How we are making changes
The Australian 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
- expanding differentiated pricing for unregistered providers
- 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. Find out more about Working together to secure the NDIS.
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
Who will give technical advice?
We are establishing a Technical Advisory Group (TAG).
The TAG will bring together national expertise to provide independent, evidence-based advice to support the development of a robust and consistent assessment framework for assessing ‘significantly reduced functional capacity’ for the proposes of NDIS access.
Members will be selected based on their technical expertise and skills.
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 now 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 is significantly reduced and impacts their day-to-day living. The Technical Advisory Group (TAG) 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). |
How is the Government assessing whether an impairment is permanent?
To assess if you can access the NDIS, the NDIA looks at whether your disability is permanent. This may include looking at whether you have tried treatments that could improve your condition.
Your treating practitioners can advise the NDIA on whether a treatment is likely to significantly improve, reverse, or reduce the impact of an impairment. This includes considering if there is a medical reason why you cannot undertake a certain treatment.
Will I have to undergo certain treatments before I can access the NDIS?
The Bill requires individuals to undertake ‘appropriate treatment’ to remedy or alleviate an impairment before it can be considered permanent. The Bill cannot require you to undertake any particular treatment.
You will never be expected to undergo treatments that are not recommended for your impairment or comorbidities, or where the likely benefits of a treatment are negligible, highly uncertain, or outweighed by the clinical risk.
Restrictive practices involving seclusion or chemical, mechanical, physical or environmental restraint are not considered ‘treatments’ for the purpose of determining whether you have undertaken all appropriate treatment.
Consistent with current practice, you will not be expected to undergo invasive or significant medical interventions – such as cochlear implants – to meet access criteria.
You will only be expected to undertake treatments that receive public funding, such as through Medicare, the PBS and public hospitals.
There will be additional rules about other treatments you are not expected to undertake. These rules will be developed through consultation with the community, engagement with clinical experts and may also involve input from the Technical Advisory Group (TAG).
The development of these rules will take into account medical and ethical considerations, such as individual autonomy and informed consent. The rules will not be able to require you to undertake a certain treatment.
Will I need to keep proving my eligibility for the NDIS to ensure I have access?
From 1 January 2028, current participants will start to be reassessed against the new criteria. This will happen over a period of 3 years. The Technical Advisory Group (TAG) will provide advice on the most appropriate thresholds and assessments for this process.
Participants will be provided information well in advance of any reassessment. People with significant and permanent disability will continue to be able to access the NDIS.
When deciding who can access the NDIS, will the NDIA consider how different disabilities affect people in different ways, including conditions that change over time or fluctuate?
Yes. The Technical Advisory Group (TAG) will consider how to assess the needs of different types of disability and impairment, including degenerative, fluctuating and episodic impairments. This is a requirement in the NDIS Act.
How will you make sure the NDIS is still accessible for people with permanent and significant disability?
Having clear assessment and thresholds for access to the NDIS will ensure it is preserved for people with permanent and significant disability.
If someone disagrees with a decision about their access to the NDIS, they can still ask for it to be reviewed.
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 NDIA. | You will need to choose a plan management provider from a list approved by the government. If you use a plan manager who is not on the list, you will have 6 months to transition to an approved provider. | 1 October 2027 |
| A new support coordination and connection service will be set up by the NDIA. | 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 participation 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 renewed or reassessed over a 12-month period.
These changes will not impact budgets for critical supports, such as:
- supports in employment
- 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 are support determination powers? How will this impact participant budgets?
The NDIS Bill will allow the Minister to reduce funding for some types of supports in NDIS plans. This is called a ‘support determination’. A support determination can only apply to old framework plans, which are the plans participants have right now. All participants will transition to new framework plans progressively from 1 April 2027 to 31 December 2030.
The government has said it plans to use a support determination to reduce funding for:
- social, civic and community participation supports by 50%, and
- capacity building daily activities supports by 10%.
Refer to the question above for more detail on supports.
How will new framework planning change the planning process for participants?
New framework planning makes NDIS plans fairer, simpler and easier to understand.
You will spend time with a trained NDIS assessor. They will conduct a semi-structured interview to understand your support needs. After the interview, you will receive a support needs assessment report. This report explains how your budget was decided and helps you get started with your plan.
You will be supported to transition to the new planning process and your new plan, including preparing for your assessment and how to use your plan.
This new approach aims to give you more choice and control. It includes simpler plans, more flexible funding, and clearer decisions.
Will I need to contribute to the cost of my supports, like paying a gap fee for Medicare?
Participants are not expected to pay a ‘gap fee’ for their NDIS supports.
The NDIS will continue to provide funding for supports to participants. Participants will retain choice and control over how they spend their allocated funding.
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 supports are in place to make sure people can have their plan reassessed if they have an emergency or sudden change in their needs?
If you have an emergency or need extra support for a short time, you can ask for a variation to your plan to get help straight away.
The changes in the Bill do not affect your ability to ask for these reviews or plan changes.
What does automation mean for participants?
Each day, the NDIA makes decisions that support hundreds of thousands of Australians with disability and their families and carers. This includes over 600,000 decisions about claims and payments every day.
