22/08/2026
BEFORE YOU TELL ME WHAT I COST THE TAXPAYER, LET’S TALK ABOUT WHAT I CONTRIBUTE.
My mum has helped put my words to this post.
Today, some people left comments on my page about how much my disability supposedly “costs the taxpayer.” One even called me a “retard”
Mum deleted the comments and blocked the people.
She won’t tolerate anyone coming onto my page and reducing my life to a dollar figure and call me names.
But the comments have stayed with us.
Because I think it says something about what has happened in Australia over the past couple of years.
We have heard so much about the “cost” of the NDIS that somewhere along the way, some people seem to have forgotten that behind every NDIS dollar is a person.
So let’s talk about taxpayers’ money.
Yes, I receive NDIS funding.
Yes, I have received the Disability Support Pension since I was 16.
Yes, I use Medicare, just like millions of other Australians do. I also have basic private health insurance.
None of that is something I should be ashamed of.
I have Down syndrome and a profound intellectual disability. I need support to live my life.
But here is the part that rarely seems to make the headlines.
I have five regular support workers.
Five people have regular employment because I need support.
They earn an income.
They pay tax.
They buy groceries, pay rent or mortgages, put petrol in their cars and spend money in their communities.
The funding allocated to support me doesn’t simply disappear into my bank account.
It pays people to WORK.
It allows me to live in my own home.
It allows me to participate in my community.
And it gives my family the reassurance that I am safe, supported and living a good life.
So perhaps we need some perspective.
According to the Australian Government’s 2026–27 Budget, total Commonwealth expenditure is expected to be around $833 billion.
The NDIS accounts for around $56 billion.
That is a very large amount of money and of course Australians have every right to expect it to be managed properly.
But the NDIS is not the biggest thing Australian taxpayers pay for.
The Commonwealth expects to spend around $309 billion on social security and welfare overall, around $137 billion on health, around $57 billion on education, and billions more on defence, aged care, government services and many other things.
We don’t normally point at an older Australian receiving the Age Pension and ask:
“How much have you cost taxpayers?”
We don’t calculate the cost of educating someone’s children in public schools and decide whether their family was worth it.
We don’t stand outside a hospital calculating how much Medicare spent keeping each patient alive.
And we shouldn’t do it to people with disability either.
Interestingly, our federal politicians are also paid from taxpayers’ money.
The base salary of a federal MP is currently around $239,000 a year, before additional salaries for particular offices and other entitlements.
Politicians who entered Parliament after 2004 generally receive 15.4% employer superannuation contributions.
And taxpayers continue to meet obligations under the old parliamentary defined-benefit superannuation scheme for eligible former politicians.
I’m not saying politicians shouldn’t be paid.
Of course they should.
I’m making a point.
We all benefit from taxpayers’ money in different ways throughout our lives.
Schools.
Hospitals.
Medicare.
Roads.
Childcare.
Pensions.
Aged care.
Emergency services.
Defence.
Government.
And yes…
Disability support.
The question shouldn’t be:
“William, how much do you cost us?”
Maybe the question should be:
“What kind of Australia do we want to live in?”
I want to live in an Australia where people with disability aren’t made to feel guilty for needing support.
Where taxpayers understand that disability support also creates jobs and economic activity.
Where we can have sensible conversations about making the NDIS sustainable without turning people with disability into scapegoats.
Because lately, I think something has changed.
After two years of almost constant headlines about the “cost” of the NDIS, a divide has been created.
People are starting to look at people like me and see a price tag.
I am not a price tag.
I am William.
I am a son.
I am a brother.
I am an uncle.
I am a neighbour.
I am a member of my community.
I employ a team of people who support me to live my life.
I contribute to my community simply by being part of it.
My worth cannot be calculated by subtracting the amount of tax I personally pay from the amount of support I receive.
And neither can yours.
So to the person who wanted to know what I cost Australian taxpayers:
Perhaps you were asking the wrong question.
Before you calculate what it costs Australia to include people like me, perhaps you should calculate what Australia would lose if it didn’t.
