Sustainability matters, but it must never come at the expense of people with disability.
Further tightening the growth cap raises serious concerns about whether supports will continue to be based on need, not budgets, and whether people with complex or changing needs will be adequately protected.
The NDIS was founded on a clear principle: people with disability have the right to the supports they need to live full and included lives. That principle must remain non-negotiable.
National Cabinet also confirmed progress on Thriving Kids, a new $2 billion early-intervention program and the first phase of Foundational Supports. Thriving Kids will support children aged 8 and under with developmental delay and/or autism and low to moderate support needs, operating outside the NDIS. Rollout is expected to begin on 1 October 2026, with full implementation by 1 January 2028.
While children with higher support needs will remain eligible for the NDIS — and children already in the scheme before 1 January 2028 will retain their existing access – there are legitimate concerns about the potential loss of individualised supports and how future eligibility will be defined.
Providers are essential to the delivery of the NDIS. Any sustainability reforms must recognise the true cost of quality, safe, and person-centred support, and ensure providers can remain viable while meeting participants’ needs.
Amplify Alliance will be watching closely and advocating strongly to ensure:
- The NDIS remains rights-based and demand-driven
- Cost control does not mean reduced access or poorer outcomes
- People with disability are meaningfully involved in decisions that affect them.
Sustainability must go hand in hand with fairness, dignity, and inclusion.
If you’re seeing early impacts or have concerns you’d like raised, please get in touch.
Amplify Alliance represents the largest network of Not For Profit organisations delivering and supporting human and social services in Australia. Our work is centred on the key determinants of wellbeing: Jobs, Home, Learning, Health, Social Connection and Social Justice.