Given the volume and importance of these decisions, automating certain administrative actions is necessary for the NDIA to operate effectively, ensuring critical services and supports can continue to be delivered to participants in a timely manner.
This will not displace the important role of a human delegate or the rights participants have, including for review, under the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013.
A well-designed system for undertaking automated administrative action will assist the NDIA in managing the complexity of the NDIS and support this high volume of decisions to be made more efficiently, accurately and consistently.
This will lead to improved outcomes for participants, providers and other persons who interact with the NDIS.
What safeguards are in place for automated actions?
While the expansion of automated decision making offers clear benefits, the government recognises concerns that have been raised by the disability advocates and the community more broadly.
This Bill takes a cautious, deliberate and legislated approach to the automation of administrative action. It includes a range of safeguards including preserving the right to seek review of administrative action, human oversight of automated administrative action and requirements to ensure transparency and accountability.
There will be human oversight of all automated administrative actions, including a requirement for the CEO to directly authorise the use of automated systems in writing, and ensure automated actions could have been lawfully made by a human decision-maker.
Automation can only be used where decisions are based on clear and objective rules. Where a case requires judgement or does not fit the pre-set criteria, it must be referred to a human decision-maker.
If an automated process makes an incorrect decision, for example based on incorrect information or data, the CEO can replace it with the correct decision. Participants also keep the same review rights they would have if the decision had been made by a person.
The CEO is required to draft a ‘standard operating procedure instrument’ (SOPI) for all automated decisions. This SOPI must be published on the NDIA website 7 days before it is tabled in Parliament. Publishing the SOPI will enhance transparency and enable participants, representative organisations, and other interested parties to consider and understand the implications of the instrument before it is made and starts operating.
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 from 1 July 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.
Why is the government making providers enrol? How does enrolling providers help make NDIS services safer and reduce fraud?
Most providers will need to enrol with the NDIA to provide better oversight of services delivered and monitor who the money is going to. These changes will help the NDIA better track payments and check claims. This means less fraud and more money going to supports people need.
Providers in scope will need to enrol from 1 July 2027 so they can be paid directly. Some businesses, such as general retailers, won’t need to enrol.
The change to provider enrolment will enable the NDIA to track and monitor NDIS payments. It is a separate process to being a registered NDIS provider.
What supports are moving to a commissioning model?
We are transitioning to commissioning (contracting) a smaller number 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, the NDIA 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, the NDIA 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 to deliver this service. Successful providers will be chosen through a merit-based process.
Supported Independent Living (SIL)
The NDIA 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 government decisions on whether to proceed with commissioning a portion of the SIL market.
Changes to tackle fraud and non-compliance
What is the government doing to tackle fraud in the NDIS?
The government is introducing a suite of changes to improve oversight of providers and claims and strengthen controls to protect participants and the NDIS from exploitation.
To do this we will:
- expand mandatory registration of providers delivering support to participants who are most at risk of abuse and/or exploitation
- introduce a new enrolment system with a minimum basic level of identifiable information on most NDIS providers that will also increase evidence required for payments for NDIS supports, including payments at point of service
- strengthen the NDIA’s investigative and enforcement capabilities and introduce new regulatory controls to address fraud and non-compliance
- improve how information is collected and monitored for faster and more targeted responses to fraud and suspicious behaviour
- eliminate conflicts of interest in the plan management market.
Why will tackling fraud alone not be enough to make the NDIS sustainable?
When fraud is committed against a NDIS participant, it means that the participant is not receiving genuine supports. By combatting fraud, more funding is spent on delivering supports that will actually benefit a participant. Reducing fraud is about making sure people receive the supports they need, and not about making savings to the government budget.
The government is working on more than just combatting fraud to make sure the NDIS can continue in the future. The government’s plan to secure the future of the NDIS will be delivered through 4 pillars:
- fighting fraud and stopping rorts
- slowing rapid costs increases
- clearer eligibility requirements
- delivering quality services and support to participants.
The NDIS continues to grow at a far higher rate than any other comparable program. Costs are continuing to rise rapidly, driven by plan inflation and weaknesses in how the system currently operates. While stopping fraud is important, it’s not enough on its own. Other changes are also needed to make sure the NDIS is still there for people who need it now and in the future.
Changes to how the NDIS is governed
Why are there changes to the NDIS Minister’s powers? Do these powers exist in other government programs?
The government aims to make sure the NDIS can keep supporting people with disability into the future and reduce fraud and misuse of funds. Because the NDIS is growing faster than expected, stronger controls are needed to keep it sustainable.
The Minister will have powers to help keep the NDIS sustainable and focused on people with permanent and significant disability.
Some of the Minister’s proposed powers are the same as other government programs. For example, the Minister can set price limits for NDIS supports, based on advice from the NDIA. This is like aged care and veterans’ care, where ministers set fees using expert advice from government agencies and sector input.
Will there be limitations or safeguards in place around these powers?
There will be safeguards in place around decisions the Minister makes using these powers. Importantly, any legal instruments the Minister makes with these powers will need to go through Parliament.
For any changes to NDIS eligibility rules, the Minister requires agreement from all states and territories.
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