I’m Homeless - and the NDIS Let It Happen

Hi, I’m Jaz (they/them), an Autistic ADHDer, and I’ve been without a stable home since June 15, 2025, despite years of fighting for NDIS housing support. Since then, I've been living in a tent with my assistance dog - and now, recent storms have destroyed what little shelter I had.

I don't drive, have little support, and most disturbingly, 

... I have nowhere to go. 

The NDIS system should protect individuals like me. Instead, its failures have pushed me into crisis after crisis. But through it all, I've learnt, I’m not alone, and that's why I've created this petition: to demand systemic reform and fairness - not just for me, but for every person with a disability who’s been failed.

But first - if you want to support me directly, my GoFundMe is here:
GoFundMe: Homeless - Disabled and Nowhere to Go
(Please note: money from Change.org’s “chip in” button doesn’t go to me — it promotes the petition.)

For years, I’ve been relying on the NDIS for vital daily supports in areas such as: pain management, wellbeing and mental health, daily organisation, cleaning, transport, and getting out into the community. But when it comes to stable housing—the very foundation for safety and wellbeing—I’ve been repeatedly denied the funding I desperately need.

Without housing support, I’ve been forced into cycles of homelessness. Last summer, I collapsed from heat exhaustion trying to survive summer in a tent.

Eventually, I decided to fight back.

 
I Took My Case to the ART
The Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) is supposed to ensure fairness when people with disability are denied necessary supports.

But in reality, the tribunal

• Isn’t easy to understand 
• Doesn't respond to urgent support needs
• Is not built for people like me.

I know this because:

• I’ve been homeless for months
• I’ve been fighting the system for housing support for almost four years
• I’ve been stuck waiting over 8 months for a hearing
• I’ve spent my life in and out of crisis services that don’t understand disabilities — such as refuges, crisis accommodation/hotels, tents at caravan parks, social and community housing
• Each of these options presents a degree of safety risks to me
  The NDIS tells me to access these options, expecting they will meet my needs
• Due to having no other options, I’ve suffered permanent injuries, illness, been a victim of family and domestic violence, and I had no choice but to leave dangerous environments for my safety
• The agency is aware of my deterioration and crisis, and their failure to act leaves me at further risk
• I’m not even past the initial phases of the tribunal and nowhere close to a resolution
• While waiting for help, my life — and the lives of others like me — continue to unravel.

 
The NDIA Keeps Denying Me the Help I Need
Despite multiple reviews and appeals, including sufficient evidence from my OT, speech therapist, psychologist and support workers, the NDIA continues to deny me vital housing support. Each denial pushes me closer to crisis after crisis.

I deserve a safe, stable home with the assistance I need, where there is someone safe, trusted, and supportive nearby at all times. Somewhere that also caters to my need for privacy, space and independence. The right living arrangement is out there for me, but without the NDIS, I can't access it. 

Instead, I’m left barely surviving in unsafe, unsupported environments.

 
The System is Inaccessible and Broken
The process of accessing disability support is complex, legalistic, and confusing—especially for neurodivergent people. I’m expected to interpret dense legal jargon and advocate for myself without the communication support I need.

What is the solution? 
I have an idea - a way forward built on trust, dignity, and true accessibility. I’m calling for a new model, designed by and for people with disability: The "NDIS Platform."

Here’s Some Ideas:

❎ Stop calling it a “Tribunal.”
This would remove the implication that someone is being judged or has done something wrong for simply existing.

✅🌻Instead, imagine an NDIS Platform — a space built for and with people with disabilities. A place where we can tell our stories, describe our needs, and be treated with dignity and respect — not judgment or suspicion.

❎ Stop using the word “Hearing.”
Not only is “hearing” an outdated term — it’s an inaccurate one.

Based on my own abysmal experiences, I’ve never truly felt heard at all. The word "hearing" feels hollow. It reinforces a power imbalance and fails to reflect what people with disabilities need: support, understanding, and equity

✅🌻Instead, imagine a Participant Consultant Space (PCS) where you’re not just heard, but truly listened to, and where your experiences and truths are validated and respected.

 
What Would the NDIS Platform Need?
✅ The NDIS Platform would need to be built from the ground up, so it can meet its very purpose.

✅ A clear guidebook entitled "Understanding how to participate in the NDIS Platform"— a short and easy to read book, created by and in-conjunction with people with disability—for participants and people with disabilities who are navigating the NDIS Platform. 

(Nothing about us without us!)

✅ We’re not just participants — We’re often experts in our own support needs.

The system treats lived experience like it’s secondary to clinical reports or legal documentation. That must change.

✅ Use the NDIS Platform to give us freedom and a space to frame our narrative in ways we find most accessible.

We could use the platform to represent ourselves through various different mediums such as written stories, photos, poetry, art, music, videos, or even audio diaries. This would help supplement our lived experiences alongside any secondary sources of information we may wish to provide eg. Documentation such as impact statements and reports from our care team.

✅ An NDIS Platform would provide us with a safe place to share our lived experiences rather than argue or prove a point.

An NDIS Platform would allow us to just tell the story of who we are, what we face, and what we need in the best way we can. This would encourage self-expression and build on self-worth so that our needs, struggles or barriers are heard and validated.

✅ 🚨 Fast-Tracking Participants in Crisis — Without Additional Assessments

If the NDIA becomes aware that a participant’s needs have significantly changed — particularly in cases of crisis, instability, or clear risk — that person should be immediately fast-tracked into the NDIS Platform.

