Submission on NDIS Access Changes

In October 2026, Mental Health Australia made a submission to the Australian Department of Health, Disability and Ageing's consultation on NDIS Access Changes. The submission responds to the consultation paper mapping a high-level architecture for developing and implementing a new and standardised assessment and outlines MHA’s views on key areas related to psychosocial disability that need to be considered in the design and implementation of a new and standardised NDIS access approach.

People with psychosocial disability have been disproportionally disadvantaged because of weaknesses in the current assessment process in understanding psychosocial disability, including difficulties in demonstrating or confirming permanence or likelihood of permanence.  

This submission outlines key issues that MHA considers the Department and the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) need to address in the design of this new access system.

The new access assessment system must deliver equity of access for all disability groups and address the technical issues currently resulting in such inequities in access. It must be inclusive of the particular requirements of people with psychosocial disability and their families, carers and kin and should not result in reduction in the number of people with psychosocial disability in the Scheme.