NDIS: Protecting Early Intervention and Functional Supports for Children and Young People

From: Maddie Vincent Sent: Wednesday, 20 May 2026 13:57 Subject: NDIS: Protecting Early Intervention and Functional Supports for Children and Young People To Whom It May Concern,

Thank you for the opportunity to provide feedback on the proposed reforms to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

I am a Senior Paediatric Mental Health Occupational Therapist working in a private paediatric clinic in Metropolitan Sydney. I support autistic children and adolescents, children with developmental delay, intellectual disability, ADHD, psychosocial disability, and young people experiencing trauma, anxiety, depression and other significant mental health challenges.

We support families, schools and children to improve participation in everyday life, including attending school, managing emotions, building relationships and developing independence.

While I appreciate the need to ensure the long-term sustainability of the NDIS, I am concerned that reducing or delaying access to allied health support for children may lead to poorer outcomes and greater long-term costs.

Early intervention and maintenance supports are highly effective when they are delivered before difficulties escalate. In practice, many children who appear to be coping are doing so only because parents, schools and therapists are providing substantial support behind the scenes. When therapy is reduced or delayed, we commonly see:

• Increased anxiety and emotional dysregulation.
• School refusal or disengagement.
• Regression in functional skills.
• Parent burnout.
• Greater need for crisis-based intervention.

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Families also often delay therapy due to cost when funding is insufficient, which can allow difficulties to become more entrenched.

Many young people, particularly autistic adolescents and those with psychosocial disability, mask their difficulties well in structured settings. A brief assessment may not capture the cumulative impact of sensory overload, exhaustion, emotional shutdowns and the level of support required at home and school. As a result, some participants may lose supports despite ongoing and significant functional challenges. Repeated reassessments can also be emotionally

• draining for families, who are asked to repeatedly demonstrate their child’s difficulties in order to access help.

Insufficient support in childhood can contribute to poorer educational outcomes, reduced workforce participation in adulthood, increased reliance on welfare, and higher use of health and mental health services. There is also an immediate impact on families. Many parents reduce work hours or leave employment to manage their child’s care when adequate supports are not available. The private paediatric allied health sector also plays a critical role in meeting demand. Reforms that destabilise funding may contribute to workforce attrition, longer waitlists and reduced access to experienced clinicians.

I respectfully recommend that reforms:

1. Protect access to early intervention and maintenance supports.

2. Use functional assessments that consider performance across home, school and community settings.

3. Recognise masking, fluctuating disability and burnout.

4. Reduce unnecessary reassessments for lifelong conditions.

5. Preserve continuity of care and trusted therapeutic relationships.

6. Support the sustainability of the private allied health workforce.

The NDIS is most effective when it provides timely, practical and flexible support that helps children participate meaningfully in everyday life. Balanced reform should protect both the sustainability of the Scheme and the long-term developmental, social and economic outcomes of the children and families it was designed to support.

Thank you for considering this submission.

Noho ora mai (stay well),

Kind Sydney Clinic Regards,

Office Phone: P| Maddie w Vincent (she/her) Office Email:

Occupational Therapist

Work Days: Monday-Thursday

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LEAPFROG“ THI\n

SPEECH AND OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY FOR |\n

= ry Ez Leapfrog Therapy would like to acknowledge and show their\nP respects to the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Wallumedegal\npeople, who are the Traditional Custodians of the Land on which\nour clinics are situated.

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