Dr Christina Clarke

22/04/2026

🧭 What is changing in the NDIS

The government is introducing major reforms through new legislation called
“Securing the NDIS for Future Generations.”

These changes aim to:
✅Slow the growth of the scheme
✅Improve consistency and decision-making
✅Reduce fraud and misuse
✅Clarify who the NDIS is designed to support

🔑 The 4 main reform areas
1. Stricter eligibility and access
✅Diagnosis lists will be removed
✅Access will be based on functional capacity (day-to-day impact)
✅New standardised, evidence-based assessments will be introduced
Greater focus on whether:
The NDIS is the right system, or
Needs can be met through mainstream services (health, education, community)

2. Changes to plans and funding
✅Plan rollovers will end (unused funds won’t automatically carry over)
✅Stronger rules around what is considered “reasonable and necessary”
✅Unscheduled reassessments will be tightened (section 48)
A new planning system will introduce:
✅A support needs assessment
✅A new method for calculating participant budgets

3. Clearer boundaries between NDIS and other systems
Stronger separation between:
✅NDIS supports
✅Mainstream systems (health, education, community)
More consistent decisions about:
✅What the NDIS will fund
✅What should be provided by other systems

4. Provider and system reforms
✅Increased mandatory registration for providers (especially higher-risk supports)
✅New provider enrolment system
✅More evidence required for payments (including at point of service)
Changes to:
✅Plan management (new panel model)
✅Support coordination (new commissioning approach)
✅Pricing (moved to Minister oversight, including consultation on different pricing levels)

🧩 Community participation changes (important)
The government is reshaping how social and community participation is funded and delivered:
✅A new $200 million Inclusive Communities Fund will support community organisations to deliver activities and programs
Participant funding for:
✅Social participation
✅Community activities
✅Capacity-building daily activities

✨will be reset and adjusted
There is an expected reduction in individual funding levels in this area (reported around 21%)

👉 This represents a shift from individual funding toward more community-based participation options

Changes to participant budgets will begin from October 2026 and occur ahead of the new planning framework

🔍 Fraud and compliance measures
Stronger powers for:
✅NDIA
✅NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission
✅Improved monitoring and data systems
New controls to:
✅Detect fraud
✅Reduce conflicts of interest
✅Strengthen provider accountability

📅 Key rollout timeline
July 2026 – Payment system upgrades begin
October 2026 – Community participation funding changes begin
February 2027 – New rules for reassessments and plan renewals
April 2027 – New planning framework begins
January 2028 – New eligibility rules and system boundaries apply to new participants
2027–2030 – Gradual rollout of provider and system reforms

⏸️ Important update from community feedback
Some major reforms — especially the new planning framework — have been delayed until April 2027.
This reflects strong feedback from the disability community and allows more time to:
✅Test the system
✅Provide clearer information
✅Improve implementation

🧾 What PODC is doing
PODC will be:
Actively advocating to ensure the needs of Deaf children and their families are represented throughout these reforms
Continuing to highlight:
✅Communication access
✅Functional impact
✅Developmental needs
We will also be:
Updating our Breaking Through Barriers workbooks and workshops
so they reflect these changes and continue to provide practical, up-to-date guidance for families

🧠 Bottom line
These reforms introduce:
✅New eligibility rules
✅A new planning and budgeting system
✅Clearer limits on what the NDIS funds
✅A shift in how community participation is delivered
✅Significant changes to providers and oversight
✅All changes will be rolled out gradually over several years.

⚠️ Final note
We do have concerns regarding how Deafness/deafness will be considered under these new reforms.
It is more important than ever that families clearly frame their child’s needs through an access lens, rather than a support lens.

In solidarity
The PODC Team

22/04/2026

22/04/2026

The Drop-In - Parent led discussions on topics you need information or support with in relation to parenting your Deaf or Hard of Hearing children - led by me!

Next Drop-in : May 2026 - 1 hour
Online - Auslan and captions as standard

Click the link and complete the survey below to let me know - What topic? and When?

https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.surveymonkey.com%2Fr%2FSF7W87P&data=05%7C02%7C%7C08554afe138a405e628308de9f61b837%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C639123439232961793%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=89uJeU%2Fd%2FSaNlmrGnYyaY%2FE0%2FTbOjAPT6ZEx8%2FDZo6k%3D&reserved=0

🙋🏻What is a Parent Drop-in?
It isn’t therapy. It’s a supportive space to learn, share, explore and support you. A space to have questions answered, learn practical strategies and normalise that parenting is hard. Helping you feel more confident in your parenting, understanding your children, and more connected as a family.

