Submission 999
Apexx Support Services
Phone: 0493 286 194
Email: info@apexxsupport.com.au
Concerns Regarding the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment
(Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Submitted by: Sarah Lowes – Concerned parent, person living with a disability and CEO of
an NDIS Supports Registered Provider
Date: 21st May 2026
Introduction:
Thank you for the opportunity to provide a submission regarding the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026.
While the Bill is framed as securing the long-term sustainability of the NDIS and improving integrity measures, many people within the disability community are deeply concerned that the practical outcome will be reduced supports, tighter eligibility criteria, reduced plan funding and increased restrictions for participants. At the same time, there are additionally extreme question marks on if this latest budget and Bill will in actual fact save any money at all.
This is already an issue we are facing daily. I am an autistic adult, yet I have avoided accessing the scheme despite previous Functional Capacity Assessments suggesting I would likely qualify, because of the stigma and scrutiny often associated with needing support. Accessing the NDIS as a neurodivergent person should not be viewed as shameful or treated as a burden on society. The purpose of the NDIS should be to enable disabled people to participate in a world that was not built for us. My life has been shaped by struggle, and I often wonder how different things may have been if I had received earlier recognition and support. The increase in neurodivergence diagnoses does not mean these people suddenly appeared out of nowhere. They have always existed. When the telescope was invented, we discovered more stars, not because new stars suddenly appeared, but because we finally had the tools to see what was already there. In the same way, advances in awareness, assessment and diagnosis are helping society recognise neurodivergent people who were historically overlooked, unsupported or forced to struggle in silence. That should not be used as justification to restrict access to support. It should be seen as evidence that society is finally becoming better at recognising and responding to human diversity. As a provider, we work with people facing challenges far beyond anything my son Archie or I could imagine as “just” autistic individuals. Even people with profound and complex disabilities are already experiencing substantial, life-altering and further debilitating funding cuts.
I regularly work 80+ hour weeks, often with little or no income, simply to help participants access the supports they need after funding reductions or coordination cuts leave them without adequate assistance. At the same time, I am witnessing a significant decline in
Submission 999
Apexx Support Services
Phone: 0493 286 194
Email: info@apexxsupport.com.au
therapeutic outcomes because therapists are now required to spend increasing amounts of time repeatedly justifying supports and re-proving participant needs after funding has already been significantly reduced. The NDIS is already failing many of the people it was designed to support. This bill is only going to further disgrace this sector.
Public reporting and government material relating to the Bill indicate that the reforms are intended to significantly slow NDIS growth, reduce participant numbers and tighten access to supports. Proposed measures include stricter functional capacity assessments, limiting reassessments, narrowing what is considered “reasonable and necessary”, reducing community participation funding and introducing stricter eligibility pathways.
Participants deserve to be protected from exploitation, neglect, fraud and poor-quality services. However, these reforms should not become a mechanism for cutting funding or making it harder for disabled people to access essential supports.
The proposed changes have unintentionally create additional barriers, fear and stress for participants and families who are already struggling to navigate a complex system.
My concern is that integrity measures should not come at the cost of participant rights, choice, control and access to supports. The NDIS was created to empower disabled people, not create another system that treats participants with suspicion or makes support harder to access.
Concerns About Increased Powers and Oversight:
While I understand the intention behind stronger compliance and monitoring powers, I am concerned about how these powers may affect ordinary participants.
Many NDIS participants already experience stress, confusion and anxiety when dealing with reviews, funding decisions and compliance processes. Expanding investigative or enforcement powers without strong safeguards could increase fear and discourage people from accessing supports they genuinely need.
There must be clear protections to ensure participants are not (any further) unfairly targeted, traumatised or penalised because of administrative mistakes, communication barriers, disability-related behaviours or poor advice from providers.
This should go after the “Concerns About NDIS Pricing and Cost Inflation” section and before “Importance of Choice and Control.”
That placement works well because:
Submission 999
Apexx Support Services
Phone: 0493 286 194
Email: info@apexxsupport.com.au
you first establish that there are smarter ways to manage spending, then explain the broader economic value of the NDIS, and then move into why participant autonomy matters.
Economic and Social Impact of the NDIS
The discussion around the NDIS too often focuses only on cost, while ignoring the enormous economic and social return the scheme provides.
The NDIS is not simply government spending. It is an investment that flows directly back into the Australian economy through employment, services, taxation and community participation.
Research and economic modelling have consistently shown that for every dollar invested into the NDIS, more than two dollars can flow back into the economy through increased workforce participation, reduced long-term social costs and economic activity generated through the disability support sector.
The NDIS creates employment for hundreds of thousands of Australians, including:
support workers therapists disability support coordinators allied health professionals assistive technology suppliers transport providers administrators and small business operators
At the same time, the scheme enables many people with disability to participate in paid employment, education and community life who otherwise would be excluded.
Without adequate supports, many disabled people are pushed further into poverty, unemployment, isolation and crisis, which ultimately creates greater long-term costs for healthcare systems, housing systems, mental health services and emergency supports.
