How we are making changes
The Government has introduced the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill. This Bill enables us to make the changes needed to protect the NDIS for people with permanent and significant disability and for future generations who will rely on it.
Engaging with the community
How is the government consulting with people with disability and the disability sector on changes to secure the future of the NDIS?
The NDIS is one of Australia’s most important social programs. We are committed to ongoing consultation and engagement with people with disability, the disability sector and states and territories.
The changes build on work underway to implement critical recommendations made by the Independent Review into the NDIS and the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability, and advice of the NDIS Provider and Worker Registration Taskforce. All undertook extensive engagement and consultation with the disability community.
Consultation will begin in the second half of 2026 on:
- the new way of planning, known as new framework planning
- changes to assessment of eligibility based on functional capacity
- design of a commissioning approach for home and living supports for Supported Independent Living (SIL) participants
- commissioning new, more efficient support coordination and connection functions
- differentiated pricing
- the Inclusive Communities Fund
- market reforms to participants supports for social and community and capacity building activities.
Information about how to get involved will be published on the department’s Consultation Hub over the coming months.
Who will give technical advice
We are establishing a Technical Advisory Group. This group will provide advice on appropriate thresholds and assessments for assessing eligibility based on functional capacity. Members will be selected based on their technical expertise and skills.
Technical Advisory Group
When will the Technical Advisory Group be set up and who will be on it?
The Technical Advisory Group (TAG) will be a time limited working group established to provide expert advice on appropriate thresholds and assessments for assessing eligibility based on functional capacity.
The TAG will operate as an expert advisory body, providing independent and evidence-based advice.
Members will be selected by the Minister for Disability and the NDIS based on their technical expertise in functional capacity assessments for people with disability. The TAG will include members with lived experience of disability.
The TAG will commence their work from mid-2026, and will engage with people with disability, the disability sector and states and territories.
Timeframes
When do changes begin?
The NDIS needs to be protected for people with permanent and significant disability and for future generations who will rely on it. To secure the long-term sustainability of the NDIS, the Government has introduced legislation to enable changes.
Some changes will begin soon after the legislation passes. Other changes will happen over a longer period to allow more time for consultation and communication about how changes will be rolled out.
Timeframes can be found on the reform timeline. This includes information about when changes will begin for participants and providers.
Staying up to date
Where can I find updates?
More information will be available to help explain what the changes mean for you and when they will happen.
The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) will let participants and providers know before any changes happen. You will find updates on the NDIS website and in the NDIA’s participant and provider newsletters. You can subscribe to newsletters here: Newsletters | NDIS.
You can also subscribe to the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing for regular updates on NDIS reforms and engagement on NDIS rules here: NDIS Reforms.
What is changing for participants
How is access to the NDIS changing?
The NDIS was set up to support people with permanent and significant disability, but has grown too much and now covers many Australians with less significant support needs.
To make sure it meets its original purpose, access to the NDIS will be for people whose functional capacity has significantly reduced and impacts their day-to-day living. A Technical Advisory Group will provide expert advice on this. They will provide advice on thresholds and assessments for determining access based on functional capacity.
There are no changes to how people access the NDIS until 1 January 2028. People will continue applying to the NDIS in the same way until then.
From 1 January 2028, there will be some changes to how people will access the NDIS.
People with permanent and significant disability will still be able to access the NDIS
| What is changing? | What does this mean for future applicants? | What does this mean for people already accessing the NDIS? |
| Access to the NDIS will be based on a standardised, evidence-based assessment of functional capacity. The assessment will focus on how a person’s day-to-day living is impacted by their disability. | People who apply to the NDIS from 1 January 2028 will go through an objective functional capacity assessment to determine their eligibility. | From 1 January 2028, people who are already accessing the NDIS will be reassessed. This will happen progressively over 3 years. |
| People will only be able to access the NDIS if their impairment is permanent (or likely to be permanent). | People who apply to the NDIS from 1 January 2028 will need to meet the new criteria to be able to access the NDIS. The NDIA will assess if other treatment to help their impairment has happened, if no other treatment is likely to help, and the impairment is likely to be permanent or lifelong. | From 1 January 2028, people who are already accessing the NDIS will begin to be reassessed based on the new criteria. This will happen progressively over 3 years. |
| People who are eligible for or are receiving support for their impairment from workers’ compensation or motor vehicle accident schemes may no longer be eligible for the NDIS. | People who apply to the NDIS from 1 January 2028 will need to tell us if they are eligible for or are accessing support from a workers’ compensation or motor vehicle accident scheme. | People who are already accessing the NDIS will continue to have their access to compensation schemes managed through existing arrangements. |
| Children aged 8 and under with developmental delay and/or autism and low to moderate support needs will no longer be eligible for the NDIS. These children will be supported by Thriving Kids. | From 1 January 2028, children who are aged 8 and under and applying for NDIS support will be assessed against the new criteria. Children with permanent and significant disability and children aged 8 and under with developmental delay and/or autism who have substantially reduced functional capacity (high support needs) will remain eligible for the NDIS. We are currently working on the design and details for Thriving Kids with states and territories before making any changes to the laws. | Children aged 8 and under who are accessing the NDIS before 1 January 2028 will continue to be reassessed under the eligibility criteria in place prior to 1 January 2028. Once they turn 9, they will be reassessed under the new eligibility criteria based on functional capacity (from 1 January 2028). |
Will the support I receive be changing?
