PSYCHOLOGY PRACTICE
Helping children and adults grow a brighter future
NEWS AND UPDATES
NDIS AMENDMENT BILL 2026
The National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 outlines proposed changes to NDIS funding, assessment and processing.
Happy Minds has made a submission based on our experiences working on the frontline with the wonderfully diverse autistic community of NDIS participants as well as our collective knowledge as skilled providers and members of the psychology profession in Australia.
Our submission focuses on key concerns regarding equitable access, sustainability, and ethical practice. We believe the proposed reforms undermine the Scheme’s core purpose by:
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increasing barriers for people with significant disability
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shifting costs and burden onto families and informal supports
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worsening participant distress and disengagement
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reducing access to preventative and capacity-building interventions
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destabilising the allied health workforce supporting participants, and
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incentivising crises-driven rather than capacity-strengthening support.
Our recommendations focus on protecting preventative supports, improving autism-informed assessment practices, reducing administrative burden, safeguarding against inappropriate funding reductions, limiting automated decision-making, and ensuring genuine co-design with autistic people, families, and frontline clinicians.
The NDIS remains one of Australia’s most important social reforms. Sustainability and integrity are essential goals; however, reforms must not unintentionally exclude, destabilise, or retraumatise people with significant disability.
Autistic participants frequently require support systems that are flexible, preventative, relational, and individualised. Narrow functional models risk failing to capture the realities of neurodevelopmental disability and may inadvertently increase long-term social and economic costs.
Our submission urges the SenatCommittee to ensure that efforts to secure the future of the NDIS remain grounded in disability rights, clinical evidence, participant wellbeing, and genuine co-design.
Happy Minds uses Zanda as an integrated online software program that allows clients to have flexibility with appointments, payments and communication with Happy Minds.
We have compiled some resources to help our clients navigate how to use Zanda.
This is a link to our Portal Homepage
As a first step, you will need to create an account. Your login will use the primary email address you have given us.
To set up your account:
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Click the Login option on the home page
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Select the 'Click here to reset your password' option to create a password to be able to login for your first visit to the portal.
Here is a video tutorial on how further to use the Client Portal.
Here is a written manual.
Feel free to email us if you have any questions or concerns about using this system.
Appointments can still be managed by contacting us via email or phone; however, our timeframes for responding to you will be extended up to 1-2 days.