The three-day inquiry in June into Labor’s devastating National Disability Insurance Scheme bill has been extended, after disability advocacy and human rights organisations outlined the significant risks to NDIS participants if it were to become law.

The Orwellian-named National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 was tabled on May 14. The Senate referred it to an inquiry, which then received more than 4000 submissions.

Every Australian Counts, which was central in the fight to introduce NDIS, called on the Senate not to support the bill in its current form. It said it had significant concerns that participants’ funding would be set below assessed need, that the cuts would lead to an increased reliance on unpaid carers, the introduction of automated decision-making and expanded ministerial powers, among other matters.

Rosemary Kayess, Disability Discrimination Commissioner with the Australian Human Rights Commission also opposed the bill.

“The NDIS was built on the principle that people disability can live independently and participate in the community with access to supports that enable choice, control and inclusion,” Kayess said. “This Bill has potential to be regressive in the protection and realisation of the rights of people with disability.”

The bill was even opposed by state and Territory disability ministers, five of whom are in Labor-led administrations.

“There is a significant risk that people with disability will end up in hospitals or other settings that are inappropriate and unable to meet their needs, or have no access to services at all,” their joint statement said. “While the scheme’s sustainability is an important objective, reforms must not........

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