TL;DR: Parliament passed the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 on 19 August 2026. The first set of changes starts 7 days after the Governor-General signs the Bill and covers plan reassessment requests, record keeping and the NDIA's information gathering powers. The rest phase in between October 2026 and July 2028. Right now, your plan and your supports keep working as they do today.
Please note: Disability Insights is an independent publisher. We are not affiliated with the NDIA, the NDIS or the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, and we are not an NDIS provider or a registered provider. This article is general information only, not advice about your own plan. Always check ndis.gov.au for the official position.
The NDIA has published a short video explaining the reforms in plain language. It is worth watching before you read the timeline below.
What did Parliament actually pass?
On 19 August 2026 the Australian Parliament passed the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026, a set of amendments the Government says will hold the scheme together over the long term. The Bill becomes law once the Governor-General signs it, and the earliest changes take effect 7 days after that signature.
The amendments touch six areas: how people get access to the NDIS, how plans are created, how funding can be used, how providers deliver supports, how the NDIA responds to fraud, and how prices are set. None of it happens at once. The NDIA has published a staged timeline on its Securing the NDIS for future generations page that runs out to July 2028, with consultation on several pieces still to come.
Do you need to do anything right now?
No. The NDIA has said participants can continue using their plans and supports as usual, and that it will contact you directly if a change affects you, explaining what is happening and when. There is nothing you need to submit, renew or apply for because the laws passed.
One point is worth separating out. Plan budgets have always moved up and down as a person's needs change, and the NDIA has been clear that ordinary planning decisions happening now are not the reform. If your plan amount changed recently, that came through the normal process, not the new legislation.
What changes 7 days after the new laws are signed?
Four things change in the first tranche: who is allowed to ask for an unscheduled plan reassessment, how long records must be kept, what information the NDIA can compel people to hand over, and whether a computer can carry out routine administrative steps. The exact start date depends on when the Governor-General signs the Bill, so treat "7 days after signing" as the marker rather than a fixed calendar date.
Who can ask for a plan reassessment
Only a participant, their plan nominee or a child representative will be able to ask for a plan reassessment ahead of the scheduled date. Providers and support coordinators lose the ability to lodge that request on your behalf, which is a real change in practice for anyone who has relied on a coordinator to handle it.
You can still ask for an early reassessment, but the grounds are narrower. There has to be a significant and ongoing change to either your functional capacity and support needs, or your living, education, work or informal support arrangements. A short-term or urgent change is handled through a plan variation instead, which is a separate pathway that stays open.
The NDIA will also have 90 days to decide whether it will reassess a plan once it receives a request. Our guide to changes to unscheduled plan reassessments walks through how those requests are handled, and there is a step-by-step piece on plan reviews and appeals if a decision does not go your way.
How long you need to keep records
Record keeping periods are now set in the legislation, and they differ depending on who you are. Participants must keep records of supports and payments for 3 years, nominees for 5 years, and providers for 7 years.
New NDIS rules will spell out which records those are. The part that matters most for participants is the consequence: if you cannot produce records showing NDIS funding was used correctly, you may be asked to pay money back. If you are self-managing or plan-managing, a simple habit helps. Keep invoices, receipts and signed service agreements in one folder, scan paper copies as you go, and label them by month rather than sorting them later.
Information requests, penalties and automated decisions
The NDIA gets stronger compliance, enforcement and information gathering powers so it can respond faster to fraud and suspicious behaviour. Participants and providers may both be required to give the Agency information when it asks for it, and providers can be penalised for not complying with certain requirements such as an information request.
Computer systems will also be allowed to carry out some administrative actions, including claims and payment processing. The NDIA has committed to oversight and safeguards on automated actions, has said that complex or discretionary decisions requiring judgement will continue to be made by people, and must publish details of how and where automated systems are used.
What changes from October 2026?
Three changes begin phasing in from October 2026, and the largest one concerns support budgets. Funding for social, civic and community participation supports and capacity building daily activities will be progressively reset as plans are reassessed or renewed, so the change reaches each participant at their own reassessment rather than on a single date.
A new plan variation pathway will also be created for participants with high support needs who require continuous 24-hour care to meet their disability-related care needs. Alongside that, the NDIA gains the ability to suspend a plan if a participant does not respond to requests for information. The Agency has said suspension would only follow reasonable attempts to make contact, which it defines as at least 5 attempts to reach you, your nominee or your authorised representative over an extended period.
What changes from December 2026?
