NDIS Changes 2026: Key Dates and What They Mean for You

Latest NDIS news

• 15 October 2026: The NDIA began extra checks on claims made more than 90 days after a support. They can be held for up to 28 days.
• 2 and 14 October 2026: Consultations closed on the new support coordination service and on draft rules for new framework planning.
• 1 October 2026: The budget reset began, a variation pathway opened for people with 24-hour support, and Thriving Kids started rolling out.
• 24 September 2026: The first price limits set by the Minister took effect, unchanged from the NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27.

Coming next: the ban on provider kickbacks (20 November 2026) and the 90-day limit on claims (1 December 2026).

NDIS changes 2026 to 2030: key dates

The dates that matter to participants, from the government's reform timeline and the new law, in order. Some later dates are set in law; others are plans that could still move, as new framework planning already has.

Two dates differ between official sources: the department's reform timeline lists 27 November 2026 for the kickbacks ban and 27 February 2027 for the debt rules, but the Act's commencement table gives 20 November 2026 and 20 February 2027.

What is the Securing the NDIS for Future Generations Act?

It's the main NDIS reform law of 2026, the legislation that changes the NDIS Act. It passed Parliament on 19 August 2026, became law on 20 August, and its first changes started on 27 August. The government says its plan has four aims: fighting fraud, slowing rapid cost increases, clearer eligibility, and better quality services. An independent review of the changes is due in 2029. Read the department's Securing the NDIS for future generations page or the NDIA's guide to the new NDIS laws.

NDIS funding cuts from 1 October 2026: what's changing?

Two budgets in current plans are being reset by a legal instrument the Minister made, the NDIS (Support) Determination 2026. It's applied when your plan changes, not on one day for everyone:

• new and reassessed plans starting from 1 October 2026
• renewed plans from 1 February 2027
• every affected plan by 30 September 2027. If your reassessment date is on or after 1 October 2027, the NDIA brings your renewal forward.

The cut is to the amount set aside, not to what you spend. In the department's example, a plan with $50,000 a year for community participation, of which $30,000 is used, drops to $25,000, so spending falls by $5,000. Your new plan shows your total funding and the amount available after the reset.

The first budget used to be called social, civic and community participation (see our community participation guide), and the second capacity building daily activities (see improved daily living).

How the protected amount is worked out

• Only the part of a budget set aside for a protected support is kept whole. In the department's example, a $73,000 budget with $46,000 for supports in employment keeps that $46,000, and the other $27,000 halves to $13,500.
• For new and reassessed plans, the NDIA uses the amount set aside for the protected support when your plan was prepared. For a renewal of a plan that started before 1 October 2026, its records also need to show a payment during 2026 (for self-managed funding, a payment from that budget).
• You don't need to send the NDIA anything.

Where the official lists differ

The department, the NDIA and the determination name the same six protected groups. The department's page lists them together; the determination says which budget each sits in and lists the exact support items. For example, the protected disability-related health supports are items delivered by nurses, including community nursing care for continence aids. The NDIA also publishes a spreadsheet of supports that aren't affected. And the department's "critical supports", like help at home and Specialist Disability Accommodation, aren't exclusions: they're safe because they're in budgets the reset doesn't touch.

Can I challenge the cut?

You can't ask for a review of the reset itself, and the reduction alone doesn't count as a change in circumstances. You can still ask for a reassessment if your needs change in a significant and ongoing way, and contact the NDIA about a variation after fraud, a crisis or an emergency. Full details are on the department's funding changes page.

Have 24-hour support? How to ask for a variation

A new variation pathway protects participants who need continuous 24-hour care. You can use it if your plan funds 24-hour supports for your disability, and your Assistance with Daily Life, Home and Living, and Assistance with Social, Economic and Community Participation budgets added up to $215,030 or more before the reset. That's the cost of 24-hour support with one worker for every three people.

