Advocating for Fair and Inclusive NDIS Reform

Advocacy WA has joined voices from across the country in calling for transparency, co-design, and fairness in the development of the National Disability Insurance Scheme’s (NDIS) new Support Needs Assessment process.

Across Australia, people with disability, families, and advocates are expressing serious concern about the proposed assessment model. These concerns focus on the lack of codesign with people with lived experience, disability representative organisations, and allied health professionals; the reliability of the chosen assessment tool; and the absence of any right to appeal or review the assessment outcome.

Experts warn that the new approach is effectively a test where responses feed into a computer algorithm to determine a participant’s funding. People with disability and their carers fear that the process will not reflect a person’s true support needs and may result in harmful outcomes if implemented without rigorous review.

Advocacy WA supports calls for a Parliamentary Inquiry into the Support Needs Assessment. As an organisation committed to justice, human rights, and self-determination, we believe reform must be co-designed with the people it directly affects. True co-design means shared decision-making, not consultation. We are particularly concerned about:

• The reliability and validity of the proposed assessment tool

• Lack of medically qualified assessors and expert oversight

• No legislated right for participants to provide reports from their own medical professionals

• No clear process to appeal or review incorrect assessments

• Lack of codesign with people with disability, supports, advocates, and professionals

These changes come at a time when many regional and rural people with disability are already struggling with provider closures due to pricing cuts.

Advocacy WA continues to work alongside individuals, families, and communities to advocate for systems that are fair, inclusive, and designed through genuine collaboration.

If you would like to add your voice, you can read and sign the petition calling for a parliamentary inquiry into the proposed Support Needs Assessment here:
Sign the petition on the Parliament of Australia website

Together, we can push for meaningful reform that upholds dignity, choice, and human rights for all people with disability.

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