We call on the National Disability Insurance Agency to:

• Cease progress towards rollout of mandatory Independent Assessments until the Tune Review recommendations are relied upon in context, including extensive consultation with participants and the community

• Demonstrate a commitment to equity of access by providing funded assessments by the health professional of the Prospective Participant’s choice to applicants who request them, effective immediately

• Review the many significant risks to the safety of participants under the proposed exemption arrangements, and ensure that those with least capacity to engage are not further disadvantaged

• Make clear the mechanism by which an assessment by an allied health professional generates a funding figure, including the human intervention to this process to prevent dangerous outcomes

• Make clear the mechanism by which environmental factors will be understood, recorded, and affect funding, and how a change in these factors will impact funding

• Assure participants and prospective participants that their individual circumstances will be fully considered in the independent assessment process to ensure relevant information is not omitted.

The signatory organisations to this document provide advocacy support to a broad spectrum of individuals with disability who are overwhelmingly expressing acute fears regarding the risks to their health, wellbeing and access to reasonable and necessary supports raised by the currently proposed NDIS reforms.

The signatory organisations urge the National Disability Insurance Agency to commit to halting the currently proposed reforms and rebuilding them with an end-to-end codesign process directly involving people with disability, in line with Australia’s obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disability and the objects and principles of the NDIS Act itself.