You will continue to receive support, but for many people there will be changes to the supports the NDIS funds. Supports that are essential to your critical care and daily living needs will not change.
For example, there will no change to:
- Supports in home (e.g. to help with eating, drinking, dressing, toileting, laundry, cleaning, community nursing care, help with medication, etc.)
- Home and vehicle modifications
- Personal mobility equipment and transport
- Consumable products to help with incontinence and menstruation
- Specialist Disability Accommodation.
You can continue to work with your providers on how to use your budget and get the most out of their supports.
| What is changing? | What does this mean for people accessing the NDIS? | When is the change starting? |
| Participant support budgets for some supports will be reset. | When your plan comes up for renewal or reassessment your social, civic and community participation supports and capacity building daily activities will be reset. There will be no changes to budgets for critical supports. | 1 October 2026 |
| Reasonable and necessary supports will be made clearer. | When you go through the planning process the NDIA will look at the new criteria to decide what supports are reasonable and necessary to fund. The NDIA will consider this the same way across participants with similar needs and circumstances. | 1 February 2027 |
| Participants will start to transition to the new way of planning. This is called new framework planning. | New framework planning will provide fairer and more consistent plans through a new assessment process, called the support needs assessment. This assessment will consider your support needs based on your functional capacity, life stage and other environmental factors. This assessment will be the new way we make plan budgets. It will not be used to determine access to the scheme. | 1 April 2027 |
| Providers of higher risk supports will need to be registered. | All people who receive higher-risk supports will need to choose a registered provider for those supports. This might include personal care, daily living supports and support provided in closed settings. We will help you to identify registered providers who can deliver these supports in your area. You will still be able to choose unregistered providers for other, lower risk supports. | 1 July 2027, with rollout finalised by December 2030. |
| A panel of plan management providers will be set up by the Government. | You will be required to choose a plan management provider from a limited number of providers on a panel set up by the government. If you use a plan manager who is not on the panel, there will be a 6 months to transition to a new provider. | 1 October 2027 |
| A new support coordination and connection service will be set up by the Government. | You will no longer pay for support coordination services with funding from your NDIS plan. Instead, you will choose from a list of providers funded directly to deliver these services. You will be supported to transition to the new service. | 1 July 2028 |
What is changing about social and community participation and capacity building supports?
The NDIS was built on the promise of inclusion and to give people with disability real opportunities for connection and to develop their capacity.
Social and community participant and capacity building supports are not always improving community participation, inclusion or capacity for participants. These supports also continue to be funded at a far higher level than any other comparable support program.
From 1 October 2026 budgets for social, civic and community participation supports will be reset so spending levels are on average in line with 2023 levels and more consistent with other systems. The reset will include:
- Budget allocations for social, civic and community participation supports will be reduced by 50 per cent.
- Capacity building daily activity budget allocations will be reduced by 10 per cent.
Changes will not necessarily result in a 50 or 10 per cent reduction in how much you spend as you may not be currently using all of your budget allocation.
These changes will happen progressively as participants’ plans are reassessed or renewed over a 12-month period.
These changes will not impact budgets for critical supports such as:
- supports in home, such as to help with eating, drinking, dressing, toileting, laundry, cleaning, community nursing care, help with medication
- home and vehicle modifications
- personal mobility equipment and transport
- consumable products to help with incontinence and menstruation
- Specialist Disability Accommodation.
You can continue to work with your providers on how to use your budget to negotiate lower prices and get the most out of your supports within the limits of the NDIS Pricing Arrangements.
You will also be supported to participate in group-based activities, where they are right for you. These group-based activities may have lower prices. To help with this, we will provide $200 million for an Inclusive Communities Fund to rebuild capability among community organisations to host genuine participation activities and market reforms to ensure genuinely inclusive activities are available for NDIS participants. Consultation on the Fund will start in July 2026.
