National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026
Senator BARBARA POCOCK (South Australia) (12:38): The Greens strongly oppose the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026, a bill that we view as dangerous for so many millions of citizens in our country. I want to start by acknowledging the work of my colleague Senator Steele-John. Thank you for your powerful speech this morning and your persistent and strong advocacy for people across our country, the families and the disability community.
You've led the charge against a deeply flawed bill, and the disability community and so many Australians thank you for it. Labor's NDIS cuts are cruel, and they are unnecessary. They go so far to cut deep across our community into the disability community, and they are too fast.
We do not have in place, as we are hearing from so many Australians, all the supports that are absolutely essential if this were to pass. They risk the lives of disabled people and their livelihoods, risk their freedoms and risk their independence. These changes risk undermining the supports that so many disabled people rely on.
There's been no economic modelling, no workforce planning and no genuine consultation with the disability community about this change which will reach into people's lives and change them, for the worse. The NDIS is one of Australia's most significant social reforms in my lifetime. I remember being at the 2020 Summit that then prime minister Rudd led, looking for good ideas for our community—out of which the NDIS arose.
There was real excitement about making a difference for people who are caught by disability, whose lives are changed by disability, and their need for the support that they deserve in a civilised community. The NDIS represents a commitment to uphold the rights and inclusion of disabled people. It was passed by the Gillard government, with support of the Greens, in 2013.
The Greens strongly support the NDIS and its foundational principle that disabled people have the right to access the supports they need to live with dignity, independence and choice—three important words, three important aspects of life that make life possible for so many Australians. But for people with disability, they have special meaning. Dignity, independence and choice—they cannot be taken for granted for so many of our citizens, and they must be defended.
The scheme has transformed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Australians by providing access to essential supports—services, equipment and all the things that enable disabled people to participate fully or more fully in their communities and their education, in having a job and in being active participants in their family and community life. Labor senators stand here in this chamber proclaiming the benefits of this scheme while at the same time backing a bill that will strike a blow to so many people in relation to their support on the NDIS.
These NDIS cuts are the largest cuts to a government services program this century, in the face of all the ways in which, in this civilised and very wealthy country, we could be raising revenue from people who are doing extremely well in our economy—the big gas companies making billions every year who we fail to tax for their exports, and the billionaires who have enormous amounts of personal income, assets and wealth, whom our tax system does not properly tax.
The impact is instead placed on the most vulnerable people in our society—disabled people and their families—and the impact will be devastating. This bill will enable the removal of 241,000 people from the scheme by 2031. There are too many problems with this bill to name, including enormous sweeping ministerial powers and automated decision-making.
Haven't we seen enough of that kind of maladministration which visits on people without proper recourse to defence? We should have already learnt the lessons from the failure, by using automation, to properly govern schemes like this. We are an international standout lesson on how not to do things with automation when vulnerable humans in particular are involved.
There's real concern that this bill undermines the rights of disabled people. It clearly does. Just listen to the Labor chaired Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights.
They said that this bill may constitute 'a significant interference with the rights of persons with disability, the rights of the child and the right to an adequate standard of living, equality and nondiscrimination, health, privacy and social security'. That is a lot of bells ringing, telling us that this is the wrong way to go. Earlier this week, the Australian Human Rights Commission urged the government to delay the bill until 'significant human rights concerns around process, accountability and the impact of the reforms are addressed'.
The bill puts thousands of jobs at risk. The Australia Institute estimates that cuts to social and community participation supports could result in the loss of 51,641 full-time equivalent jobs, representing almost 94 million hours of care work. The government cannot cut billions from participation supports and pretend there will be no impact on workers—these workers who give so much to their efforts in the homes of people with disability and who deliver those supports.
This bill will result in really significant job losses for health professionals and support workers—those doing the allied health work that we really desperately need, further reducing the capacity of the disability support workforce at a time when it's already under significant pressure. When funded support disappears, the work does not. We know where it goes: it's pushed onto families, and it's pushed onto the unpaid carers in our communities.
That's why I foreshadow a second reading amendment in my name that goes to the heart of these issues in particular and calls on the government to withdraw this cruel and unnecessary bill. As my amendment points out, this bill will disproportionately affect women in an incredibly unfair way. Cuts to social and community participation funding made through this bill will reduce the capacity of women with disability to access support services.
In their inquiry submission, Women with Disabilities Australia warned: For women with disability, who already experience higher rates of violence, these cuts risk deepening isolation and worsening conditions where violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation are hidden. We can't forget that First Nations women with disability are particularly vulnerable to domestic, family and sexual violence.
