NDIS changes timeline 2026 to 2030: what they mean for you

What’s happening: The NDIA is upgrading the way claims and payments work, so every claim is checked against the support that was actually delivered. This is being rolled out over the next few years.

What it means for you: Not much changes day to day, and that’s the point. These are behind-the-scenes checks designed to catch fraud and make sure funding goes to real supports for real people.

What’s happening: The first changes under the new laws started on 27 August 2026.

It’s now harder to ask for a plan reassessment before your plan is due. (A reassessment is when the NDIA looks at your plan again and may change it.) Two things have changed:

• Only you, your nominee, or guardians can ask for one.
• There needs to be a big change in your support needs that is going to last.

You now need to keep records about your NDIS supports and payments, like receipts and invoices, for three years. Providers need to keep theirs for seven years.

What it means for you: You can still ask for a reassessment if your needs change. Your plan isn’t locked in. You just need to show that your support needs have changed in a big and lasting way.

It’s a good idea to keep your NDIS receipts and invoices somewhere safe for at least three years, in case you’re ever asked to show how your funding was used.

What’s happening: Registration became mandatory for providers of Supported Independent Living (SIL) and platform providers from 1 July 2026. By 1 October 2026, SIL providers needed to be registered, or have applied to register, to keep delivering supports.

What it means for you: Your plan and your funding don’t change. If your SIL supports are provided by Aruma, your supports stay the same. Aruma is a registered provider.

If your SIL provider wasn’t already registered, they needed to apply, and you don’t need to do anything. Registration means your provider is held to national quality and safety standards, which is good news for you.

If your provider didn’t register, the NDIA will be in touch to help you find a registered SIL provider that can help you. You can also check out our blog here about the SIL 2026 changes or chat to our team if you need to find a SIL provider near you.

What’s happening: This change has now started. From 1 October 2026, budgets for social, economic and community participation (previously called social, civic and community participation) and improved daily living skills (previously capacity building daily activities) are being reset.

On average, social, economic and community participation budgets are reduced by 50% and improved daily living skills budgets by 10%, bringing spending back in line with 2023 levels.

The reductions are applied gradually over 12 months, as plans are created or reassessed from 1 October 2026, or renewed from 1 February 2027.

What it means for you: Supports for critical care and daily living are protected and aren’t affected by this reset. That includes things like personal care, help with eating and dressing, nursing care, home or vehicle modifications, and Specialist Disability Accommodation.

If you use funding for social and community activities, you may notice a change to that part of your budget when your plan is next reassessed or renewed.

If you have high support needs and a budget reset leaves a genuine gap, you may be able to ask for a variation. Speak to your planner or support coordinator about your options.

It’s worth planning ahead: your provider can help you get the most from each session, and group activities can be a lower-cost way to stay connected. If you notice a change and you’re not sure why, speak to your provider or planner.

What’s happening: Thriving Kids has started its phased rollout. It supports children aged eight and under who have developmental delay and/or autism with lower support needs, through local state-based services rather than the NDIS. The rollout is gradual, with the program expected to be available nationally by January 2028.

What it means for you: Thriving Kids starting doesn’t change who can access the NDIS. There are no changes to NDIS access for children until 1 January 2028. If you have a young child with lower support needs, their support may come through Thriving Kids in the future.

Children with permanent and significant disability, and those with high support needs, stay eligible for the NDIS.

What’s happening: The time a provider has to claim for a support drops from two years to 90 days. Any support delivered from 1 December 2026 must be claimed within 90 days.

What it means for you: Your plan doesn’t change. It will encourage providers to bill promptly, which should mean your plan balance gives you a clearer, up-to-date picture of what you’ve got left to spend. If you’re plan managed, your plan manager and providers will simply need to invoice a little faster.

What’s happening: The way plan renewals work changes for everyone. When your plan reaches its scheduled reassessment date and a renewed plan is created, any unspent funds from your old plan won’t carry over into the new one. Each new plan starts with its own budget.

