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The RAC submission to the NDIS Bill does more than just criticise Labor’s NDIS Bill. It reveals a far deeper problem: an advisory structure built to hear people with disability was simply ignored as critical decisions were made.

What’s important is not what the NDIS Reform Advisory Committee says about the NDIS reforms, but what its submission tells us about the process.

The RAC was created to advise governments on NDIS reform and engagement with people with disability. But when the time came to consult it was ignored.

In fact, as far as it can ascertain, no Disability Representative Organisation was consulted on Mark Butler’s National Press Club speech, the Budget, or any draft of the Bill.

Either the Government didn’t care about the voices of people with disability, or the machinery was just window-dressing and never meant to shape the hard decisions.

Neither possibility is flattering.

The critique is not simply that the timetable is too short. It says the Bill should not proceed in its current form and insists it should be redrafted in genuine partnership with the disability community.

This turns co-design from a government slogan into evidence against it.

The committee says the savings Labor wants can be found in other ways. Provider integrity, fraud enforcement, pricing reform and reduced legal contest should have guided these reforms, not a complete re-design.

The RAC was supposed to be part of the architecture of trust.

Its submission says that trust has already broken.

[continued on the abilityNEWS website]

Older Australians with MND given priority access to Support at Home

The Government will amend Aged Care Rules to recognise Motor Neurone Disease as a specific condition warranting urgent priority for Support at Home. This will apply retrospectively to older Australians with MND already assessed and waiting for a place.

Mark Butler | Minister for Health and Ageing, Minister for Disability and the NDIS

Senate estimates continue Health, Disability and Ageing scrutiny

The Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee continued 2026–27 Budget estimates hearings for the Health, Disability and Ageing portfolio, keeping NDIS reform, disability policy and portfolio administration open to parliamentary scrutiny.

Parliament of Australia

Disability Representative Organisations warn NDIS Bill lacks safeguards

Disability Advocacy Network Australia published the joint Disability Representative Organisations submission to the Senate inquiry, saying the NDIS Bill should not proceed without proper scrutiny, modelling, safeguards, and continuity-of-support protections.

Disability Advocacy Network Australia

Palliative Care Australia warns of NDIS-health gap for life-limiting illness

Palliative Care Australia warns the NDIS Bill could leave people with life-limiting or terminal illness caught between health and disability systems.

Palliative Care Australia

Labor’s planned NDIS overhaul is ‘blunt and inequitable’, thinktank says

The Grattan Institute has criticised Labor’s planned NDIS overhaul as “blunt and inequitable”, saying the proposed social participation cuts are underpinned by dubious policy logic. Grattan warns the changes will hit some disability groups hard, including those with visual impairment, psychosocial disability and Down syndrome.

Guardian Australia | Paywall: No

NDIS overhaul will ‘harm’ Australians with disabilities, government’s own committee warns [see our ‘Big Story’ above]

Guardian Australia reports the government’s Reform Advisory Committee warns the Bill undermines the NDIS, concentrating unprecedented power in the health minister. The story also records concerns from the Australian Human Rights Commission about inadequate consultation and human rights impacts.

Guardian Australia | Paywall: No

Human Rights Commission holds ‘serious concerns’ about Labor’s NDIS laws

The Sydney Morning Herald reports the Australian Human Rights Commission raises “serious concerns” about Labor’s NDIS legislation, warning the Bill could compromise the rights of people with disability. The story says Disability Discrimination Commissioner Rosemary Kayess signed a submission warning the consultation period is inadequate and the proposed laws risk undermining autonomy, independence, and inclusion.

Sydney Morning Herald | Paywall: likely

Update on Luke’s NDIS fight

A Current Affair has published an update on Luke Dore’s fight for NDIS-funded 24-hour care. He will now receive this care. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there is no explanation as to what may have caused the NDIA’s sudden change of mind.

Nine | Paywall: No