This shouldn’t require another formal assessment, reassessment, or escalation request. The current model makes people prove their suffering again and again while enduring unsafe conditions — this is traumatising and often retraumatising.

Instead, when someone is clearly at risk (like facing eviction, family violence, or physical or mental health deterioration), the NDIA should act immediately by providing temporary supports that meet our urgent needs while we are seeking resolution and support at the NDIS Platform.

These interim supports should not depend on a participant having to relive trauma or "present enough evidence" to justify them. In many cases, their lived experience and professional input from their support team should be enough.

Put our Safety First — Not Paperwork.

✅ Allow A Collaborative Plan of Action Process
The idea is that NDIS participants shouldn't be trying to “win” a case but instead, that the NDIS Platform itself would provide opportunities to figure out what’s needed and how to make it happen.

Rather than presenting “evidence” and trying to prove someone’s wrong or right, the process could instead be a "shared problem-solving approach", where we work together with the NDIS to understand the full picture and come up with actionable solutions that best support our needs.

It would also stop us from feeling like all the intimate parts of our lives are being scrutinised under a microscope—not only is that ableist, it is also dehumanising, demoralising and can often lead to “imposter syndrome” or situations where we don’t feel we deserve things we truly need.

 
An NDIS Platform That Exists Without a Need for Legal Representation
Currently the NDIS have a lawyer, but I do not, and I see this as an unfair power-imbalance. It also makes me feel like I’ve done something criminally wrong when I’m just someone with disabilities that has unmet support needs.

If discrimination were to occur within the NDIS Platform, or should the need for legal aid arise during the process, then that matter should be like any other matter that goes to court separately and we should receive free legal aid to navigate that process.

 
Communication and Accessibility
✅ Information should be provided in plain language, dyslexic friendly fonts, documents in formats like audio, Braille, and Easy Read.

✅ There should be respect for our identities, including names, pronouns, and gender.

✅ Guaranteed access to disability advocacy, support workers, counselling and peer-support as we navigate the NDIS Platform

✅ Alternative communication methods like interpreters, captioning, and written summaries.

✅ Support for communication barriers, such as note-takers or communication devices.

✅ Guaranteed access to assistive technology (AT) for communication and participation when accessing the NDIS Platform.
 
Disability Can Happen to Anyone
Disability isn’t always something you’re born with. It can arise from an accident, illness, or simply aging. It could happen to anyone, at any time.
That’s why we must demand a system that supports everyone—because no one should be abandoned when they become impacted by disability.

This Isn’t Just About Me
I’m not alone in this fight. While campaigning, I’ve met many others in our community with similar stories—people being pushed into homelessness, denied support, and left behind.

 
You Can Help Create Change
If you believe that everyone deserves accessible, fair, and inclusive support, please sign my petition.

Together, we can:
✅ Push for meaningful reforms to abolish the language used like “tribunal” and “hearing” and move towards inclusive and meaningful processes like an NDIS Platform and Participant Consultation Space – and LISTEN to our community, as they will likely have more suggestions and input as things continue to change. 
✅ Demand timely responses from the NDIA
✅ Make sure no one is left behind just because they can’t fight the system alone

The NDIA Has a Duty of Care
The NDIA has both a legal and ethical obligation to support people with disabilities—especially when lives are at risk.

Ignoring that duty is not just harmful; it may be unlawful under the NDIS framework.

My lease ended on the 15th June 2025 - and now, my safety is in the hands of the NDIA.

With the current state of the NDIS, this horrifies me.

I am living in a tent with my assistance dog in the middle of winter.

Australia’s East Coast has just faced extreme weather events, including flooding. I wake up cold, my bedding and sleeping bag covered in dew, my tent saturated with condensation. 

This system could be saving lives — not costing them.

Please sign and share my petition before it’s too late.
Share your own story below and remember, you are not alone.

Lastly, I wrote this song when I felt like giving up.

But I didn’t, because I’ve come too far to turn back, and I believe in us. 

But before you read these heartfelt lyrics, please if you haven’t already:

👉 Sign and share the petition
🧠 Tell your story
🫂 Remember that you are not alone
Know that for every system there is a solution.

~ Fight For You ~ An original song by me, Jaz from Australia.

Verse 1:
Here I am
Falling down again
On the floor
Crying long into the night

All I needed was a little bit of stability
How I've tried but I just don't have the ability

Pre-Chorus:
Some say my shield’s too old
And my sword’s too heavy to hold
And my heart can’t take any more pain
(It’s a lie)

Chorus:
Cause I will fight for you
For every one of those who feel alone
And scared without a home to go to
You won’t just be
A passing memory
Because together we stand
And together we’ll land

Verse 2:
I close up
Bottle away how I truly feel
Masking my pain
Seems like the easiest way to deal
Every day, I'm stuck in a merry-go-mouse wheel
I'm still alive
I know this because my pain is real

Pre-Chorus:
Some say my shield’s too old
And my sword’s too heavy to hold
And my heart can’t take any more pain
(It’s a lie)

Chorus:
Cause I will fight for you
For every one of those who feel alone
And scared without a home to go to
You won’t just be
A passing memory
Because together we stand
And together we’ll land

Outro:
We'll make it out alive
Just wait, just watch us thrive
~The world is ours too~
Cause I will fight
For you

I...
Will fight
For you... <3

👉 For anyone Neurodivergent who needs a reminder, 
Sign and share this petition if you haven’t already.
Thank you.

Jaz from Australia
Autistic ADHDer
Musician
Content Creator
Disability Advocate and Change Maker
+ Lots of other things due to my ADHD
🌐 https://www.jazfromaustralia.com