Parliamentary report exposes governance and safeguarding failures. Physical Disability Australia says implementation must deliver safety, independence and participation – not just budget repair.
People with physical disability are being left unable to get out of bed, go to work or take part in community life when supports fail. Physical Disability Australia (PDA) says that is the real test of NDIS reform, and it is not being met.
Responding to the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit’s October 2026 Report 519, PDA is calling on the Australian Government, the NDIA and the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission to turn identified failures into practical protections: safer supports, stronger accountability and greater independence.
The report finds weaknesses in governance, performance reporting, complaints handling and regulatory oversight. It calls for better monitoring of participant outcomes, stronger sharing of risk information, and proper management of the risk that providers will fail or withdraw.
For people who rely on daily assistance or mobility equipment, those are not administrative gaps. They are the difference between living independently and being stranded.
“A sustainable NDIS must sustain people’s lives,” said Physical Disability Australia CEO Suzanne Gearing. “Success means safety, independence and participation, not just dollars spent.”
The Committee itself warns against treating average payments per participant as a standalone measure of success, given how widely people’s needs differ. It also records evidence that cutting expenditure can simply shift costs onto health services rather than reduce need.
Ms Gearing said the recommendations will mean nothing unless they change what participants experience.
“These recommendations are only words on a paper. They do not change individual plans or funding,” she said. “We are asking for implementation that protects essential supports and delivers better everyday outcomes.”
PDA is calling for five commitments:
- Measure what matters. Track safety, independence and participation, with people with physical disability shaping the outcome measures (Recommendation 12).
- Make complaints work. Provide accessible pathways, timely updates and meaningful responses to complaints and incidents (Recommendations 11 and 13).
- Protect essential supports. Plan for provider withdrawals and closures so participants are not left without daily assistance (Recommendation 3).
- Target risk without stripping choice. Improve information sharing and risk-proportionate registration without cutting people off from suitable providers (Recommendations 5, 7, 8 and 14).
- Keep participants central. Publish implementation milestones and involve people with physical disability in designing and assessing the reforms.
“Reform that counts spending and ignores whether people can live, work and participate is not reform.” says Ms Gearing. “we are urging Government to act on the report and to be judged on whether supports are safer, more reliable and more accountable as a result.”
About us:
Physical Disability Australia (PDA) is Australia’s national peak Disabled People’s Organisation representing people living with physical disability. Established in 1995, and governed and led by people with physical disability, we advocate for the rights, inclusion, and full participation of all people with physical disability across Australia.