What is changing about how participants’ plans are managed?
There will be some changes to how participants’ plans are managed and administered by the NDIA. The changes will improve service quality and integrity standards, and reduce fraud.
| What is changing? | What does this mean for people accessing the NDIS? | When is it changing? |
| The criteria for unscheduled plan reassessments will be tighter. | Only participants, their plan nominee or their guardian will be able to request an unscheduled plan reassessment. Unscheduled plan reassessments will only be possible when:
The NDIA will have up to 90 days to decide whether to vary or reassess a plan. If a participant has already submitted a request for an unscheduled reassessment when this change begins, the new criteria will apply. If a participant has experienced fraud, or is in a crisis or emergency situation, they can request a plan variation. | 7 days after Royal Assent of the NDIS Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill. This means 7 days after the new laws are approved. |
| There will be clearer requirements for keeping records about your claims. | You or your plan manager will need to keep records for any NDIS support payments you receive for 3 years.
| 7 days after Royal Assent of the NDIS Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill |
| The time to make a claim will be reduced. | Participants or their plan managers will need to make claims within 90 days of service delivery. | 1 December 2026 |
| Plan rollovers will change | When a plan reaches the reassessment date, a renewed plan will be created. Unspent funds from the previous plan won’t be rolled over to the renewed plan. The renewed plan will be at the same level for which the participant was assessed, adjusted for current prices. | 1 February 2027 |
| Participants can make claims more easily. | An improved NDIS App will allow self-managed participants to use ‘tap-and-go’ claiming. This will make it easier to give us evidence for claims. Claims that exceed a certain threshold will require supporting documentation. | 30 June 2028 |
What is changing for providers
What is changing about provider registration and enrolment?
Changes for providers aim to improve quality, encourage innovation and ensure they are more responsive to people’s needs.
All NDIS providers must meet their obligations under the NDIS Act and Code of Conduct, regardless of whether they are registered or not. Registration gives participants more assurance that their chosen provider will deliver supports in a safe and dignified way, with better oversight from Government.
In December 2025, the Government announced mandatory registration for Supported Independent Living (SIL) providers and platform providers. This will begin to be rolled out from 1 July 2026.
Mandatory registration will be expanded to all providers delivering higher risk supports. All providers delivering supports to participants who are most at risk of abuse and/or exploitation will need to be registered with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (NDIS Commission).
We will publish a list of NDIS supports that are considered high risk, such as personal care, daily living supports and supports provided in closed settings. Providers will have time to identify whether this change applies to them and register with the NDIS Commission before this change starts.
Expanded registration requirements will begin to be rolled out from 1 July 2027. All providers in scope will need to be registered by December 2030.
The NDIS Commission will provide more information to providers before they need to be registered.
How are payments changing?
Changes to how payments work will mean providers will need to do some things differently.
Most providers will need to enrol with the NDIA. Providers will have to show a minimum basic level of identifiable information and provide a nominated and validated bank account. Payments will be made into this bank account. While the vast majority of providers will need to enrol, some providers like mainstream retailers who may not be aware they have been providing services to NDIS participants, will not need to enrol. Providers in scope will need to enrol between 1 July 2027 and 30 December 2027.
Other changes to improve visibility of claims and payments include:
- Where claims exceed a certain threshold, supporting documentation will be required.
- Providers will need to keep records relating to payment and receipt of NDIS funds for 7 years. Failure to retain records will result in a civil penalty. There will be time for providers to develop filing and storage systems and strategies to meet these requirements.
- From 1 December 2026 the time to make a claim for supports under a participant’s plan will be reduced from 2 years to 90 days.
What supports are moving to a commissioning model?
We are transitioning to commissioning smaller numbers of providers to deliver some supports. This means for some supports there will no longer be an open market with an unlimited number of providers.
Plan management
From 1 October 2027, we will set up a panel of plan management providers. Only providers on this panel will be allowed to deliver plan management services. These providers will need to meet strict quality, regulation and monitoring standards. There will be an initial 6-month transition period.
Support coordination
From 1 July 2028, we will appoint providers directly to deliver a new support coordination and connection service. This means support coordination will not be funded individually in participant plans. Providers will be able to apply for this service. Successful providers will be chosen through a merit-based process.
Supported Independent Living (SIL)
We will soon commence consultation on how we can improve housing and living supports for participants requiring 24/7 supports. This consultation will help us understand participant and provider views on how this works and explore how different commissioning models can benefit both participants and providers. There will be targeted consultation with participants using SIL, their families and carers, providers, industry representatives and experts. The outcomes of consultations will inform our decisions on commissioning a portion of the SIL market.
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