14/05/2026
Interact Health Group is very concerned about the direction of the NDIS changes, however sharing this post from ANPA as it’s a great reminder to all of us about the need to be strategic!
Hey fam 💛
A gentle suggestion: you do not need to watch Mark Butler introduce the new NDIS bill today.
You just don't. :)
Please protect your capacity.
Political messaging can be intentionally provocative, and our community needs its energy for the advocacy ahead.
We’ll share a clear plain English summary of the bill tonight after 5pm, so nobody feels pressured to watch in real time.
If you want direct 'access without the stress':
Download the draft bill from the Parliament website, pop it into ChatGPT, and ask for a neutral two-paragraph plain English summary. Ask it to check for accuracy before briefing you.
Stay informed *without* absorbing the rhetoric. Just take it out of the picture altogether, because it hurts and you can be effective without hearing it at all.
Negative campaigning is a real, established political strategy.
What is negative campaigning?
It is a campaign strategy used globally that tactically deploys fear, conflict, urgency, emotionally loaded framing, and provocation to destabilise opponents, drain their energy, fracture communities, and control the debate.
Political strategists actively design campaigns around these tactics because they can be effective at creating panic, distraction, and reactive behaviour instead of organised action. They use it to weaken activism.
For neurodivergent communities, that really matters.
Many of us experience differences in emotional regulation, threat processing, justice sensitivity, communication, or stress response. That is not a weakness. It is simply relevant context we can use to our advantage.
A strategy built around outrage, panic, confusion, or provocation can hit this community especially hard. They absolutely know this.
The predictable result looks like:
• panic sharing
• doom spirals
• community infighting
• impulsive reactions
• burnout before the real political fight begins
So: we do not hand over that power. We get strategic.
Come back to facts, daily.
"Checking the facts" is one of our best strategies right now.
So, what are the facts today?
The bill has not passed. We have time.
It still has to go through the Senate.
The Government does not have the same Senate position it had during the last major NDIS legislation fight.
The Senate is not a rubber stamp.
The Senate are low key crankypants at the ALP most days and the cross bench is strong.
We are well connected to the cross bench, and so are our union allies.
So, our suggested strategy:
• check facts before sharing
• separate announcements from actual law
• step away from deliberately activating content
• do not let infighting drain capacity
• use trusted information channels
• stay connected, co regulate
• make a calm plan whenever you can rather than reacting online, even if you just increase that by 10 percent that leads to less "social transmission" of panic. Help your ND fam!
• act strategically. Always.
This is not silence.
It is not passivity.
It is strategy :)
A frightened, dysregulated community is waaaay easier to exhaust.
A calm, connected, informed, organised neurodivergent community is much, much harder to defeat.
Tune out today. Laugh at the circus. Pat a dog. Let DPOs do some of the heavy lifting for a few hours 🐾 We got you!
People’s fear, anger and grief right now are understandable. This is, totally, not abstract politics for our community. It is about our children, our safety, our independence, our families, and our futures. We get that.
But we are stronger when we take active steps to protect both our capacity and safety - and each other.
Put down the rectangle of doom and take care of your precious heart. Be with your gorgeous kids. Know the community are working, and we've got this.
Look at this beautiful photo below and remember every incredible thing we've achieved together as a movement - and rest.
We are getting ourselves organised with strategy and will be in touch with members and the community soon to plan our push back to this bill. There's plenty we can do! Heaps n heaps!
Love to you all x
❤️❤️❤️❤️