💰$60 per session - no ongoing commitment.

Pay privately or with NDIS funding (Plan/Self managed). NDIS supports parents to learn more about their children’s needs to appropriately support the child’s development, independence, and capacity.

Register your interest in attending the session by emailing me - christina_clarke@outlook.com or message me here on Facebook

Take this survey powered by surveymonkey.com. Create your own surveys for free.

18/04/2026

Aussie Deaf Kids is a great website to learn from, connect with others, and be supported in your parenting of Deaf and hard of hearing kids!

17/04/2026

14/04/2026

📣 This Wednesday 15th of April 7:30 - 9:00pm. And this one REALLY matters.

If your child is Deaf or hard of hearing, you've probably sat in a school meeting where a lot was said — and walked out wondering why so little has actually changed.

Here's something most families don't know: it's not just about getting an IEP or securing funding. It's about knowing HOW to use reports, access request forms, and education plans to make sure your child can access the curriculum on the same footing as their hearing peers.

Not "support."
Access. Equal access. As if hearing loss wasn't the barrier.

That's what Workshop #5 of our Breaking Through Barriers series is all about.

🗓 Wednesday 15 April | 7:30–9:00pm AEST | Free & Online
📚 Equitable Access in Education: Reports, Access Request Forms & Individual Education Plans

In this session you'll learn:
✔ What makes a report actually useful — and how to read it
✔ How to navigate Access Request meetings and know your rights
✔ What SHOULD be happening in those meetings (and what to do when it isn't)
✔ How to build an IEP that creates real, consistent access across the school day
✔ How reports, requests, and plans all connect — and how to use that connection

This isn't just for primary school. The education system follows your child all the way through — including TAFE and university. The earlier you understand this framework, the more you can do with it.

You don't have to wait until things go wrong to act. This workshop helps you get ahead of it.

Auslan Interpreters and Captions provided.
Funded by the Department of Community and Justice.

🔗 Register free: events.humanitix.com/breaking-through-barriers
📂 Access previous workshop resources for series 1 to 5: podc.org.au/Breaking-Through-Barriers-Advocacy

Come to one. Come to all. Every session stands alone — and every one gives you something you can use. Learn NOW, flex anytime.

The education resource will be shared ONLY with those that REGISTER. The entire series will be published and available to you all in June 2026.

Tag a parent or carer who needs to hear this. 👇

09/04/2026

📣 NEW WORKSHOP | Breaking Through Barriers Series

Equitable Access in Education: Reports, Access Request Forms and Individual Education Plans

🗓 Wednesday 15th April
⏰ 7:30pm – 9:00pm AEST

✨ Ever left a school meeting feeling like everything was discussed… but nothing really changed?

✨ Or been told your child has a plan in place—but you’re still seeing gaps in access?

You’re not alone—and this workshop is designed to help you make sense of it all.

💡 This session connects the key pieces schools use to make decisions—and shows you how to use them in a way that supports real access.

🚀 In this workshop, you’ll learn how to:

✔ Understand what makes a report strong and useful
✔ Navigate access request meetings and school processes with confidence
✔ Know what should be happening in access request meetings
✔ Build and contribute to an Individual Education Plan (IEP) that reflects real access
✔ Understand how reports, requests, and plans all connect

💬 This is where things start to come together.

You’ll walk away with practical tools to:

✅prepare for meetings
✅ask clear, informed questions
✅strengthen your child’s plan
✅support consistent access across the school day

📩 Register here: https://events.humanitix.com/breaking-through-barriers

Auslan Interpreters and Captions provided

This workshop is part of our Breaking Through Barriers series—supporting families to navigate systems, strengthen advocacy, and improve outcomes for Deaf/deaf children. We thank the Department of Community Justice for the funding and support of our advocacy work. To get access to previous workshop resources, please visit the link below:

https://www.podc.org.au/Breaking-Through-Barriers-Advocacy

09/04/2026

Nobody is going to judge you for feeling completely overwhelmed when your five year old is losing it over something that seems so small.

That is a completely normal response to an exhausting situation.

But here’s what’s actually happening in that moment for your child.

Their brain is still years away from being able to fully regulate big emotions on its own.

What feels like drama to you is genuinely overwhelming to them, and they don’t yet have the tools to manage it any other way.

So when you take that breath, when you stay calm in the middle of their storm, when you choose not to match their energy even though every part of you wants to, you are not just surviving the moment.

You are actually teaching them what managing big feelings looks like.

They learn it by watching you do it.

Which means the most important emotional education happening in your home right now is the one you’re modeling without even realizing it.

Original quote by me_myselfandmotherhood but adapted.