What New NDIS Legislation Means for Your Support & Plans

Navigating Proposed NDIS Changes: A Support Worker’s Perspective

As an NDIS support worker and provider for the past eight years, I’ve seen firsthand how the NDIS empowers people with disability, their families, and carers. It’s a scheme built on incredible principles: choice, control, fairness, and dignity. So, when discussions around changes to the NDIS Act come up, it’s natural for many of us to feel a mix of hope and apprehension.

I believe the NDIS needs to be strong and sustainable for the long run. But “sustainable” shouldn’t mean cutting essential supports or weakening the rights of participants. That’s why I want to share my thoughts on some key areas of concern that many in the disability community, including various advocacy groups, are raising about the current NDIS Bill.

Why We Need More Time and Clarity

From my perspective on the ground, one of the biggest calls from the community is to slow down and get the details right. The Bill proposes significant changes, but many of the crucial specifics – often called “Rules” – haven’t been made public yet. These Rules are the nuts and bolts of how the NDIS will actually operate, impacting everything from eligibility to how plans are managed.

It’s like being asked to agree to a new house design without seeing the blueprints. People need to understand how these changes will truly affect their daily lives before they become law. My biggest hope is that Parliament takes the time needed for thorough review and public consultation.

No Cuts Until Real Alternatives Are Ready

This is a major point I often discuss with families. The Bill mentions new “foundational supports” and a greater reliance on mainstream services. These are meant to support all people with disability, not just NDIS participants.

However, many are concerned about new access restrictions, reduced supports, or being reassessed out of the NDIS *before* these alternative services are actually funded, operational, and accessible. In my experience, shifting someone out of a known support system into one that doesn’t yet exist or isn’t adequately resourced can be incredibly disruptive and even dangerous for their wellbeing.

We need a legal safeguard to ensure no one loses their NDIS support until a genuine, accessible alternative is fully in place. This means services that are not just promised, but physically available, funded, and legally obliged to meet needs.

Protecting Individual Needs, Not Budget Targets

The original vision of the NDIS was always about individualised support. My job as a support worker often revolves around helping participants understand how their plan reflects their unique needs and goals.

There are concerns that proposed changes could allow supports to be reduced below a person’s assessed needs. This idea goes against the core principle of the NDIS. Supports should be based on what a person genuinely requires to live a safe, dignified, and participating life, not on arbitrary budget limits or population-level targets.

We also need guarantees that any changes to how supports are funded are developed with people with disability, thoroughly reviewed by Parliament, and have clear avenues for appeal if a participant disagrees with a decision.

Challenging Funding Caps and Ratios

Imagine needing one-on-one support for personal care or community access due to complex needs, only to find new rules introduce a cap that forces you into a group setting or limits your support hours. Many advocacy groups are worried about provisions that could lead to fixed funding caps, limits on support hours, or specific worker-to-participant ratios.

In my experience, “one size fits all” simply doesn’t work in disability support. For many, particularly those with high support needs or behaviours of concern, 1:1 or even 2:1 support is essential for their safety, dignity, and ability to participate in the community. These individualised needs must always take precedence over general caps.

Keeping Participants in Control: Choice and Voice

For me, a crucial part of the NDIS is participant choice and control. This means people with disability can decide who provides their supports, how they’re delivered, and when. It’s about empowering individuals to direct their own lives.

There are proposals that could weaken these participant-directed planning principles within the NDIS Act itself. Retaining these principles is vital. It ensures that participants remain at the centre of decision-making, rather than the Scheme becoming overly bureaucratic or prescriptive.

Fairer Functional Capacity Assessments

Functional capacity assessments are used to determine NDIS eligibility and the level of support a person needs. These assessments are incredibly important, and many are concerned about the proposed model.

A truly fair assessment needs to look beyond a narrow medical lens. It should consider things like:

• **Environmental and social factors:** How does someone’s home, community, or local transport affect their ability to function?
• **Personal factors:** How does fatigue, pain, or distress impact someone’s daily capacity? Many conditions fluctuate, and this needs to be recognised.
• **Independent validation:** Any new assessment framework should be rigorously tested and proven to be fair and reliable.
• **Review and appeal rights:** Participants must have clear pathways to challenge decisions if they believe their assessment isn’t accurate.

In my work, I see how much effort some participants put into managing their day, even simple tasks. An assessment needs to capture the true energy and planning involved, not just what someone can technically “do” on a good day.

Bodily Autonomy and Whole-of-Person Support

Another area of concern is about individual rights over their own body and health. There are worries that people could be pressured to pursue certain treatments they don’t want, can’t afford, or can’t access, as a condition of NDIS entry or continued support.

Participants should not lose access to vital supports because they choose not to undergo specific treatments. This is about respecting individual choice and bodily autonomy.

Similarly, the NDIS should continue to fund “whole-of-person” supports. People with disability live full, complex lives. Their support needs are rarely limited to just one specific impairment. If supports are narrowed to only those directly linked to a specific diagnosis, it risks ignoring the real-world impact of disability across all aspects of life – social connection, employment, housing, and general wellbeing.

Ensuring Accountability and Strong Safeguards

For any large system like the NDIS, strong safeguards and accountability are essential. This means ensuring that:

• **Co-design is central:** “Nothing about us without us” is a powerful message. People with disability and their representative organisations must be meaningfully involved in designing any new rules, tools, and policies. This isn’t just good practice; it’s a human right.
• **Harm is investigated:** If decisions or policies within the NDIS contribute to participant harm, there needs to be an independent body that can investigate these issues and ensure they don’t happen again.
• **Fair processes are followed:** Changes around things like gender equity, the role of informal carers, value for money, reassessments, and even how debts are handled all need careful consideration. For example, relying on unpaid family care to fill funding gaps isn’t sustainable or fair to carers. “Value for money” shouldn’t override a participant’s individual needs or clinical evidence. And automated decision-making must be limited to low-risk areas, with humans making the final call on critical decisions.

Looking Ahead: A Stronger NDIS for Everyone

The NDIS is a life-changing scheme, and we all want to see it thrive. My years in this sector have shown me the incredible difference it makes when people get the right support.

These proposed amendments are about ensuring that any changes strengthen, rather than weaken, the Scheme’s core principles of choice, control, fairness, and dignity. It’s about building an NDIS that truly supports people with disability to live their best lives, now and into the future.

Staying informed and advocating for an NDIS that puts participants first is something we can all do. If you’re looking for NDIS providers who understand these challenges and work to support your goals, take some time to explore local options right here on NDISLocal.