National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026

Dr RYAN (Kooyong) (12:58): I move amendment (5) as circulated in my name: (5) Schedule 1, item 34, page 12 (after line 16), after subsection 34A(1), insert: (1A) A determination under this section may specify classes of participants to whom the determination applies or does not apply. A class of participants may be identified by reference to any one or more of the following: (a) a characteristic of participants (including their circumstances); (b) the nature or type of supports provided under a plan; (c) the support needs (as assessed) of participants.

I move amendment (5) with the support of the Justice and Equity Centre, Inclusion Australia and Down Syndrome Australia. The ministerial support determination proposed by this bill is a blunt instrument. It reduces funding without significant regard to individual circumstances or to the way that people actually use supports in their daily lives.

I, along with Inclusion Australia and Down Syndrome Australia, am particularly concerned about its potential impact on the small number of NDIS participants who need support every hour of every day. These are the people with permanent and profound disability that the NDIS was established to support. This includes people with down syndrome and people with intellectual disability who have very high support needs.

Many are amongst the most marginalised Australians. Some have spent their entire lives in state run institutions or group homes, and they rely on that 24/7 continuous support to live safely and with dignity. Applying a blanket 50 per cent reduction to their community and participation supports without recognising those quite unique circumstances could have profound implications for those individuals.

Firstly, it creates a real risk that people who require 24-hour support will not receive funding in a way that reflects how those supports are delivered. Their support needs don't fit neatly within a standard funding model, and neither should this legislation. Secondly, it risks confining vulnerable people to their homes.

For many participants who have a really significant intellectual disability, support to access the community is not an optional extra. They can't get out into our public spaces, they can't engage with normal life, unless they have that support. It is fundamental to their participation, to their inclusion and to their physical and mental safety.

The disability royal commission made this clear: isolation increases the risk of abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence. We shouldn't be creating legislative settings that inadvertently increase that risk. I appreciate that the government recognises this issue.

It understands that it needs to be addressed. But recognition and intentions are not enough. This amendment ensures that participants will be identified by their individual circumstances and by the nature of the supports that they receive and that their assessed support needs will be taken into account when the minister makes a determination.

It provides a clear legislative basis for protecting those participants whose circumstances need a different approach. Rather than leaving this matter to future discretion, we need to provide certainty now. Doing so will reassure Australians who have a significant and lifelong disability, and the families and carers who support them, at a time when those people already have significant fear and uncertainty about the potential impacts of these reforms.

I acknowledge that the amendment secured by the Greens in the Senate to exclude particular categories of supports, including disability employment and health related supports, from the operation of support determinations was an important improvement to this bill. But, if we can recognise that some supports should be treated differently, we should also recognise that some participants need to be treated differently.

This amendment complements the work undertaken in the Senate by ensuring that the legislation can appropriately account for those participants whose support needs are exceptional and who would otherwise be disproportionately affected by the legislation currently before the House. And so I commend this amendment to the House.