Reducing supports may appear to create short-term budget savings, but the long-term social and economic consequences are likely to be far more costly.
A sustainable NDIS should not mean reducing disabled people’s quality of life or limiting participation. It should mean building a system that supports both participants and the broader Australian economy in a fair, accountable and effective way.
Submission 999
Apexx Support Services
Phone: 0493 286 194
Email: info@apexxsupport.com.au
Any integrity framework should:
protect vulnerable participants from unnecessary stress recognise communication and cognitive barriers ensure procedural fairness provide accessible explanations of decisions include independent review options avoid placing unreasonable burdens on participants and families
The Failure of Previous State-Based Systems
It is important to remember why the NDIS was created in the first place.
Before the NDIS, disability support in Australia largely depended on fragmented state-based systems that were inconsistent, underfunded and inequitable. Access to support often depended on where a person lived, what services happened to exist in their area and how limited state budgets were allocated.
This “postcode lottery” approach failed countless disabled Australians and their families.
Many people were left without essential supports, placed on indefinite waitlists or excluded entirely because programs lacked capacity, consistency or clear eligibility pathways. Families were forced into crisis simply because the right support was unavailable in their region or state.
The NDIS was introduced because those systems were not working. Some of the above concerns have been somewhat addressed by the NDIS, some are still there, such as waitlists and difficulty with eligibility pathways.
There is significant concern regarding the shifting responsibility back toward state-based or foundational support systems that are not properly established, funded or equipped to manage the level of need that exists within the community.
Even state governments themselves have acknowledged that they are not currently prepared to absorb these responsibilities at the scale required.
Without proper national consistency, oversight and guaranteed funding, these reforms risk recreating the exact problems the NDIS was designed to solve.
This will likely create an even wider divide within the community:
people considered “disabled enough” for NDIS access
Submission 999
Apexx Support Services
Phone: 0493 286 194
Email: info@apexxsupport.com.au
people considered “not disabled” and increasingly, people who are clearly disabled but now deemed “not disabled enough” to receive meaningful support
That gap is dangerous.
People who fall between systems are often left without therapy, care, equipment, advocacy or community support until they reach crisis point, even then we find that support is more often being denied.
If participants are redirected away from the NDIS into foundational or state-run systems, critical questions remain unanswered:
Who will oversee these programs? How will consistency across states be maintained? Who will coordinate and facilitate access? How will accountability be monitored? What protections will exist for people who are rejected or lost between systems?
Without clear answers, there is a real risk that disabled Australians will once again be subjected to fragmented, inconsistent and inadequate support systems that history has already shown do not work.
Impact on Participants
A major concern is that reforms presented as integrity and sustainability measures can ultimately function as funding reduction measures, impacting genuine participants more than bad actors.
Many participants and families are worried that the focus has shifted from supporting disabled people to reducing expenditure targets. Public reporting suggests the reforms aim to reduce participant numbers substantially over the coming years and cut projected spending growth dramatically.
Most participants are simply trying to access supports that help them live safely and independently. Many families are already exhausted from fighting for funding, coordinating supports and managing workforce shortages.
Additional restrictions, monitoring or administrative requirements may disproportionately affect:
people with psychosocial disability
Submission 999
Apexx Support Services
Phone: 0493 286 194
Email: info@apexxsupport.com.au
autistic participants people with intellectual disability rural and regional participants culturally and linguistically diverse communities participants without strong advocacy support
These groups already face barriers in accessing the NDIS and should not be further disadvantaged by reforms that increase complexity or reduce flexibility.
Concerns About NDIS Pricing and Cost Inflation
Another issue that needs greater attention is the inflated pricing of assistive technology and disability-related supports within the NDIS market.
There is a well-known “NDIS tax” where products and services suddenly become significantly more expensive once they are associated with the NDIS. Items such as wheelchairs, AFOs (ankle-foot orthoses), consumables and other assistive technology are often priced far above what would be considered reasonable in the broader market.
This is not sustainable and it unfairly consumes funding that should be going directly towards participant support and quality of life.
There are many ways the government can better manage NDIS spending without negatively impacting people with disability.
This should include:
addressing inflated provider pricing increasing transparency around assistive technology costs benchmarking prices against broader healthcare and retail markets improving procurement processes preventing excessive markups on essential disability equipment taking stronger action against providers engaging in exploitative pricing practices
Participants should not be blamed for rising NDIS costs when many pricing issues sit within the market itself.
At the same time, genuine fraud and exploitation absolutely should be addressed properly. Deliberate misuse of funds, dishonest providers and organised fraud undermine confidence in the scheme and take resources away from people who genuinely need support.
Submission 999
Apexx Support Services
Phone: 0493 286 194
Email: info@apexxsupport.com.au
However, anti-fraud measures should be targeted, evidence-based and focused on those intentionally exploiting the system, not on ordinary participants trying to access essential supports.