From December 2026, claims must be submitted within 90 days of a support being delivered. The rule applies to participants, providers and plan managers alike.
For self-managed participants, that means paying and claiming inside the window rather than letting receipts pile up. For plan-managed participants, the practical risk is a provider who invoices late. Ask your providers now how quickly they invoice, and ask your plan manager how they will flag an invoice that arrives close to the cut-off. Our overview of how plan managers work with your funding covers where those responsibilities sit.
What changes from February 2027?
Plan renewals start in February 2027 and replace the process currently known as plan continuations. When a plan is due to be reassessed, it will either be reassessed by an NDIA planner or a new plan will be created carrying the same supports as the old one.
Two details deserve attention. First, unspent funds from the previous plan will not be carried over into the new one. Second, new criteria will apply to decisions about what counts as reasonable and necessary. Those criteria start with new participants and are applied progressively to current participants as each plan comes up for reassessment.
For families, the criteria include clearer guidelines about what a parent is expected to provide for a child with disability, covering supervision, personal care, transport, emotional support and behavioural support. That expectation does not extend to the additional support a child needs because of their disability, measured against children of a similar age without disability. Our guide to preparing for a plan review under the new legislation is a useful companion here.
What changes from April 2027?
The NDIA begins introducing its new way of planning from April 2027. This is the redesigned planning process the Agency has been testing with participants, and it will be rolled out gradually rather than switched on for everyone at once.
The NDIA has said it will share more information with participants before they move across to the new process, so you should hear from the Agency before your own planning experience changes.
What changes from January 2028?
Access changes begin in January 2028 for new applicants, with existing participants reassessed over the following 3 years. This is the part of the reform that has drawn the most concern, and it is also the furthest away.
Three things change in how access is decided. Eligibility will rest on a new standardised, evidence-based assessment of functional capacity, informed by a Technical Advisory Group the Government has set up. Permanence, and whether an impairment can be alleviated or treated, will be assessed more consistently. Access to other compensation schemes will also be assessed more consistently. The NDIA has stated that people with permanent and significant disability will continue to be able to access the NDIS.
What can you do to prepare?
The most useful preparation is the least dramatic. Getting your paperwork and your representation in order now costs little and covers you against most of what is coming.
- Start a records system this month. Three years is the participant standard, so build the habit before it is tested.
- Check who is recorded as your nominee. Only you, your plan nominee or a child representative can request an early reassessment, so an out-of-date nominee record becomes a problem later.
- Keep functional capacity evidence current. Reports describing what you can and cannot do day to day carry more weight than a diagnosis alone under the new criteria.
- Ask about invoice timing. The 90-day claim rule starts in December 2026, and late provider invoices are the most likely way a participant gets caught by it.
- Know where advocacy sits. Independent advocates are free and separate from both the NDIA and providers. Our directory of advocacy groups and legal assistance is a starting point.
- Watch the consultations. The NDIA has flagged community consultation on home and living supports for SIL participants needing 24/7 support, differentiated pricing for unregistered providers, the design of the Inclusive Communities Fund, market reforms for social and community participation, the rules for the new way of planning, and the new eligibility process.
If you also deal with providers directly, our companion piece on what the new NDIS laws mean for providers sets out the obligations your providers are working to, including the 7-year record keeping period and the expansion of mandatory registration.
Key Takeaways
- Nothing changes today. Plans and supports continue as normal, and the NDIA has said it will contact participants directly when a change affects them.
- First tranche starts 7 days after signing. Reassessment requests narrow to participants, plan nominees and child representatives; records must be kept for 3 years by participants and 5 years by nominees; the NDIA gains stronger information gathering powers and can automate some administrative steps.
- October 2026. Social, civic and community participation budgets and capacity building daily activities are reset progressively at reassessment or renewal, a new plan variation pathway opens for 24-hour care needs, and plans can be suspended after at least 5 unanswered contact attempts.
- December 2026. Claims must be submitted within 90 days of a support being delivered.
- February 2027. Plan renewals replace plan continuations, unspent funds are not carried over, and new reasonable and necessary criteria begin with new participants.
- January 2028. Access decisions move to a standardised functional capacity assessment, with existing participants reassessed over 3 years.
Where to check the official information
The timeline runs for several years and much of the detail will land in NDIS rules that are still being written, so go to the source before you act on anything here:
- Securing the NDIS for future generations is the NDIA's main page for the reforms and carries the full timeline.
- New NDIS laws pass is the NDIA's announcement that the Bill has passed.
- New way of planning covers the planning process starting in April 2027.