Concerns about this bill are not coming from one organisation or one part of the disability community. I have heard from hundreds of South Australians about the horrific damage they are worried might arise from this bill: the impact on them, their families and their loved ones. I'll give you some direct quotes: 'If my supports were reduced or delayed, the consequences would be significant.
I would experience greater difficulty maintaining my home and personal wellbeing, increased barriers to employment and community participation, greater dependence on family members who are no longer able to provide ongoing care and an increased risk of social isolation and declining psychosocial health.' Here's another: 'If I lose my supports, I'll be confined to my bed or my recliner.
My husband and I are at a high risk of mental health issues and relationship breakdown if this bill goes forward.' Another says: 'You're putting me and other participants at high risk of falls; being restricted; housebound; suffering from pressure sores, unnecessary progression in my condition; and much more.' So many South Australians have called my office voicing their concerns about this bill.
One mother in Adelaide, a sole parent of two adult sons and a teenager with significant disabilities and complex support needs, asked: 'What will happen to families like mine? Why is this happening when this bill will cause people to lose their lives?' Chloe, from regional South Australia, is the parent of a child with multiple disabilities, including a rare genetic syndrome, profound autism and epilepsy.
She told my office that supports are not optional extras. They're essential to her daughter's dignity, safety, wellbeing and quality of life. She asked, 'What will happen to regional families like mine who are already struggling to access services before these cuts?' Sarah, an occupational therapist working on the Fleurieu peninsula sees firsthand that the NDIS does not fund the essential healthcare systems for our participants.
It funds basic survival and safety. Participants are already going into crisis through the uncertainty that lies ahead. She said that the legislation threatens to dismantle the core principles of the NDIS. 'People will die,' she tell us.
The cuts will force primary carers, who are often sacrificing their own health, wellbeing and employment, to absorb an unsustainable burden behind closed doors. We know disabled people must be at the centre of decisions about the NDIS. The inquiry into Labor's NDIS service cuts has seen the disability community expose just how cruel and dangerous these cuts really are.
After months of Senate inquiry and evidence from all kinds of people, one thing is clear: these changes risk significant harm. As my colleague Senator Steele-John said this morning, history will show us what they do, and we will hold the government to account, as will the community and their families, for what these cuts do. The inquiry received over 4,000 submissions, and most of them were incredibly critical.
An unprecedented level of opposition really underscores the concerns of our community. Participating in this process and putting forward your words and your experience requires real courage, real preparation and vulnerability—all the emotional work, particularly for disabled people. We've heard their stories over and over again and we have to honour their stories and their account of what this will mean for them.
No-one should be removed from the scheme until foundational supports are fully implemented, evaluated and proven to meet the needs of people. I was at one of the hearings in Perth and the evidence was devastating—Jordan and I heard it together. Hayley, a witness with lived experience, told the committee: People can and will die if this bill goes through.
We heard firsthand that mothers are giving up paid work in order to support their children already on a day-to-day basis. The inquiry made one thing abundantly clear: support needs do not disappear when funding does. They are pushed onto families, pushed onto households, pushed onto siblings and support workers and pushed onto the broader community.
Disabled people have been subjected to months of public debate about the value of their lives and the supports they rely on. They deserve to be listened to, not treated as a budget problem. In that light, this bill needs to be chucked in the bin.
The government has choices. The Labor government is planning to cut $37.8 billion from the NDIS over the next four years. Instead of cutting billions from the NDIS, we could have required gas exporters to pay their fair share.
A 25 per cent gas tax would raise an estimated $31.8 billion more over the next four years than the total value of these cuts. Disabled people would not then be forced to bear the cost of failure to properly tax some of the most profitable companies in our country, who are selling our resources. Disabled people have the right to expect a parliament to tax properly to fund the essential services that we need.
The NDIS isn't a cost to cut. Investing in disabled people strengthens the entire economy. Instead of ripping away essential supports, we could make gas exporters pay their fair share, properly tax billionaires and large corporations, and reconsider hundreds of billions of dollars going into AUKUS on the off chance we'll get submarines one day.
The Greens believe disabled people should not be forced to carry the burden of balancing the budget. So we are fighting for the rights, dignity and autonomy of disabled people and we will not stop. These are cruel cuts.
Today's Labor Party is unrecognisable to me from the one that created the NDIS—shame. Early this morning Senator Steele-John tried to strike this disastrous bill from the Notice Paper. There's no way it should be passed in this form.
It needs to go back to the drawing board. (Time expired)