Choice and Control – NOT A CHOICE
The principles of choice and control must remain central to the NDIS.
Participants need flexibility to choose providers and supports that work for their individual circumstances.
There is also significant concern about the proposed move toward stricter standardised functional assessments and the requirement for people to exhaust treatment options before accessing the scheme.
The idea of requiring people to “exhaust all treatment options” before qualifying for support is deeply concerning because it is vague, arbitrary and disconnected from the reality many disabled people already face.
Who decides when treatment has been sufficiently exhausted? What happens when treatment pathways are inaccessible, unaffordable, unavailable in regional areas or medically inappropriate? What happens to people with lifelong conditions where treatment may improve symptoms but never remove disability?
Many people are already becoming lost in the healthcare, disability and social support systems due to waitlists, specialist shortages, inconsistent assessments and administrative complexity. Adding additional barriers and vague treatment thresholds risks leaving vulnerable people unsupported for years while they attempt to prove they are “disabled enough” to qualify.
The current system already causes enormous stress, burnout and instability for participants and families. This Bill risks making that worse by creating additional uncertainty and forcing people into prolonged cycles of assessment, reassessment and treatment attempts before they can access basic supports.
For many people with disability, support cannot wait until every possible treatment avenue has been explored indefinitely. Disabled people still require dignity, safety, housing access, mobility equipment, personal care and community participation while navigating treatment.
The government must ensure people are not abandoned between systems or pushed into poverty while attempting to satisfy arbitrary access requirements. These changes risk excluding people with genuine disabilities whose conditions fluctuate, are difficult to assess
Submission 999
Apexx Support Services
Phone: 0493 286 194
Email: info@apexxsupport.com.au
in standardised ways or who may not respond to treatment in predictable ways. Excessive restrictions risk undermining participant autonomy and making the system harder to navigate. They already have with the implementation of funding periods and substantial cuts that are being experienced nation wide prior to this proposed budget cut and the latest NDIS Bill Amendment.
Safeguards are important, but they should focus on improving provider accountability and system transparency rather than limiting participant decision-making.
The government should prioritise:
improving provider regulation and registration making registration more streamlined and affordable (again with the “NDIS Tax”!!) stronger action against exploitative providers better workforce standards and training faster complaints and safeguarding responses improved participant education and advocacy clearer communication from the NDIA
Need for Genuine Consultation
People with disability, families, carers and frontline workers must be meaningfully consulted before major changes are implemented.
Too often, reforms are introduced quickly without enough engagement with the people most affected. This creates confusion, mistrust and severe, sometimes life threatening consequences.
Consultation should include:
people with lived experience independent advocates disability organisations rural and regional communities First Nations communities service providers and support coordinators
The voices of participants must remain at the centre of any reform process.
Submission 999
Apexx Support Services
Phone: 0493 286 194
Email: info@apexxsupport.com.au
Recommendations
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Ensure all integrity measures include strong safeguards to protect participant rights and procedural fairness.
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Guarantee accessible communication and independent review pathways for participants affected by compliance decisions.
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Focus enforcement efforts on fraudulent providers and deliberate exploitation rather than increasing pressure on participants.
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Ensure reforms do not reduce participant choice and control.
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Conduct broader consultation with people with disability and the disability sector before implementing major changes.
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Monitor the real-world impact of these reforms on vulnerable participants.
Conclusion
The NDIS must remain a system built on dignity, inclusion, adequate support, choice and human rights.
Sustainability matters, but sustainability should not be achieved by reducing access to essential supports for disabled Australians. There are other ways to manage spending responsibly, including addressing inflated provider pricing, tackling organised fraud properly, improving procurement processes and increasing accountability for providers exploiting the system.
People with disability should not carry the burden of cost-cutting measures when many of the financial pressures within the NDIS stem from market failures, inconsistent pricing and provider exploitation.
It is also difficult to ignore the broader political context in which these reforms are occurring. At a time when government spending continues to increase significantly in other areas, including defence and international military commitments, disabled Australians are being told essential supports are becoming financially unsustainable.
Many people within the disability community feel there is a deeply unfair imbalance in priorities when vulnerable Australians risk losing access to basic supports, independence and quality of life while billions continue to be allocated elsewhere.
No society should balance its budget by forcing disabled people further into poverty, isolation or crisis.
The NDIS is not wasteful spending. It is an investment in human dignity, participation, inclusion and survival.
Submission 999
Apexx Support Services
Phone: 0493 286 194
Email: info@apexxsupport.com.au
The disability community deserves meaningful consultation, transparency and reassurance that reforms will not undermine independence, safety and quality of life. (qdn.org.au)
While integrity and accountability are important, reforms must not create additional barriers for genuine participants who rely on the scheme for essential supports.
I urge the Committee to carefully consider the impact these proposed amendments may have on participants and families, and to ensure that any changes strengthen the NDIS without undermining the rights and wellbeing of disabled Australians.
Thank you for considering my submission.