NDIS Bill passes the Senate with 32 last-minute amendments, and not one for mob
The NDIS Bill that passed the Senate on Tuesday night was amended 32 times in its final hours, and more than 60 times across its entire passage. Not one of those amendments was written for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with disability.
First Peoples Disability Network says the omission runs through the entire law, and it will measure every government against three public tests as the changes reach 63,000 First Nations people on the Scheme.
Not one of the more than 30 amendments made to the NDIS Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 introduced in the Senate yesterday was written for First Nations people with disability, the First Peoples Disability Network Australia (FPDN) said today, after examining the official record of every change made to the Bill.
FPDN put every Australian government on notice that it will publicly measure them against three tests as the biggest changes in the Scheme’s history reach the 63,000 First Nations people who rely on it. FPDN stands with people with disability across the country, and with its fellow Disability Representative Organisations, on what many have described as a day of grief and fear.
First Nations people with disability are already the most underserved participants in the Scheme. They have the most to lose from what happens next.
The Bill passed the Senate late on Tuesday night, the final 32 amendments were tabled only hours before the vote and passed with little debate. People with disability and their representative organisations had no opportunity to scrutinise the final text of the law before it was voted on by the Senate.
The Bill is expected to complete its passage through the Parliament within days. The legislation is designed to slow Scheme growth by $37.8 billion over four years. The Government’s own modelling anticipates around 240,000 current participants leaving the NDIS by 2031, with a further 110,000 people diverted to services that do not yet exist in many communities.
More than 4,500 submissions were made to the Senate inquiry. Most opposed the Bill. The Senate passed it anyway.
In May, FPDN called for safeguards to be conditions of the Bill’s passage. None was written into the law. FPDN will now measure every government against them as the reforms are implemented:
- Cultural validation before reassessment. No First Nations participant is reassessed under the new assessment tool until it has been independently culturally validated by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander led research and community.
- No exit without alternative. No First Nations person leaves the NDIS before a culturally safe, locally available replacement service is operational in their community.
- The First Nations Disability Forum, now. Immediate establishment and funding of the Forum, with a permanent secretariat and formal links to Disability Reform and Ministers. The Disability Royal Commission recommended it almost three years ago.
FPDN Interim CEO Tennille Lamb said the vote had settled the legislation, but not the question of who bears its consequences.
“The vote is over, and the responsibility now begins. Our mob were the last to be reached when the NDIS was built. They must not be the first moved off as these changes take effect. We will measure every government on what it does, not what it announces,” Ms Lamb said.
First Nations people experience disability at nearly twice the rate of other Australians, and severe or profound disability at two and a half times the rate. Less than one per cent of NDIS providers are First Nations organisations, despite First Nations people making up eight per cent of participants.
In remote communities, more than one in three participants are not accessing the supports in their plans. FPDN said the gap already exists inside the Scheme, before a single change takes effect, and reform that ignores this will widen it.
FPDN also raised serious concerns about provisions that allow a participant’s plan to be suspended, and their place in the Scheme revoked after 90 days, if the Agency cannot contact them. Amendments exclude contact attempts made while a person is in hospital, in an institution or experiencing homelessness.
There is no equivalent protection for Sorry Business, cultural obligations, travel between communities, or the unreliable phone and mail services of remote Australia. FPDN said that omission shows why First Nations scrutiny of this law mattered, and it will seek urgent guarantees on how the provision is administered.
“Think about what this looks like on the ground. A person who cannot be reached while they are away for Sorry Business can have their plan suspended, and 90 days after that they can be removed from the Scheme altogether. Nobody wrote a protection for that,” Ms Lamb said. “Our communities have watched too many promises fade before they reach the ground. When we say no exit without alternative, we mean a real service, run by people our mob trust, in the place where they live. Not a phone number and a waiting list. No one should be left with nothing,” Ms Lamb said.
The stakes reach beyond the NDIS. The Productivity Commission’s July report shows only three of nineteen Closing the Gap targets on track, with four going backwards, including early childhood development and adult imprisonment. One in nine First Nations children aged fourteen and under lives with profound or severe limitation. These are the children affected by the Thriving Kids program, which begins in six weeks on 1 October.
The Minister concedes there is still “substantial” work to do on the foundational supports meant to catch children leaving the Scheme, and Queensland is yet to sign its agreement with the Commonwealth. FPDN called on all governments to finalise arrangements before a single child is moved.
“There is a version of this reform that works for our people. It means governments investing in Aboriginal community-controlled organisations to deliver supports on Country, and nobody leaving the Scheme before something culturally safe is standing in its place. We are ready to build that with every government, starting today. But if our people start falling through the gaps, we will say so publicly, every time,” Ms Lamb said.
FPDN will release a full analysis of the final legislation and what it means for First Nations people with disability in the coming days.
ENDS
Key facts for journalists:
- The NDIS Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 passed the Senate on 18 August 2026
- Thirty amendments were agreed in the House of Representatives on 1 July. The Clerk of the Senate’s schedule records a further 32 amendments made by the Senate on 18 August, tabled hours before the final vote
- None of the 32 Senate amendments contains a First Nations-specific safeguard. Cultural validation of the new assessment tool, a guarantee against exit before culturally safe local alternatives exist, and the First Nations Disability Forum are all absent from the final legislation
- Government modelling projects around 240,000 existing participants leaving the NDIS by 2031, with a further 110,000 diverted to other programs, to slow Scheme growth by $37.8 billion over four years
- More than 4,500 submissions were made to the Senate inquiry. Most opposed the Bill
- 63,000+ First Nations people are NDIS participants, making up 8% of all participants
- Less than 1% of NDIS providers (144 of 54,967) are First Nations organisations
- In remote communities, more than 1 in 3 First Nations NDIS participants are not accessing the supports in their plans
- First Nations Australians experience disability at 1.5 to 1.9 times the rate of non-Indigenous Australians, and severe or profound disability at 2.5 times the rate
- The I-CAN v6 assessment tool still has no published cultural validation for First Nations populations. New support needs assessments begin from April 2027, and eligibility reassessments of existing participants can begin from January 2028
- The Disability Royal Commission recommended a First Nations Disability Forum (Rec 9.10) in 2023. It has still not been established
- The Productivity Commission’s July 2026 Closing the Gap report found one of nineteen targets met, three on track, and four worsening, including early childhood development and adult imprisonment
- Thriving Kids begins on 1 October 2026. Queensland has not signed a bilateral agreement with the Commonwealth for the program. NDIS access changes for children take effect from 1 January 2028
Interviews and further comments:
FPDN Interim CEO Tennille Lamb is available for further comment and interviews. Also available is Rhys Howard, Director of Policy and Strategy.
For all media enquiries please contact:
FPDN Media Team Email: [email protected]
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