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Australia’s disability system did not begin with the NDIS. It began in a very different place.

In the first of a two-part review Peter Strong, former CEO of COSBOA, looks back at a disability system that once worked through local knowledge, relationships and community services. Now a locally embedded public function is being replaced by contracted systems, market logic and fragmented programs.

The history matters because disability policy has never been only about services. It has always been about citizenship. This is Peter’s story . . .

I first became involved in the sector when working in the Commonwealth Employment Service (CES) in 1977, when I was referred to as the Disabled Persons Officer (DPO). My job was to work withpeople and seek jobs or the training necessary to get a job.

I worked with employers - the government provided support with changes to workplace infrastructure and with training and wage subsidies. I continued this work through to the mid-1980s, now called an Employment Counsellor, and never really left that sector. I’ve seen some change.

This history starts with initially dealing with wounded veterans, then moving to welfare expansion, institutional thinking, community activism, and more recently, rights-based reform. From the beginning, the story is not about a single policy breakthrough but more about a slow and uneven redefinition of what citizenship itself means.

This reflects our approach to most things.

In the early decades of the twentieth century, support for people with disability was conditional and heavily shaped by a welfare attitude.

The social security architecture emerging after Federation introduced the Invalid and Old-Age Pension (1908), but in the 1920s and 1930s eligibility framework still divided people into those who could work and those who could not.

Disability was understood through a medical or economic lens: a limitation on productivity
requiring subsistence support, not about participation.

World War I and its aftermath expanded the system in ways that would shape everything that followed.

The repatriation system for returned soldiers introduced structured compensation,
rehabilitation services and prosthetics provision on a scale previously unseen – because of the level of need. It was not framed as disability policy in the modern sense, but it
embedded the idea that the Commonwealth had an obligation.

The idea was simple: ‘Restore function and support long-term impairment caused by service’. This logic would later spill into civilian systems.

[continued on the abilityNEWS website]

As we await tomorrow’s budget details, the NDIS reform fight is moving from policy design into public mobilisation and budget framing.

The government’s reform story is now clear. It’s the cost. Thousands of people will be shifted of the scheme and into new supports, tightening eligibility, defining the provider market and using Budget savings to justify the pace. Participants, families, providers and allied health peaks are responding from different points in the system, but their message is converging - don’t.

The problem with this is that the NDIS reforme are baked into the budget. The next 24–72 hours will test whether the government can keep control of its reform narrative.

Timorrow’s Budget will turn cost control into lived consequence.

Risk: The government’s fiscal argument may outrun the service system’s capacity to provide safe alternatives.

Opportunity: The new peer support and connections grants could become a practical bridge between the NDIS and foundational supports if they are designed around people.

New disability peer support and connections grant round

An open competitive grant opportunity has been launched for organisations supporting people with disability, their families and carers. The Disability Peer Support and Connections Program is described as the next phase of disability supports, building on recent reforms to the Information, Linkages and Capacity Building Program.
Department of Health, Disability and Ageing | Senator Jenny McAllister

Government publishes Securing the NDIS for future generations fact sheet

The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing published a fact sheet titled Securing the NDIS for future generations. The resource includes Easy Read material in four parts.
Department of Health, Disability and Ageing

PWDA summarises national community forum on NDIS changes

People with Disability Australia says the forum brought together the disability community to discuss what is known, what remains uncertain and how people are organising to protest.
People with Disability Australia

Dietitians warn NDIS reform must not remove vital nutrition supports

Dietitians Australia says NDIS cost-control reforms must not limit access to dietetic supports that build and maintain functional capacity for people with disability. The peak body is urging meaningful engagement with allied health, warning that unmet support needs should not be shifted from the NDIS into other parts of the health and care system.
Dietitians Australia

NDS explains consultation on defining an NDIS provider

National Disability Services has published an item on the federal consultation about the legal definition of an NDIS provider. Outcomes will influence registration and compliance for providers.
National Disability Services

NDS continues provider-facing integrity and sustainability discussion

National Disability Services has published a CEO update on integrity, sustainability, value for money and the future of the NDIS. Its ‘Reform Radar’ session covers integrity, pricing, market reform and what comes next for providers.
National Disability Services

Afford CEO Jo Toohey steps down

The Australian Foundation for Disability says Chief Executive Officer Joanne Toohey’s final day was Friday 8 May 2026. Afford says Toohey joined in October 2021 and led a transformation program to stabilise and strengthen the organisation, improve services and position it for long-term sustainability.
Afford

Tensions flare at NDIS rally in Melbourne

An elderly protester was pushed to the ground as tensions flared at a Melbourne rally against disability funding cuts. Organisers are calling on Victoria Police to apologise, saying the event was part of a national day of action against the federal government’s plan to cut the NDIS.
9News | Paywall: No

INTERVIEW: Butler says NDIS cuts and tightened eligibility are ahead

SBS published an interview with Health Minister Mark Butler ahead of the Budget in which the NDIS reforms were discussed. Butler told SBS the government aims to remove children with autism into the new Thriving Kids program with future eligibility based on different criteria.
SBS News | Mark Butler

INTERVIEW: President of People with Disability Australia Jeramy Hope on NDIS reforms

SBS interviewed People with Disability Australia president Jeramy Hope about the plan to move about 160,000 people off the NDIS by 2030. The disability community has expressed alarm and anxiety about uncertainty surrounding the reforms.
SBS News | Paywall: No

Federal budget 2026: Labor finds $64bn in savings

The Albanese government’s identified $64 billion in savings ahead of the federal Budget, with NDIS cuts described as the largest component. The disability angle is substantial, although the story is framed primarily as a Budget and fiscal-management item.
news.com.au | Paywall: No

NDIS funding cut leaves Paralympian Esther Overton without care

Paralympic swimmer Esther Overton has been left without essential daily care after a $60,000 annual NDIS funding cut. The report says Overton alleges errors in her NDIS record contributed to the decision, while the NDIA says funding decisions are made on submitted evidence and under the NDIS Act.
The Advertiser | Paywall: Yes

NDIS 'kidnap' claim: Provider accused of guardianship deception

A Queensland husband has accused his wife’s NDIS supported independent living provider of deception in a guardianship process. The provider allegedly described him incorrectly as an “ex-husband”, with the case involving public guardianship, supported accommodation and claims about the financial value of the participant’s NDIS plan.
The Courier-Mail | Paywall: Yes

Toowoomba NDIS rally protests $22bn cuts as advocates warn of deaths

Public preview material says nearly 100 people attended a Toowoomba rally against the federal government’s proposed NDIS cuts. The report says local disability advocates warned the changes could seriously affect quality of life and safety for people with disability.
The Courier-Mail | Paywall: Yes

The NDIS became a grifters' paradise – and you're paying

An AFR column says the piece links Health Minister Mark Butler’s NDIS comments with the pre-Budget debate over spending restraint.
Australian Financial Review | Paywall: Yes