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Noah Secomb

'This cannot have been for nothing': NDIS report due

The federal government wants to overhaul the NDIS to cut $37.8 billion in funding over four years. (Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS)

Disability advocates are pleading with the federal government not to ignore community concern as a long-anticipated final report looms.

A Senate inquiry is due to hand down its report on Friday after examining Labor's reforms to cut $37.8 billion in funding to the National Disability Insurance Scheme over four years and remove 160,000 participants.

Labor promoted the measures as a way to slow down growth to a sustainable rate and crack down on fraudulent activity.

NDIS spending graphic
The federal government wants to curb NDIS expenditure growth in the next four years. (Susie Dodds/AAP PHOTOS)

Disability advocates have sharply criticised the move throughout the inquiry process.

Children and Young People With Disability Australia appeared at a hearing in June and called for clearer definitions and stronger safeguards.

It warned funding changes could segregate people with a disability again.

Chief executive Skye Kakoschke-Moore said the report must reflect the clear message from the community "that the bill is neither reasonable nor necessary, and should not pass in its current form".

She said the months-long process and days of sometimes "harrowing" hearings "cannot have been for nothing".

Disability advocate Skye Kakoschke-Moore
Disability advocate Skye Kakoschke-Moore says the bill should not pass in its current form. (Joel Carrett/AAP PHOTOS)

The legislation is part of efforts to move people with lower needs off the federal scheme and onto state-based foundational supports, the first of which, Thriving Kids, is due to begin in October.

But advocates have raised concerns the new system is not ready, with many people with a disability unsure where they will land.

"The stakes are particularly high for children and young people with disability and their families ... if the proposed changes to access, eligibility, and parental responsibility go ahead," Ms Kakoschke-Moore said in a statement.

"No such reforms should proceed until and unless high-quality alternative supports are ready."

The Disability Advocacy Network Australia holds a similar view, warning the current legislation "risks causing foreseeable harm to people with disability".

"DANA supports genuine, well-sequenced reform that creates a sustainable NDIS while ensuring that no person with disability loses access," the representative body said in a statement.

The Senate inquiry into Labor's NDIS reforms
The Senate inquiry into Labor's proposed NDIS reforms is due to hand down its report on Friday. (Jay Kogler/AAP PHOTOS)

The prime minister flagged his intention to pass the bill in his address to the Labor caucus on Monday after speaking with Liberal leader Angus Taylor.

"I expect those changes will pass in this sitting fortnight," Anthony Albanese said, noting the importance of ensuring the scheme was sustainable into the future.

The major party leaders have met several times in recent days to thrash out gambling and news funding legislation.

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