We have had queries from some members of our community about how they can advocate to the federal government about the NDIS and the proposed changes.
The Down Syndrome Alliance have collated some ways that you can get involved and advocate if you want to.
1. Sign the petition
Add your name to the People With Disability Australia (PWDA) petition show your support.
2. Share your feedback
Every Australian Counts has launched a survey on the NDIS legislation changes. Your input will help ensure community voices are raised directly with decision makers.
3. Contact your local member and the Minister
Writing directly to decision makers is one of the most effective ways to be heard.
The easiest way to start this is to go to the Stop the Cuts Email Your MP page at the PWDA Gateway. You can use this webpage to make sure you are contacting the right people and get their contact details, or send it straight through from their page.
We have adapted the PWDA template email that you can copy, paste and personalise. You will find this at the bottom of this post. You can add your personal story of how these cuts will after your lives.
Email template
SUBJECT: Protect the NDIS: Don’t cut the supports people with Down syndrome need to live ordinary lives
I am writing as your constituent to ask you to commit to protecting the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
I am [a person with Down syndrome/a carer of a person with Down syndrome/a concerned member of the community] (choose one), and removing choice and control, and access to the community will have negative effects on our lives and the lives of the Down syndrome community. For people with Down syndrome and their families, this is not abstract policy. It is everyday life.
The NDIS funds the reasonable and necessary supports people with disability rely on to live ordinary lives.
Getting out of bed.
Going to work.
Eating.
Breathing.
These are things the NDIS makes possible. The Government has announced it will further reduce the growth of the NDIS.
Reducing growth means cutting the supports people rely on to live.
If this is done by tightening eligibility and capping or restricting supports, people with disability lose access to what they need to live safely and participate in our communities.
These decisions will have real consequences for people with Down syndrome and their families in your electorate.
I am asking you to:
- Protect access to reasonable and necessary supports.
- Rule out cuts to eligibility and plan funding.
- Reject blanket caps that ignore individual need.
- Commit to genuine co-design with people with disability.
- Focus reform on fixing system inefficiencies, not cutting supports.
[Put your personal story here. Tell your story about how your funding supports your participation in the community and your life. Eg., We use our funding to go shopping once a week, and go and meet up with friends once a fortnight etc.]
This means I get to live an ordinary life by doing things everyone else in the community does. I would welcome the opportunity to meet with you or speak with your office about this.
You can read Down Syndrome Australia’s response to the NDIS reforms on their website.