PEOPLE with Disability Australia has launched a national campaign warning that proposed efforts to curb growth in the National Disability Insurance Scheme risk stripping back the everyday supports people with disability rely on.
The campaign, titled “Reasonable. Necessary. Ordinary”, comes ahead of the Federal Budget, where the Government is expected to further tighten NDIS spending.
PWDA President Jeramy Hope said the national conversation around the scheme had shifted away from the reality of what it funds.
“I rely on about 25 to 30 hours of support each week,” Mr Hope said.
“That support is not a luxury. It is what allows me to work, spend time with my family and stay out of hospital,” he said.
“Without those supports, there is no me as people currently know me. No work. No ability to contribute. Less time with my family. Less stability. Less hope.”
Mr Hope said framing policy changes as “reducing growth” masked their real-world consequences.
“When governments talk about reducing growth, they are talking about cutting the supports people rely on to live ordinary lives,” he said.
“For people like me, the NDIS is what allows us to get out of bed, shower safely and be part of our communities.”
PWDA argues the scheme delivers significant social and economic returns, estimating $2.25 is returned to the Australian economy for every dollar invested, alongside a reported 42 per cent improvement in participant life satisfaction.
The organisation also rejected claims that growth in the scheme is inherently problematic.
PWDA pointed to evidence of harm when supports are reduced or delayed, including $60 million spent in 2024-25 on legal disputes through the Administrative Review Tribunal rather than direct supports.
At the same time, the organisation highlighted outcomes where the scheme has succeeded, including a sharp reduction in younger people with disability living in aged care – from more than 7000 prior to the NDIS to 829 as of September 2025.
Mr Hope said reform efforts should focus on fixing systemic issues rather than limiting access.
“There are pressures in the NDIS, and they are real,” he said.
“But they are coming from bureaucracy, delays and poor decision-making, not from people getting the support they need to live.”
PWDA is calling on the Federal Government to
protect access to “reasonable and necessary” supports, rule out blanket caps and eligibility cuts, commit to co-design with the disability community, and prioritise fixing inefficiencies within the system.
