National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 961
Senate Community Affairs Committee
To whom it may concern
We are parents of an adult with intellectual disability and complex support needs who lives at home with us.
I am writing to express concern about the proposed changes to the NDIS legislation. Having an NDIS package has made a huge difference to our son’s life. We are very grateful for the support and opportunities it has provided him over the last several years.
We are concerned about many of the proposed changes, including reassessment of eligibility, the removal of people from the scheme, the reduction of support, ongoing assessments that may not accurately capture his support needs and confusion about the requirements to use only registered support, as he has a reliable support team assembled over several years that includes both registered providers and individual contractors. Our most immediate concern, however, is the proposed reduction in support for community participation.
Our son has NDIS-funded support, which includes community participation. We are very concerned about the potential reduction of this support, as we live in a rural area and he is unable to leave home without assistance. It is essential that he has access to the community to attend appointments, build social relationships, participate in educational courses, shop, and engage in other essential activities of life, all of which he requires support for. It is vitally important for his future to have the opportunity to engage in the everyday activities of living, contribute to his community, and gain the skills he needs to flourish and participate in ordinary life.
We are concerned about all the aspects of change proposed in this legislation, which will have far reaching implications and will impact the support he requires on his journey to live his own life.
His future living options outside the family home will now change drastically. The potential of having a safe and flourishing life has now become very uncertain. This uncertainty means we can no longer plan for the future with any surety.
As his dad, at 72 years old, I now realise that in light of the proposed changes, I do not have any choice but to be here for our son’s future, so dying is not an option. I will try to be here for as long as our son lives, to ensure he can live his life with dignity and safety. The only option left is simply not to get any older. The uncertainty around NDIS funding is very distressing and has left us with no option but to be here for as long as we can.
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submission 961
Could you please ask the question for us: Why are you reducing the very thing that connects our son to his future, community participation?
Yours truly