People with Disability Australia (PWDA), the national
cross-disability rights and advocacy organisation, is
warning the Government is pushing ahead with the biggest
changes in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)
before the agencies responsible for delivering them have
demonstrated they are ready.
Analysis conducted by the
National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) found around 40
per cent of a sample of providers continued claiming
supports that were no longer permitted through the “other
professional” line item, despite changes taking effect in
October 2025.
The findings reinforce concerns raised
by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO), which warned
the pace of reform is already outstripping the capability of
the agencies responsible for delivering it.
Acting CEO
of People with Disability Australia, Megan Spindler-Smith,
said the evidence raised a simple question for
Parliament.
“If the NDIA is still struggling to
implement and effectively administer changes introduced
almost a year ago, why should Parliament have confidence it
can safely and effectively deliver the biggest reforms in
the Scheme’s history, where even more is at stake for people
with disability?
“Our advocates are already seeing the
consequences of a system under pressure. People with
disability are turning to PWDA because decisions aren’t
being made, problems aren’t being resolved and too many
people are being forced into reviews and appeals that should
never have been necessary. If that’s the reality today,
Parliament should be asking what happens when the Government
asks the same system to deliver the biggest reforms in the
Scheme’s history.
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“The Government has targeted the
wrong problem. It could have strengthened the administrative
capability of the NDIA. It could have continued to
strengthen the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. It
could have improved governance, compliance and oversight. It
could have tackled waste by fixing the administration of the
Scheme.
“Those reforms would have strengthened the
NDIS while delivering savings. Instead, the Government has
chosen to create new pathways to cut essential supports for
people with disability.
“The Government has already
acknowledged these reforms will leave some people worse off.
Our concern is that the agencies responsible for delivering
them have not demonstrated long term capability to implement
changes of this scale effectively. If they could not get
less complex and smaller scale reforms right, there is every
reason to fear the harm will be even greater when far more
is at stake.
“People with disability should not pay
the price for administrative failures they did not create.
Parliament must not pass this Bill,” Mx Spindler-Smith
said.
PWDA is urging Parliament to not pass the
National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the
NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026. The evidence points
to one conclusion – that the Government has targeted the
wrong problem. Instead of fixing the institutions
responsible for administering and safeguarding the NDIS, it
has created new pathways to reduce participant supports. The
foreseeable result is not a stronger Scheme. It is greater
harm for people with
disability.
