The NDIS overhaul: what changes, and when

Why the government says it had to act

The national disability insurance scheme is one of Australia's most ambitious social programs, and it is now being significantly reshaped as the Albanese government looks to rein in costs and, in its own framing, preserve the scheme's social licence for future generations.

The Gillard-era program supports more than 770,000 Australians with disability and is expected to cost $54bn this financial year. Without intervention, the government forecast the NDIS would cost the budget more than $100bn a year by the mid-2030s. The bill aims to bring the number of participants down to around 600,000.

“The government's concern is that a scheme that has too much fraud; is much larger than it was ever intended to be; is projected to cost more than $100bn a year by the middle of next decade; and doesn't always deliver the quality of service that we would expect for people with disability is a scheme that is at risk of losing its social licence.” Minister McAllister

How the bill got through the Senate

To pass, the government needed a deal with either the Coalition or the Greens. With the Greens ruled out, it introduced 63 amendments on the Tuesday afternoon and passed the bill that evening.

A major criticism from the Greens, crossbenchers and disability advocates concerned a ministerial power to apply broad reductions in funding to whole categories of support, regardless of an individual's circumstances. The clearest example: every participant's social and community participation budget — the funding typically used to pay for a support worker to accompany someone to job or social programs — will be cut by 50% from October.

The other amendments worth knowing

• Clarifying the level of care expected from a parent, to determine when additional care should be provided through the NDIS.
• Allowing prospective participants to continue receiving other compensation while awaiting an access decision.
• Requiring more transparency from the NDIA on debt recovery.
• Defining what undertaking “all appropriate treatment” before applying to the scheme actually means for applicants.

New fraud and integrity offences

The bill adds new criminal and civil charges for fraud and integrity breaches. These include banning kickbacks used to influence the choice of one provider over another, providing misleading information, and intentionally destroying records.

The timeline

The sharpest tension in all of this is one of sequencing: the 2028 eligibility test that will remove access for a quarter of a million people has not yet been designed, while the October funding cuts land well before anyone can see what that test will look like.

What NDIS providers should do now

• 1
  Map your renewal and reassessment dates The 50% cut bites at the moment a plan is renewed or reassessed from October — not on a single national switchover date. Know which participants hit that point first.
• 2
  Flag every participant on 24/7 support If a reduction leaves their funding short of round-the-clock care, the plan variation window is only 90 days from reassessment or renewal. Missing it is costly.
• 3
  Move to three-year record retention Records of services claimed must now be kept for three years. Shift notes, timesheets and claim evidence need to be retrievable, not scattered across spreadsheets and inboxes.
• 4
  Tighten provider integrity controls With new criminal and civil offences covering kickbacks, misleading information and record destruction, referral and record-keeping practices deserve a fresh review.
• 5
  Plan for a smaller participant base Under-9s move toward Thriving Kids from October, and the 2028 test reshapes eligibility again. Model what both mean for your service mix and staffing.