfully acknowledged functional impact

across  daily   life,  mental  health,  communication,  sensory  regulation,  social

participation, and independence.

The current disability reform discussions cannot lose sight of this.

As both a NDIS registered provider and parent, one of the most confronting realities has been watching generations of children move through an education system that often failed to adequately teach, support, or understand them. My own experience reflects this deeply. My daughter was only one of three children in her year who met

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Submission 795

the criteria for education funding support. Since 2009, I have witnessed a significant increase in neurodevelopmental disabilities, yet schools are increasingly struggling to meet these students’ needs. Higher rates of school suspension and exclusion are leaving vulnerable children further isolated rather than supported.

Many families spent years being told their children were “fine,” “coping,” or “not eligible enough” for support, while those same children experienced significant challenges including anxiety, school refusal, social isolation, behavioural distress, exclusion, trauma, and disengagement from education and future employment pathways.

These challenges do not simply disappear when a person turns 18.

As both a Registered NDIS service provider and a family of an adult daughter with disability, we are increasingly seeing autistic adults and adults with developmental

disability  enter  adulthood  without  the  foundations  required  for  meaningful

independence. Many struggle with sustainable employment, independent living, emotional regulation, social connection, adaptive functioning skills, and confidence participating in their communities.

Importantly, many of the adults entering the system today grew up under previous education, health, and disability systems that were unable to provide the level of support now available through the NDIS. The consequences of those earlier system failures continue to be felt by individuals, families, and communities.

Without appropriate supports, many individuals face increased risks of mental health decline, family breakdown, homelessness, social isolation, and long-term reliance on crisis and emergency services.

In our experience, the NDIS has not created dependency. Rather, it has provided

supports  that  enable  people  with  disability  to  build  skills,  participate more

independently, strengthen family capacity, and avoid reaching crisis point.

The NDIS has enabled outcomes that previous systems consistently failed to achieve, including:

• improved emotional wellbeing;
• increased communication and participation;
• stronger family functioning;
• improved school engagement and attendance;
• greater community inclusion;
• reduced behavioural escalation;
• increased independence and daily living skills; and
• genuine choice and control, allowing participants and families to access providers that best meet their individual needs and circumstances.

The NDIS has also created meaningful employment opportunities for people with disability and supported a substantial workforce, many of whom are women working across disability, allied health, education, and community services.

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Submission 795

The Australian Government made a significant commitment when it established the NDIS because previous systems were failing many people with disability and their families. While reform is necessary and no system is perfect, it is concerning that the burden of reform is increasingly being felt by those who are already among the most vulnerable members of our community.

Any future reforms must ensure that genuine participants and families are not left without the supports that have enabled them to participate more fully in education, employment, family life, and their communities. Effective reform should strengthen sustainability while preserving the supports that prevent crisis, build capacity, and create better long-term outcomes for people with disability.

For many families, particularly those we support at Jigsaw, the NDIS has represented a significant shift from expecting people with disability to fit into existing systems, to recognising and responding to their individual strengths, needs, and circumstances. For the first time, many families felt that professionals were looking at the whole person rather than the diagnosis or the limitations of the systems around them.

As reforms are considered, I strongly urge the Government not to shift toward narrow cost-driven models that reduce disability to checklists, short-term outputs, or generic service provision.

Autism and neurodevelopmental disability are complex, lifelong conditions. Functional impact changes across environments and developmental stages. Many individuals who appear “mild” on paper require highly specialised support to remain engaged in education, employment, relationships, and community participation.

There is significant danger in assuming that reduced visible behaviours or apparent coping equals reduced disability. In many cases, families and individuals are surviving only because supports are currently in place.

The long-term economic impact must also be considered. If we do not invest in early

intervention,  specialist  support,  mental  health  protection,  family  stability, and

transition-to-adulthood pathways, the cost does not disappear, it simply transfers into:

• mental health systems,
• emergency departments,
• homelessness services,
• justice systems,
• unemployment,
• carer burnout,
• and lifelong welfare dependence. The NDIS should not be viewed purely as an expense. When implemented properly, it is also a protective social and economic investment.

As a regional provider, we are also deeply concerned about increasing pressures

toward   generalised   service   delivery  models   that   undervalue   specialist

neurodevelopmental expertise. Children and adults with complex communication, sensory, emotional regulation, cognitive, and behavioural profiles require clinicians

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and support systems with advanced knowledge and experience. Disability reform must not unintentionally dismantle the specialist workforce Australia has spent years developing.

In NSW, the government had already made it clear in the recent EOI for Thriving Kids they do not want specialised expertise by not inviting any private Allied Health Providers to lodge an EOI. Providers such as Jigsaw, with over 17 years specialising in autism, have been excluded from this program. Only NGO’s are invited. This reflects the end of specialised Early Intervention supports in NSW and we understand other states will follow a similar format. Thriving Kids will not be the support families and children need when thrown off the NDIS.

Families need hope that their children can grow into adulthood with safety, dignity, support, and meaningful lives.

For many of us, the NDIS represented that hope.

Please do not lose sight of the human reality behind these reforms.

Yours sincerely

Joanne Brearley

Director, Jigsaw Autism Services

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