People with Disability Australia (PWDA) has strongly criticised the Federal Government’s proposed overhaul of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), warning that the reforms will cause widespread harm across the disability community. The organisation says the changes will push many disabled people into isolation, crisis and segregated settings by removing the supports they rely on to live safely and participate in everyday life.
The warning follows newly released government modelling showing that more than 241,000 existing NDIS participants are expected to be removed from the scheme within four years of new eligibility rules taking effect. By 2031, almost 350,000 fewer people are projected to be on the NDIS than previously forecast. PWDA Acting CEO Mx Megan Spindler-Smith said the figures had devastated disabled people, who are now questioning how they will survive without essential supports.
Mx Spindler-Smith said the Government’s language about sustainability was being heard very differently by the disability community. “The Government keeps talking about sustainability. But people with disability are hearing something else entirely: that hundreds of thousands of us are expected to make do without essential supports.”
A major concern is the proposed reduction in social and community participation supports, which government modelling suggests will deliver the biggest savings under the reforms — $13.2 billion over four years. PWDA said these supports are often wrongly portrayed as recreational or lifestyle-related, when in reality they help people leave home safely, work, study, parent, maintain relationships and avoid isolation.
Mx Spindler-Smith warned that cutting these supports risks undermining the original purpose of the NDIS, which was designed to move Australia away from segregation, institutionalisation and congregate care. Without community participation supports, she said, people do not simply become independent; they become trapped at home or pushed towards disability-only settings because those may be the only places where support remains available.
PWDA also raised serious concerns that Parliament is being asked to pass sweeping reforms before replacement systems, safeguards and so-called foundational supports are in place. Mx Spindler-Smith said disabled people are being told future systems will help fill the gaps, but there is currently no clarity about what they will deliver, where they will operate or who will be able to access them.
The organisation acknowledged concerns raised in the House of Representatives by several crossbench MPs, including Dr Monique Ryan, Kate Chaney, Zali Steggall, Nicolette Boele and Dai Le, as well as Greens MP Elizabeth Watson-Brown. PWDA specifically welcomed Kate Chaney’s focus on automated decision-making, with Mx Spindler-Smith saying: “Kate Chaney was right to raise concerns about automated decision-making. The NDIS is not a parking fine. These decisions affect housing, safety, therapy, transport and whether someone can participate in community life.”
PWDA said the legislation must not be rushed or passed in its current form, arguing that it will reshape disability support in Australia for generations. Mx Spindler-Smith said the safeguards are too weak, the risks too high, and disabled people have not been properly consulted on decisions that will profoundly affect their lives.