• You or your nominee must apply within 90 days of the reset being applied to your plan. A support worker or advocate can help, but the NDIA can't start it for you.
• The NDIA has 21 days to decide whether you qualify and 21 more to decide on the variation, though it can tell you it needs longer.
• If you can no longer keep your 24-hour supports at the support ratio you need, it adds funding to your daily living and home and living budgets, up to the amount that was cut. Both decisions can be reviewed.
• Participants in residential aged care are unlikely to qualify.

Asking for an NDIS reassessment: what changed on 27 August 2026?

• Who can ask: only you, your plan nominee or, for a child, the child's representative. Others, like a support coordinator, can't lodge it for you.
• When: only after a significant and ongoing change in your functional capacity and support needs, or in your living, education, work or informal support arrangements. It doesn't have to be unexpected, but the budget reset on its own doesn't count.
• How: on the NDIA's plan reassessment request form, with your evidence.
• How long: the NDIA has 90 days to decide. If it doesn't, the request is treated as refused and you can ask for a review.
• Urgent or short-term needs: after an emergency, a crisis or fraud, ask for a plan variation, which can get you help straight away.

Our NDIS plan review guide explains variations, reassessments and reviews.

NDIS claims must be made within 90 days from 1 December 2026

From 1 December 2026, a claim must be made within 90 days of the support being delivered, down from 2 years. It applies to self-managed participants, plan managers and providers.

• Since 15 October 2026, claims made more than 90 days after a support get extra checks and can be held for up to 28 days.
• Since 27 August 2026, you or your plan manager must keep records of NDIS payments for 3 years. Providers keep theirs for 7.
• From 30 June 2028, self-managed participants get tap-and-go claiming in an improved NDIS App.

See how to log in to the NDIS portal and make a claim.

What happens to unspent NDIS funds from 1 February 2027?

From 1 February 2027, when your plan reaches its reassessment date the NDIA creates a renewed plan instead of rolling it over. Unspent funds don't carry over, and the renewed plan stays at the level you were assessed for, adjusted for current prices. The NDIA contacts you 60 days before a renewal.

Clearer rules on what's reasonable and necessary also start then, for new participants first and then for current participants at reassessment. The NDIA must weigh the scheme's sustainability, fairness between people with similar needs, and the risk of harm to your family and informal supports if a support isn't funded. For children, it looks at what a parent is normally expected to provide, like supervision, personal care and transport, but not the extra support a child needs because of disability.

What is new framework planning, and when does it start?

It's a new way of setting budgets, starting 1 April 2027 after a delay for more consultation. A trained NDIS assessor interviews you about your daily life and support needs, and a support needs assessment report explains how your budget was worked out. It isn't used to decide who can join the NDIS. The department says participants aged 18 and over will move across gradually between April 2027 and 31 December 2030, keeping their current plan until then. The 50% and 10% reset doesn't apply to new framework plans. The rules are still being finalised.

Who sets NDIS price limits now?

Since 27 August 2026, the Minister for Disability and the NDIS sets price limits on the NDIA's advice, and that advice (or a summary) must be tabled in Parliament. The first pricing determination took effect on 24 September 2026 and adopts the NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27, so limits stayed the same. Price limits apply to NDIA-managed and plan-managed funding.

• Changes to the SCHADS Award take effect on 1 December 2026. The department says the 2026-27 Pricing Schedule will be updated later this year to reflect any required changes.
• The government has consulted on different price limits depending on whether a provider is registered. The NDIA's pricing review recommended this start on 1 January 2027: check the NDIS pricing page for the decision.

Current limits are in our NDIS price guide.

What's changing for SIL, plan management and support coordination?

