NDIS inquiry: Concerns participants will be ‘forgotten’ as government tries to save money

Disability advocates are warning people risk being “forgotten” if they are removed from the NDIS under changes designed to claw back savings.

The federal government was hoping to pass changes to the scheme through parliament before the five-week winter break in July, but agreed to delay measures until at least August in a deal with the Greens to get their tax laws over the line.

Under the proposal, more than 100,000 participants would be kicked off the National Disability Insurance Scheme in an attempt to rein in spending.

A parliamentary committee will hold a public hearing in Canberra on Thursday, where a number of disability advocacy groups will give evidence.

Specialist Disability Accommodation Alliance chief executive Jeramy Hope said he genuinely hoped MPs would consider the more than 4000 submissions made to the inquiry.

“For those participants that might be coming off the scheme, we don’t want them to be forgotten,” he told AAP.

“The easiest thing to do is for them to disappear.”

Mr Hope, who will appear at the inquiry, said he was concerned about the ripple effect on a person’s ability to have secure housing if they were removed from the scheme.

“We’ve talked about what disability reform should be, but we really haven’t evolved to that utopia of putting that agency and autonomy back onto a person with a disability,” he said.

Representatives from the Australian Federal Police will also appear before the inquiry, which will examine taxpayers being fleeced by fraudsters.

Labor is planning to increase fines for some NDIS-related offences, but a previous report warned stronger deterrents may be needed to crack down on exploitation, neglect and abuse of vulnerable Australians.

The parliamentary committee also recommended greater information sharing between agencies responsible for enforcing integrity measures for the scheme.