Submissions

Drawing on the lived experience of LEEP members, MS Australia’s submission to the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts recommends nationally consistent Aviation Disability Standards. Across the whole journey, planning and booking, at the airport and on the aircraft, the submission prioritises passenger choice and dignity, accessible communication, timely assistance, safe handling of mobility aids, clear implementation timeframes and transparent reporting.

MS Australia supports reforms to NDIS Support Coordination and Connection services that improve quality, safeguarding and consistency while preserving participant choice and access to specialist expertise. This submission recommends a mixed model of generalist SCC and specialist SCC+ services, flexible funding, strong workforce standards, and participant-centred transitions. It emphasises that people with MS and other progressive neurological conditions must retain access to trusted relationships, specialist providers and responsive support as needs change.

MS Australia supports NDIS access reforms that are fair, transparent, disability-informed and centred on lived experience. This submission calls for access decisions to reflect the real-world impact of disability, particularly for fluctuating and degenerative conditions such as MS, and recommends clearer guiding principles, streamlined pathways for eligible applicants, reduced administrative burden, stronger consideration of clinical evidence, and improved NDIA workforce training to ensure consistent, person-centred decision-making.

MS Australia submission to the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing on the commissioning of Supported Independent Living (SIL)supports improving the quality, safety and sustainability of SIL, but argues commissioning should be targeted where existing arrangements are failing. The submission calls for rights-based, participant-centred commissioning that values meaningful outcomes, specialist expertise, proactive safeguards, workforce capability, provider sustainability and genuine choice and control. It emphasises the needs of people with MS and other progressive neurological conditions, including maintaining function, preventing decline and supporting long-term independence.

MS Australia’s submission to the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing on the Inclusive Communities Fund highlights the need for the Fund to support genuine, safe and lasting community participation for people with MS and other complex disabilities. Drawing on lived experience from MS Australia’s LEEP and Member Organisations, the submission recommends funding inclusive activities, accessibility improvements, transport and practical supports. It also calls for paid co-design, strong partnerships and clear accountability so people with fluctuating, progressive or invisible disabilities are not left behind.

MS Australia’s submission to the Australian Sports Commission and the University of Queensland draws on lived experience from the LEEP and broader MS community to highlight the barriers people with MS face in sport, including fatigue, heat sensitivity, cost, accessibility issues, and limited understanding of invisible and fluctuating symptoms. To make disability sport in Australia more inclusive, the submission calls for sport systems, programs, and organisations to be flexible, accessible, affordable, and informed by the lived experience of people with disability.

MS Australia’s submission to the Support at Home Program inquiry outlines that the program does not adequately meet the needs of older people living with disability, including people with MS. It highlights insufficient funding, lack of disability-specific supports, high co-contributions, complex hardship processes, pricing inconsistencies, thin markets, and transition challenges. MS Australia recommends reforms to improve equity with the NDIS, increase funding flexibility, strengthen hardship assistance, support carers, address regional service gaps, and ensure older Australians can remain independent at home.