What it means for you: It may be worth planning your supports evenly across your plan, so funding matches your needs through the year rather than building up unused. If you’re not sure, whether you’re making the most of your plan, your planner, support coordinator, or our team can help you map it out.

What’s happening: There are new, tighter rules about what counts as a reasonable and necessary support. These started being applied to new plans and plan reassessments from 1 October 2026, and from 1 February 2027 they apply to everyone else as their plan is renewed.

People newly joining the NDIS are assessed under the new rules first, and existing participants move across gradually, through their usual plan reassessments and renewals.

What it means for you: If you’re already a participant, nothing changes until your plan is next reassessed or renewed. When your plan is next reassessed, the NDIA will weigh up the new criteria when deciding what’s funded. Keeping simple records of the supports you use and how they help you means your needs are well documented when that time comes.

What’s happening: A new way of building plans, called new framework planning, starts to roll out. It uses an assessment of your support needs to work out your supports and budget. Existing participants will move across to the new approach gradually.

What it means for you: You don’t need to do anything right now. Your current plan continues until it’s your turn to move across, and that happens gradually through to 31 December 2030, not all at once. When your time comes, your planner will talk you through what it means for your supports.

What’s happening: Registration becomes mandatory for more types of providers, starting with higher-risk supports like personal care, help with daily living, and supports delivered in closed settings, which are places where people live or spend their day in a more contained environment like supported accommodation homes.

From the same date, a new enrolment system also begins, so the NDIA holds basic details on most providers. This is lighter than registration: it’s just about knowing who’s delivering supports and where funding goes, which helps reduce fraud.

What it means for you: This is about safety and quality. It means more of the providers delivering hands-on, personal supports are held to national standards, which is good news for anyone receiving that kind of care.

If you receive higher-risk supports like personal care, you’ll need to choose a registered provider for those from 1 July 2027. You can still choose unregistered providers for other, lower-risk supports.

What’s happening: A new panel of plan management providers begins, with a six-month transition period for people to move across.

What it means for you: If you’re plan managed, you may need to move to a provider on the new panel. If your current plan manager isn’t selected, you’ll have six months to move across, and the transition ends in April 2028. If you’re not plan managed, this one doesn’t affect you.

What’s happening: For new applicants, access to the NDIS is decided using a new, standardised assessment of functional capacity, rather than diagnosis lists. Existing participants are reassessed gradually over about three years.

What it means for you: If you’re already a participant, you won’t be reassessed straight away. From 2028, existing participants will be reassessed against the new criteria over about three years. Many will continue, but some people with lower support needs may no longer be eligible and would move to other supports. People with permanent and significant disability keep their access, and the NDIA will give you information well in advance of any reassessment.

What’s happening: Thriving Kids is now fully up and running across the country, and access changes begin for new applicants aged eight and under.

What it means for you: For new applications, families of young children with lower support needs will be pointed towards Thriving Kids rather than the NDIS. Children already enrolled in the NDIS before 1 January 2028 will be reassessed under the rules that were in place before that date. Children with permanent and significant disability, and those with high support needs, stay with the NDIS.

What’s happening: Support coordination changes to a new model called the Support Coordination and Connection service. From this date, support coordination will no longer be funded in your individual plan. Instead, the NDIA will fund selected providers directly, and you’ll choose your coordinator from that list.

What it means for you: If you have funded support coordination, the way it’s paid for and arranged will change. You won’t use your own plan budget for it anymore. You’ll be supported to move across to the new service, and your coordinator may change if your current one isn’t among the funded providers. The aim is more consistent, better-quality coordination.

What’s happening: Having started in April 2027, by 31 December 2030, the move to new framework planning is complete and every participant is on a new plan.

What it means for you: This is the finish line for the transition. By now you’ll be settled into the new planning approach, with the changes above fully in place.