Disability advocates say the Minns government has failed to deliver meaningful investment in disabled lives despite historic housing spend.

Disability advocates are expressing serious concerns the New South Wales government has abandoned people with disabilities in the budget, despite a record $5.1 billion spend on social housing.

Treasurer Daniel Mookhey outlined an ambitious plan to build 8,400 homes for social housing over the next five years, with half allocated to victims of family and domestic violence.

But advocates say the budget contains a glaring omission: any meaningful mention of disability services or foundational supports that would help people with disabilities live independently in the community.

“Despite repeated calls from people with disability, the NSW Government has failed to deliver a clear and sustained investment in disabled lives in the 2025-26 Budget, the outcomes of which will be felt by all," said Trinity Ford, President of People with Disability Australia (PWDA).

Ford argues that the government's inaction on disability issues will ultimately prove costly.

Liberal Disability spokesperson Natasha Maclaren-Jones echoed these concerns, suggesting disability issues have been treated as an afterthought.

"My concern is they haven't put any substantive funding into foundational supports," she said, noting that the government spent only an estimated $7 million last year, primarily to establish a task force. The lack of direct funding for on-the-ground disability supports has left many service providers struggling.

Maclaren-Jones, who recently launched an inquiry into foundational supports, says the failure to implement transitions smoothly means organisations providing support have not received the funding they are owed.

"It’s the families that will miss out," she warned.

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While the government committed billions to fast-track 465,500 new homes through private and mixed development initiatives, advocates say there are no clear guarantees about how people with disabilities will benefit from these developments.

"Continued discrimination against people with disability, and doing nothing to address it, is expensive," Ford says. "People with disability are being left out, which will end up costing the Government and taxpayers more in the future."

Most of the new housing will not be social or accessible housing, raising concerns about affordability and accessibility.

The statistics paint a troubling picture: 66,698 households are currently on the NSW social housing waiting list, with government data showing that approximately one- third of these applicants are people with disabilities. Meanwhile, homelessness is costing NSW about $6.5 billion annually – $65 billion over a decade.

PWDA has proposed a solution: invest $26 billion over 10 years to address homelessness, which they argue would save the budget almost $4 billion annually. However, no such commitment was made in the current budget.

"Not everyone can live independently or without additional support, and the government hasn't been supporting that," Maclaren-Jones points out. "You hear them talking about affordable housing, but not disability housing."

She emphasised the need for the government to be "proactive" on disability housing, including independent and supported living options in social housing.

"It's about giving people choice. Some people are happy living in shared accommodation; others want to live independently. “That's what the NDIS was supposed to be about."

The government also announced significant investments in hospitals and economic initiatives, while claiming to have stabilised finances by reducing projected gross debt from $188.2 billion to $178.8 billion by June 2026.