This year’s Federal Budget arrives during a period of major reform across Australia’s disability and accessibility sectors. Alongside broader investment in accessibility infrastructure, disability advocacy and foundational supports, the Government has also introduced the NDIS Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026, signaling some of the most substantial proposed changes to the scheme in recent years.

A Whole-of-Government Responsibility

For Deafness Forum Australia, these conversations matter because Australia has now shifted from one in six to one in five people living with D/deafness, hearing loss, or associated hearing conditions.

Australia is now at a point where so many people have hearing loss, that communication accessibility can no longer be regarded as a niche issue – it needs to be a whole-of government responsibility which will need to be factored in policy decisions around healthcare, education, employment, transport, digital environments and everyday community life.

Within this year’s Budget, Deafness Forum Australia welcomed continued investment in disability advocacy and representative organisations, expansion of Auslan video relay services and broader mainstream accessibility funding outside the NDIS as indicators that the Federal Government recognises that participation and inclusion cannot rely on individual supports alone.

At the same time, there is still a critical role for individual supports, and we share the concerns of many disability representative organisations, advocates, and other key stakeholders about the new NDIS Bill and what the proposed changes could mean for all NDIS participants including Australians who are D/deaf or hard of hearing.

While the Bill is still being reviewed by Parliament and many operational details remain unclear until supporting Rules are released, several proposed reforms could substantially change how participants access and navigate the scheme, including:

  • Tighter eligibility requirements for both new and existing participants, including stronger requirements to demonstrate permanent and substantial functional impairment.
  • Greater emphasis on participants demonstrating they have explored treatment avenues and alternative supports outside the NDIS before becoming eligible for assistance.
  • Stricter rules around reassessments and participant reviews.
  • Tighter limitations around what supports may be funded through the scheme.
  • Increased record-keeping obligations for participants and providers.
  • New powers allowing the NDIA to suspend participant plans or reduce funding in some circumstances.
  • Fixed end dates for participant plans, with unspent funds no longer carrying over into renewed plans.

Many of the changes create increased responsibilities for participants who are already struggling to navigate a scheme that is already highly administrative. Other proposed changes would require NDIS staff to exercise more complex decision-making about plans and funding.

Several changes assume a level of administrative efficiency we know the agency just can’t achieve with current resourcing.

While we can never 100% predict how the changes might play out in practice, if this Bill is adopted as is, we would definitely expect to see reductions in approved supports and funding for many of our members as well as a significant proportion of participants being deemed ineligible for the Scheme sometime in the not too distant future.

This is why it is critical that we see progress towards foundational supports. Deafness Forum Australia is currently preparing a submission in response to the draft Bill focused on how these proposed reforms may affect D/deaf and hard-of-hearing Australians and their families to outline our concerns and ensure that the Government continues to support the D/deaf and hearing loss community.

These conversations are not simply about administration or funding systems. They are about real people.

The NDIS Independent Review had an aspiration of an interconnected ecosystem of disability supports operating in tandem to ensure all Australians with disability could access the disability related supports they need to live dignified and equitable lives. This budget indicates that the Government wants to move forward towards developing this ecosystem.

This comes at a time where societal expectations around public participation are changing. Our members increasingly expect, and rightly deserve, to be able to access information clearly and participate confidently within the environments around them.

This year’s Budget does not resolve every challenge facing Australians living with hearing-related conditions. But it does reflect a broader national transition underway across accessibility, participation and communication access.

The opportunity now is ensuring Australians with hearing-related conditions remain part of that conversation as reforms continue to evolve and ensuring their support needs will continue to be met, be that through the NDIS or elsewhere.

Explore More

Upcoming Events

Mar 03
Turning Awareness Into Action

Online Webinar

View All Events