• SIL providers must be registered (since 1 July 2026). This also applies to NDIS digital platforms. Unregistered providers already delivering SIL can keep going only if they applied by 1 October 2026, and only until their application is decided. Check yours on the NDIS Provider Register or read our Supported Independent Living guide.
• Kickbacks banned (from 20 November 2026). Providers can't offer rewards to get you to start, keep or increase using their services. Cash or cash-like products, electronic devices, alcohol and tobacco are banned in all cases.
• Registered providers for higher-risk supports (from 1 July 2027). These may include personal care, daily living supports and supports in closed settings. The government will publish the list, and you can still use unregistered providers for lower-risk supports. Full rollout is due by December 2030.
• Plan managers from an approved panel (from 1 October 2027). If yours isn't on the government's list, you'll have 6 months to move.
• Support coordination moves out of plans (from 1 July 2028). The NDIA will fund providers directly to deliver a new Support Coordination and Connection service, and you'll choose from that list, with help to move across. The consultation paper proposed that not everyone will be eligible; the final design is up to the government. Until then, support coordination continues as it is now. See our support coordination guide.

What's changing for children? Thriving Kids explained

Thriving Kids started rolling out on 1 October 2026. It's support outside the NDIS, like information, family programs and allied health, for children aged 8 and under with developmental delay or autism and low to moderate support needs, and their families. It's due to be fully running by 1 January 2028.

• From 1 January 2028, children in that group who apply will be supported by Thriving Kids instead of the NDIS. Children with permanent and significant disability, or high support needs, stay eligible.
• Children aged 8 and under already in the NDIS before 1 January 2028 keep being reassessed under the current rules until they turn 9.
• The government is still working out the details with the states and territories before changing the law.

Will I lose my NDIS funding?

Your plan: you keep your current plan and supports until it's reassessed or renewed, and then only the two budgets above are reset. The government says supports essential to your critical care and daily living needs won't change, and participants who need continuous 24-hour care will keep receiving it.

Your place in the NDIS: there are no changes to who can join until 1 January 2028. From then:

• Access is based on a standardised assessment of how your disability affects day-to-day living. The NDIA also checks that appropriate treatment has been tried and the impairment is likely to be lifelong. Appropriate treatment means treatment regularly used in Australia that's publicly funded, like through Medicare, and nobody can be forced to have treatment.
• Current participants are reassessed against the new criteria over 3 years, with information well in advance.
• People who apply from 1 January 2028 may not be eligible if their impairment came from a work injury or motor vehicle accident covered by a compensation scheme. This doesn't apply to people already in the NDIS.

The government says people with permanent and significant disability will still be able to access the NDIS, and a Technical Advisory Group is advising on the thresholds. You can ask for a review of an access decision you disagree with. One rule already applies: since 1 October 2026 the NDIA can suspend a plan if it can't reach you or your nominee to ask for information, after at least 5 attempts over 3 to 4 months. Attempts don't count while you're in hospital or another institution, or homeless, and a suspension can be reviewed.

What should NDIS participants do now?

1. 1

   Find your plan's reassessment date

   It's on your plan and under the plan icon in the my NDIS app. The NDIA contacts you 2 to 3 months before a reassessment and 60 days before a renewal.

2. 2

   Check your new plan when it arrives

   It shows your total funding and what's available after the reset. If a protected support seems to have been cut, ask the NDIA how it worked out the amount.

3. 3

   Ask for changes the right way

   After a significant and ongoing change, ask for a reassessment on the NDIA's form, with reports from your treating professionals. In an emergency, ask for a plan variation.

4. 4

   Have 24-hour support? Apply within 90 days

   If the reset leaves a gap in your 24-hour supports, you or your nominee can apply for a variation within 90 days of it being applied.

5. 5

   Make your budget go further

   Talk with your providers about using your budget within the price limits. The department notes group activities may cost less, where they suit you.

6. 6

   Claim on time and stay contactable

   If you self-manage, claim within 90 days of each support from 1 December 2026 and keep payment records for 3 years. Keep your contact details up to date and answer the NDIA.

Need help? Your local area coordinator can help you understand and use your plan and ask for changes. A government-funded disability advocate can help you understand your rights or make a complaint: find one through the National Disability Advocacy Program. The NDIA is on 1800 800 110, 8am to 7pm local time, Monday to Friday. If something has gone wrong, see our NDIS complaint guide.

NDIS changes 2026 questions