Health · Healthcare & Policy · 4 hrs ago
NDIS funding cuts leave Goondiwindi man’s family worried about his care
Shane Danes, 64, has brain and spinal cord injuries and needs round-the-clock care at home in Goondiwindi, rural Queensland.
His NDIS funding fell in October 2025 and again in April 2026, leaving his family to cover some of his support.
During a gap in care, he was left alone for an hour each morning, and his support provider found him vomiting on April 21.
His 90-year-old parents and sister have taken on more care, but they say they cannot keep filling the gaps.
An advocate says more than $2.8 billion was cut from NDIS participant plans between July 2024 and March 2026.
Danes’s provider says it charged the NDIS less so it could spend more hours caring for him, barely breaking even.
The NDIA says it considers all information when deciding what supports participants should receive, while the family remains worried about his future after NDIS reforms were legislated in August 2026.
Shane Danes, a 64-year-old man with brain and spinal cord injuries, needs round-the-clock care at his home in Goondiwindi, Queensland.
His family says cuts to his NDIS funding left gaps in his care and have made them fear for his future.
His support provider says she found him vomiting after he had been left alone and feared he could have died.
His elderly parents and sister have taken on extra care, while the provider says her company is charging less to maintain his support.
The NDIA says participants’ safety and care are its priority and that it considers all information when deciding on funding and supports.
- Who
- Shane Danes, his family and support provider Michelle Doughty, and the National Disability Insurance Agency.
- What
- Cuts to Danes’s NDIS funding have reduced the support available to him, leaving his family worried about his care.
- When
- His funding declined in October 2025 and again in April 2026. Doughty found him vomiting on April 21.
- Where
- Danes’s home in Goondiwindi, a rural town in Queensland.
- Why
- The NDIA spokesperson said funding decisions consider information about a participant’s needs. The family says the reduced funding left gaps in Danes’s care.
Danes’s family and support provider
National Disability Insurance Agency
Funding and care
Danes’s family and support provider
The family says funding reductions left Danes with gaps in support and put pressure on relatives and his provider.
National Disability Insurance Agency
The NDIA says participant safety and care are its priority and that it carefully considers information when deciding funding and supports.
Responsibility
Danes’s family and support provider
Doughty says providers are having to choose between their wages and keeping clients alive.
National Disability Insurance Agency
Not stated.
Danes sustained an acquired brain injury and spinal cord injury in a car crash.
Danes had a fall.
Danes’s NDIS funding declined.
His funding declined again as his family sought to restore it to previous levels.
Doughty came to work early and found Danes vomiting after a new care arrangement had begun.
- Age
- 64
- Home
- Goondiwindi, Queensland
- Family caregivers
- Parents Toni and Merven Danes, both 90, and sister Tracy Sullivan, 62
- Funding reductions
- October 2025 and April 2026
- NDIS plan cuts
- More than $2.8 billion between July 2024 and March 2026
What people are saying
Shane would have aspirated, and the outcome wouldn't have been what it was
Now, if we'd done that to an animal, we would be in trouble, but yet people expect us to do that to a human
If someone could be the poster boy for NDIS, it would be Shane
Nobody should be put in that position