To:

Rebecca Falkingham – CEO, National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA)
rebecca.falkingham@ndis.gov.au

and The Disability Reform Ministerial Council, consisting of:

Lizzie Blandthorn MP, Victorian Minister for Disability lizzie.blandthorn@parliament.vic.gov.au

Kate Washington MP, NSW Minister for Disability Inclusion 
portstephens@parliament.nsw.gov.au

Amanda Camm MP, QLD Minister for Families, Seniors and Disability Services 
families.services@ministerial.qld.gov.au

Hannah Beazley MP, WA Minister for Disability Services
Minister.Beazley@dpc.wa.gov.au

Nat Cook MP, SA Minister for Human Services
MinisterHumanServices@sa.gov.au

Joanne Palmer MP, TAS Minister for Disability Services
jo.palmer@parliament.tas.gov.au

Suzanne Orr MP, ACT Minister for Disability, Carers and Community Services 
orr@act.gov.au

Jinson Charls, NT Minister for Disability
Minister.Charls@nt.gov.au

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The NDIS was built to support people with disability to live with dignity, independence, and choice. But right now, thousands of people with severe and enduring mental health conditions are being denied access, simply because the system is too rigid, too clinical, and too narrow in its understanding of psychosocial disabilities.

As someone with lived experience and as someone who loves, supports, or works with people who do — I am heartbroken and outraged that:

• People living with complex conditions like Borderline Personality Disorder, Complex PTSD, Bipolar Disorder, and Schizophrenia are being told they are not disabled enough, not permanently impaired, or too unstable to plan their future
• The application process is confusing, traumatising, lengthy, and near-impossible to complete without professional support that many can’t afford
• Peer workers, carers, and clinicians are not recognised as valid sources of evidence
• There are very few free or ongoing community-based supports for people who fall outside the NDIS

This is not care. This is neglect.
And it is costing lives.

We are calling on the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) and the Disability Reform Ministerial Council, to urgently reform the system by implementing the following specific and actionable changes:

• Explicitly recognise that many mental health conditions are severe, disabling, and permanent.
  Remove discriminatory language and train staff in trauma-informed psychosocial assessment.
• Simplify the application process. Provide plain-language forms, assign support officers to help applicants, and accept functional assessments from peer workers, support coordinators, and GPs.
• Expand the list of acceptable evidence. Include care team reports, lived experience accounts, and non-clinical sources of evidence such as support workers or family.
• Introduce a specialised mental health reference group to support the work of the Independent Advisory Council (IAC) in representing the participants' voice to the NDIA.
• Fund early intervention and ongoing support, not just crisis responses.
• Fund and expand community-based mental health supports for those not eligible for NDIS, including peer support, psychosocial recovery coaching, case management, and trauma-informed outreach services.

We urge the NDIA and the Disability Reform Ministerial Council to listen to the voices of people living with psychosocial disability. We are not too complex, too emotional, or too difficult.
We are human. We are worthy. We deserve to be supported, not silenced.

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Have you been denied NDIS funding due to your mental health? Do you support someone who’s struggling in the current system?
Please share your story in the comments. Every voice strengthens our call for justice.