19/08/2026
I spoke to several clients today - kind of the point of therapy. The feeling of rage and despair regarding the recent NDIS bill is strong.
One client is going to get NDIS and DSP as they physically and mentally can no longer work. They are looking at the future on despair. The odds of them being recognised as disabled is low, primarily because they just don't have the resources to get the evidence to prove they are disabled.
The effort needed to apply for these government programs is high. If you have problems with fatigue, focus and executive function, you will likely fail to meet the timelines for the ambiguous "evidence" you need.
Professionals don't feel safe to write letters or fill in forms. A medical doctor is loathe to give absolutes, especially when it comes to the very necessary phrase "This patient has no further recommended treatment options and will not improve. The current functional capability of the patient in the following 9 fields [as NDIS / DSP defines disability] is x, Y, Z etc". Doctors avoid predicting the future using any strong terms as patients so easily fail to understand statistics. NDIS and DSP assessors - who aren't qualified medical experts, but somehow have the power to tell medical experts they are wrong - REALLY don't understand statistics or medical language.
Speaking of language, the other great many medical practitioners have is knowing how to explain why the patient is disabled in enough lay terms that the assessor will understand, but not too lay that the evidence no longer looks professional and is this diagnosed. The Kafka traps are everywhere.
The executive function and sounds needed to follow up on professionals, hospitals and other allied health requires a not disabled person.
The cost of hiring someone to do this exceeds the budget of most disabled people. After all, if you are doable, you either can't work, or your income is severely compromised on a background of high medical costs. Yes, Australian Medicare is amazing compared to other countries like the United States of America - but ongoing ill health is not well covered, and the public system is brutal in timelines for treatment, quality of practitioners, consistency of care, costs for tests, medication and so on - if you have a standard chronic condition. If your condition is either atypical, falls between the silos of standard experts, or is multifactorial - being ill is hideously expensive if you want a reasonable standard of care.
Considering that, the last thing you can afford to do with your money is pay someone to help you get disability support, don't all of your resources get spent on surviving another day.
And now, thanks to this bill, it is worse. Even if you get approved - the standard is 2 rejections and 2 appeals before you get accepted - there are high odds you'll be arbitrarily kicked off with little recourse to object.
People will die from this. More accurately, Ishould say, more people will die.
