16 July, 2026
The Down Syndrome Australia consortium, Inclusion Australia, National Disability Services and Ability First Australia have made a joint supplementary submission to the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee inquiry into the NDIS Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 (the Bill).
Collectively our organisations represent and support approximately 60 per cent of NDIS participants. Together, we support a sustainable NDIS and recognise the importance of reform to ensure the Scheme remains available for future generations. We continue to support measures that strengthen the long-term sustainability of the Scheme, improve safeguarding, increase consistency in planning and build a more effective provider market.
We acknowledge the amendments made during consideration of the Bill in the House of Representatives. These amendments respond to several concerns raised throughout the inquiry process, including improving transparency around automated decision-making, refining aspects of plan management, and introducing a mechanism for excluding specified supports from Support Determinations.
These are positive developments.
However, significant and serious implementation risks remain.
As reforms move from legislation into practice, ensuring that participants are safeguarded from unintended consequences becomes increasingly important. The remaining concerns identified are not about the overall direction of reform. They are about ensuring the legislation can be implemented safely, consistently and in a way that reflects Government’s stated policy intent.
This supplementary submission focuses on four practical priorities that we believe can be addressed through further amendments or clarification before the Bill is finalised.
We recommend that Parliament:
- explicitly protect participants requiring 24-hour supports and employment-related supports from future Support Determinations;
- establish a formal escalation pathway where implementation creates safeguarding risks or serious unintended consequences;
- ensure transition to the new planning framework identifies and corrects existing planning anomalies for participants with complex needs; and
- strengthen transparency and accountability surrounding future Support Determinations.
Together, these changes would improve confidence in implementation, strengthen safeguards for participants with complex needs and help ensure the Government’s stated policy intent is realised in practice.