22 April 2026
NDIS reforms must not transfer budget risk onto people with disability
Advocacy for Inclusion has called for careful and transparent implementation of changes to the National Disability Insurance Scheme announced today, warning that today’s announcement places budget repair ahead of the rights and safety of people with disability.
We support stronger provider registration, payment integrity measures, and genuine efforts to eliminate exploitation from the scheme. These are long overdue. But the cuts to plan budgets, the reduction in participant numbers by more than 160,000 people, and the new eligibility framework announced today are a different matter entirely – and human impact will be felt long before the alternatives promised to replace existing supports are ready.
Advocacy for Inclusion is calling on the Government to:
- Ensure no one is removed from the NDIS before genuine alternatives are fully in place and operational
- Guarantee that plan cuts do not affect the supports essential to daily living, safety and dignity
- Publish the full detail of how functional capacity assessments will work, who will conduct them, and what appeal rights will exist – before any legislation is passed
- Honour the commitment to “nothing about us, without us” in substance, not just in language
Chief Executive Officer of Advocacy for Inclusion, Nicolas Lawler, said there is broad support for strengthening the integrity of the NDIS, but the impact of these reforms will depend on how they are applied in practice.
“There is no question the scheme needs to be sustainable and well regulated. What matters now is whether these changes strengthen the system for people with disability or make it harder for them to access the support they need.”
Mr Lawler said the focus on slowing the growth of the scheme must also be understood in context.
“The NDIS is growing because more people are coming forward with real and previously unmet need. Sustainability is important, but it is critical to be clear about how that is achieved, and whether it results in people receiving less support or facing greater barriers.”
Jo Luetjens, Acting Head of Policy at Advocacy for Inclusion, said the scale and speed of today’s changes demands honesty about what they mean on the ground.
“Cutting average plan values at a time when the cost of every other service is rising is not a technical adjustment. For many people, it will mean losing therapy, respite, and the daily assistance they depend on to live their lives. We have been hearing these stories from Canberrans with disability for the past year. Today’s announcement will make that worse.”
Advocacy for Inclusion has worked to gather evidence, document experiences, and put the real impacts of NDIS changes on the record – people losing essential supports, often without explanation, with nowhere to turn. We have said consistently that reform must be sequenced so that people are not left without support. Today’s announcement does not meet that test.
The Government’s own timeline makes this clear. The assessment tool that will determine who remains on the NDIS and who is removed will not be ready until 2028. The foundational supports and community-based services that people will be redirected to are not yet designed, funded, or operational. For families who have fought to access the NDIS – sometimes for years – being told the alternative is coming is not good enough. In the ACT, where service markets are thin and options limited, there will for many people simply be nowhere else to turn.
This is not reform. It is a transfer of risk – from the federal budget onto the people least able to absorb it.
Luetjens said the process is as concerning as the substance.
“The Minister closed his speech with ‘nothing about us, without us.’ But the decisions that will most affect people’s lives – the plan cuts, the eligibility changes, the targets for reducing participant numbers – were announced today, before genuine consultation with the disability community. Co-design has been offered for the details. The substance has already been decided.”
Mr Lawler said the design of the assessment process will be crucial.
“The NDIS was designed to respond to the individual. If assessments become too standardised, there is a real risk that people’s lived experience is not fully understood, and that support is reduced as a result. Any changes must ensure that people’s circumstances are properly recognised, and that there are clear and accessible pathways to review decisions.”
The NDIS was built by and for people with disability on a promise of certainty, choice and control. Reform must honour that promise, not treat it as a budget problem to be solved.
Media Contact:
Jo Luetjens jo@advocacyforinclusion.org
Acting Head of Policy
Advocacy for Inclusion