Australians with disabilities could have their access to work and social life stripped away under sweeping changes to the National Disabled Insurance Scheme.
Rosemary Kayess, Australia's disability discrimination commissioner, delivered the grim warning during a Senate inquiry into the insurance scheme.
As the federal government prepares to cut funding and tighten eligibility for the $56 billion-a-year program, Ms Kayess said disabled people were at risk of losing their rights to work and socialise.
"The issue this bill raises is whether the reforms maintain the NDIS as a rights-based scheme or regress from human rights principles and standards," she told the inquiry on Wednesday.
"Our central concern is that, taken as a whole, the bill represents a structural shift in how disability is understood and how support needs are assessed and funded."
