Advocacy for Inclusion - Incorporating People With Disabilities ACT

05/06/2026

Advocacy for Inclusion (AFI) has made a submission to the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee on the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026, calling for the Bill not to proceed in its current form.
The Bill is not a minor integrity measure – it is a structural redesign of who can access the NDIS, how plans are funded, and how decisions are made and reviewed. The government’s own modelling confirms that hundreds of thousands of people with disability will be removed from or denied access to the scheme by 2031.
The government has framed the Bill largely around fraud and restoring the scheme’s social licence. That framing does not hold up against the government’s own figures. The projected savings come overwhelmingly from cutting supports for existing participants and tightening access – not from fraud measures. The public justification and the financial modelling are telling different stories.
Our central concern is sequencing. Participation support budgets are cut from October 2026. The functional capacity assessment framework that will determine future eligibility does not commence until January 2028. The Foundational Supports meant to replace what is cut are not yet designed, not yet funded in practice, and not yet operational. There is no jurisdiction in Australia where a ready, adequately staffed alternative will exist by the time cuts begin. Reducing NDIS funding does not reduce disability-related need. It shifts the cost onto individuals, families, carers, and already stretched public systems.
We are also concerned about a systemic risk that runs across multiple provisions: the combination of expanded automated decision-making, assessment thresholds set outside parliament through ministerial instruments, and weakened review and appeal mechanisms. Together, these create conditions where erroneous or systematically harsh outcomes could affect large numbers of people before problems become visible or correctable. The structural parallels with Robodebt are real.
For the people we work with every day, this is not abstract. These reforms go directly to whether someone can leave the house, keep their housing, go to work, and stay connected to their community. The people most likely to bear the cost are those with psychosocial disability, fluctuating or episodic conditions, and those without strong advocacy or informal support networks – the people already least well-served by complex administrative systems.
We have been raising these concerns at every stage of this reform process, and we will continue to do so. We urge the committee to recommend that the Bill not proceed until the serious risks identified – to access, individual rights, participant safety, and democratic oversight – have been meaningfully addressed through genuine co-design with people with disability.
The full submission is available: https://www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStore.ashx?id=e2737f59-37c8-4b23-8054-12a07f2c026e&subId=791261

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04/06/2026

The NDIS is facing its biggest shake-up in years. On 14 May 2026, the Government introduced the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026, a 109-page bill that touches everything from who can access the Scheme to how plans are made and how supports are funded.
In this extended interview, Sarah Guise talks with Jo Luetjens, Acting Head of Policy at Advocacy for Inclusion, to help make sense of what is being proposed and why it matters for people with disability.
If you are trying to get your head around these changes, this conversation is a good place to start.
Listen via Radio 1RPH, the community radio reading station for Canberra, Wagga Wagga and Junee.
👉 https://radio1rph.libsyn.com/disability-reform-1-jun-2026-ndis-legislation-with-jo-luetjens

Extended version of Sarah Guise's interview with Jo Luetjens, Acting Head of Policy at Advocacy for Inclusion, about the NDIS legislaton introduced in May 2026.

03/06/2026

On the first Saturday of each month from 9am–10am, the Royal Australian Mint opens early for Quiet Mornings — a dedicated low-sensory session designed for people who may have heightened sensory requirements. The next session will take place on Saturday 6 June. Visitors can explore the exhibition space with reduced noise and smaller crowds, in a calm and welcoming environment. Sessions are free, but numbers are limited and bookings are essential. Learn more and reserve tickets here.

On the first Saturday of each month, the Mint is opening its doors earlier than usual for a morning of peaceful exploration.

