What this article is about

This explainer is for people with disability, their families and supporters. It talks about the federal government’s new bill called the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026. This bill changes parts of the NDIS law. Many of these changes are about access, planning, plan budgets and fraud measures.

This is not legal advice. It is a plain language overview to help you understand the main ideas and what they might mean for you.

When the changes start

The bill starts in stages over several years. Some parts start shortly after it becomes law, and others not until 2027 and 2028. For example, many “access and planning” changes begin soon after Royal Assent, but changes about “permanence” and access to other services start later, in 2028.

This means not everything changes at once. Your rights under the current NDIS law keep applying until each new part officially starts.

New idea of “functional capacity”

The bill gives a stricter legal definition of “functional capacity”. It says your functional capacity is your ability to do an activity by yourself, without help from people, equipment or modifications, and in a way that largely ignores your personal and environmental circumstances.

Rules can then set methods, thresholds and criteria for how your functional capacity is assessed, including what can and cannot be taken into account. This may make it harder for some people to meet access requirements if they rely a lot on supports, technology or environmental changes.

Stronger link between disability and supports

The bill tightens the link between your impairment and the supports the NDIS will fund. It changes the law so that NDIS-funded supports must meet disability support needs that arise directly from the impairments you used to gain access to the scheme.

It also clarifies that the disability or early intervention requirements must be met at the time the CEO approves your statement of participant supports. This may make it harder to argue for supports that are connected to your broader situation but not clearly “directly” caused by your impairment.

Fewer unscheduled plan reviews on request

The bill makes it harder to get an unscheduled plan reassessment (review) just by asking. To get a reassessment, you (or your nominee) will need to show a “significant” and “ongoing” change in your support needs that come from the impairments that got you into the NDIS.

The law then sets detailed conditions about:

  • a big, ongoing change in your functional capacity or
  • a big, ongoing, unplanned change in your living, work, education or informal support network.

If these conditions are not met, the Agency does not have to reassess your plan, even if your situation feels harder in other ways.

Automatic plan renewals instead of regular full reviews

The bill creates automatic “renewals” of many plans, called renewing an old framework plan as a “new plan” by force of law. At the end date in your plan, your plan can roll over automatically for another 12 months, often with the same text and same supports, unless a separate instrument allows some changes.

One‑off or temporary funding is not carried over, and the Minister can make rules about what gets changed in a renewed plan. Many existing reassessment dates will be treated as “end dates”, meaning your plan continues by automatic renewal instead of a full review with you.

Government power to reduce groups of supports

A new power lets the Minister make a legal instrument to reduce the amount of funding for a particular group of supports across many plans at once, to “ensure the financial sustainability of the scheme”.

The Minister can set a percentage cut for a group of supports in “old framework plans”, and this reduction applies even if it means the NDIS funding is less than the total cost of your reasonable and necessary supports. The Minister must “have regard to the safety of participants”, but the power is broad.

New principles about “scheme sustainability”

The bill adds new “scheme sustainability” principles the CEO must consider when making planning decisions. These say:

  • the NDIS funds disability support needs that arise directly from impairments used to gain access
  • participants are responsible for day‑to‑day living costs that everyone has, whether or not they have disability
  • funding should be used efficiently and distributed fairly across participants.

These principles sit alongside the existing objects and principles and are likely to be used to justify tighter budgets and limits.

Changes to “reasonable and necessary” tests

The bill changes how “reasonable and necessary” is applied in practice. It allows rules and determinations to set maximum funding, maximum intensity, and maximum worker‑to‑participant ratios for particular supports or for different groups of participants.

The CEO must now:

  • compare the cost of supports and favour lower‑cost comparable options, where possible
  • consider leasing equipment rather than buying, and presume leasing is better value unless there is evidence otherwise
  • weigh research and evidence in a strict order, giving priority to published, peer‑reviewed evidence over individual outcomes.

The CEO can decide not to fund a support as “effective and beneficial” if there is limited research evidence or limited individual evidence, even if one of those is positive.

Greater focus on other systems providing supports

The bill tightens the rule that the NDIS should not fund supports “more appropriately” provided by other systems, like health, education, housing or aged care. It emphasises that NDIS funding should not cover things that existing government service systems should provide.

This may mean more people are told to rely on state or federal mainstream services, even when those systems are already stretched or hard to access.

Pricing, indexation and plan management

The bill changes how NDIS prices and maximum payment amounts are set. The Minister can make determinations about maximum amounts that the Agency can pay for supports where funding is Agency‑managed or plan‑managed, and the Agency must not pay more than those maximums.

There are also detailed rules about when funding in plans can be indexed (increased) if maximum prices rise, and new requirements and conditions on registered plan management providers, including strict separation from other NDIS services and the need for a deed of arrangement with the Agency.

Stronger fraud and compliance powers

The bill adds many new fraud‑related and compliance powers. These include:

  • more civil penalty provisions for providers, nominees and financial institutions that do not provide information or keep records
  • shorter time limits for lodging claims (for example, reducing some claim periods from two years to 90 days)
  • wider information‑gathering powers and the ability to require people to attend and answer questions.

The law also strengthens record‑keeping rules and makes it easier for the Agency to treat wrongly claimed amounts as debts if records are not kept properly.

What this could mean for you

If this bill passes, many people may find it:

  • harder to get into the NDIS if their functional capacity looks better when they have supports, technology or environmental adjustments
  • harder to get a plan review unless they meet strict “significant and ongoing change” rules
  • more common to have automatic plan roll‑overs rather than full, person‑to‑person reviews
  • more common to face limits or reductions in budgets for particular types of supports, even if those supports are still considered reasonable and necessary.

On the other hand, the government says these changes are to “secure the NDIS for future generations” by making funding more sustainable and tackling fraud and misuse.

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