NDIS changes threaten disabled participation in community life

Mendy Cooper’s disability means he can’t simply be dropped off at communal activities like other 13-year-olds. An NDIS carer enables Mendy to join youth activities at Chabad Malvern and attend bar mitzvah celebrations.
 
“If he didn’t have someone there with him to keep him safe, he wouldn’t be able to come,” his mother Menucha Cooper said.
 
But the access NDIS participants get to Jewish life will be reduced under changes to the scheme which began this month. Allocations for social, economic, and community participation supports are being reduced by 50 per cent.
 
For Jewish NDIS recipients, communal participation can include attending synagogue, festival activities, youth groups, camps, cultural activities, and celebrations.  

Current participants are not immediately affected, but their entitlement will change as plans are renewed from February 2027. New plans will be based on the changed entitlements.  

Entitlements have always been difficult to obtain. Cooper said a previous request for carer hours to take Mendy to synagogue and community events was refused. She has been able to use some of his other available carer hours to continue his Jewish participation, but the rigidity of NDIS funding categories means that is not always possible.  

The process can also be emotionally draining. Cooper said parents repeatedly have to focus on what their child cannot do to demonstrate need. “You really have to talk about all the tough things about your kid and all the negative things,” she said, despite “so many amazing qualities”. With finite “emotional and physical energy”, she added: “If I spend my time doing that, fighting the NDIS, how am I going to look after my son?” 

NDIS-supported programs have helped 23-year-old Zoe Better to build friendships and connections within Jewish life.