03/06/2026

The Winter 2026 Canberra Disability Review is out now at a time of seismic changes for disability policy. There is much talk of cost cutting, little mention of .
The review is online and free of any paywalls. Read it here https://www.advocacyforinclusion.org/cdr/

21/05/2026

The NDIS is facing its most significant restructure since it was established, and the Senate inquiry timeline is tight.
AFI is making a submission on behalf of the ACT Disability Caucus, and we want your experience in it.
Tell us what the NDIS makes possible in your life. Tell us what you are worried about losing. Tell us what has already changed. There are no wrong answers. Your voice, your story, your pace.
Submissions close 29 May 2026.
Share your story at AFI Listens:

AFI Listens is our community consultation platform — a space where people with disability can share what matters most to them.

19/05/2026

Have your say on transport in Canberra

We want to hear from anyone with disability who has a perspective on or experience with public transport in the ACT – good, bad, or somewhere in between. Every experience matters.

The survey takes around 10-15 minutes to complete and is open until the end of May 2026.

An Easy Read version is available. If you have other accessibility requirements, please contact us at [email protected] and we will do our best to help.

Take the survey here:

The most powerful, simple and trusted way to gather experience data. Start your journey to experience management and try a free account today.

19/05/2026

The NDIS is facing its most significant restructure since it was established, and the people who rely on it deserve a say.
Proposed changes include:

30 per cent cuts to social and community participation budgets from October 2026

A reduction in average plan values of around $5,000

New eligibility criteria that could see 160,000 participants leave the Scheme by 2030

New Ministerial powers to reduce funding across categories of support without individual review

A Senate inquiry is taking submissions until 29 May 2026.
Advocacy for Inclusion is preparing a submission on behalf of the ACT Disability Caucus. If you are a person with disability, a family member, a carer, or someone with a perspective on these changes, we want to hear from you, in your own words and in whatever way feels right.
Share your story: https://www.advocacyforinclusion.org/afi-listens/

AFI Listens is our community consultation platform — a space where people with disability can share what matters most to them.

13/05/2026

Tomorrow on Disability Reform, Radio 1RPH's Sarah Guise presents:

information about AFI Listens: Advocacy for Inclusion in the ACT have launched AFI listens, a new consultation platform.

‘Strong Voices in the NDIS’: a bonus episode from the Independent Assessment Podcast in which hosts Craig Wallace and C Moore interview well known disability advocate Sam Connor AM about the proposed NDIS reforms

an article by Nic Stuart from Ability News on what the states think of the proposed NDIS reforms

Listen in at 12noon, repeated at 8.15pm on Tuesday, on Radio1RPH, 1125AM and DAB+ in Canberra, 89.5FM in Wagga Wagga and 99.5FM in Junee, stream on the internet at radio1rph.org.au, or on the Community Radio Plus App.

Image Description: A social media tile, blue background with AFI Listens in large yellow text. Smaller white text has the caption "Your opinion matters to us". Also on a yellow background, a girl holding a phone to her ear and speaking. Image Credit: AFI

13/05/2026

AFI has reviewed the Budget through a disability rights lens.

There are measures we welcome, including investment in health, medicines, bulk billing and NDIS fraud protections. But the central issue is still clear: the Budget relies heavily on projected NDIS savings while leaving major gaps in disability-specific cost-of-living support, accessible housing and independent advocacy.

For Canberrans with disability, mainstream relief is not enough. Many people face higher electricity costs, inaccessible transport, unaffordable accessible housing and the added cost of navigating complex service systems.

The Budget funds reform. It does not clearly fund the independent advocacy infrastructure people will need to understand, challenge and navigate those reforms.

Read AFI’s analysis:

The Treasurer has called this the most responsible budget in decades. Responsible to whom is a question worth asking, because the human cost of this budget’s fiscal discipline falls disproportionately on people with disability.

07/05/2026

E-News 61 - https://mailchi.mp/67ed723129b1/e-news-17282426

There is a lot happening for people with disability in the ACT and nationally. This edition focuses on what these changes mean, what AFI is doing in response, and how people can have their say.

• AFI and ACT Disability Caucus’ position on the proposed NDIS reforms
• Our new Transport Transformed survey on disability and transport in Canberra
• Our joint submission on Specialist Disability Accommodation in the ACT
• A new podcast episode on proposed NDIS changes