Now lawHealth & Care Introduced in the House of Representatives, 14 May 2026

NDIS entry rules tighten and fraud checks get tougher

This big law changes who gets into the disability support scheme, what it pays for and how plans are renewed. The Budget says it slows the growth in spending on the scheme by $37.8 billion over four years.

Official name: National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026

Who it affects

• People applying for the NDIS: From 2028 you may be turned away if a treatment could help you, or if another system, like aged care or an injury payout scheme, should cover you.
• People already on the scheme: Some of your money, such as for social and community outings, could be cut by a set share. Your plan may roll over by itself.
• People the agency cannot reach: Your plan can be paused. After 90 days you can be taken off the scheme.
• Disability service providers and plan managers: Plan managers handle the money side of a person's plan. Providers and plan managers face new fines. They must keep records for 7 years, have 90 days to claim and cannot charge above set top prices.
• Families and carers: The law adds new guiding ideas that respect the part family and carers play in a person's life.

NDIS growth missed its target

The National Disability Insurance Scheme pays for support for people with a lasting and serious disability. Call it the disability support scheme. The National Disability Insurance Agency runs it. Call it the agency.

The scheme has grown fast. At its peak in 2022-23, spending jumped 22% in one year. The government had promised to bring yearly growth down to 8% by 1 July 2026. In the 12 months to March 2026 it was 11.3%.

As of 31 March 2026 there were 774,456 people on the scheme. Minister Mark Butler said the changes would bring that to about 600,000 by the end of the decade. Without them, he said, it would grow to well over 900,000.

Two big reviews looked at the scheme. One was the Disability Royal Commission, a large official look into how disabled people are treated. The other was the 2023 NDIS Review, run by experts the government chose. This is the third set of changes in reply to them.

It changes the main law for the scheme, from 2013. The bill has five parts.

The government's own notes on the bill exist only as a short add-on. So this article draws on the bill itself and on the Parliamentary Library's guide to it. The Library works for all MPs and takes no side.

Parliament made 62 changes to the bill along the way. This article tells you about the bill as first brought in.

A new ability test

To get into the scheme, your disability must greatly reduce what you can do. That means things like moving around, talking, learning, looking after yourself or getting along with others. The law calls this functional capacity. Until now the law never said what it means.

The first part of the bill now says what it means. It is what you can do with no help from people, tools or changes to your home. As far as it can, it also leaves out the effect of your surroundings and your life situation.

The minister can make rules on how it is tested, including pass marks. Every state and territory must agree to these rules.

Lists of health conditions used to help people get in. The minister said those lists will be swapped for standard tests.

The government expects the new test to save $9.3 billion over four years.

Limits on plan reassessments

Next, you can only ask for your plan to be looked at again if your support needs have changed in a big and lasting way.

That change must come from a big drop in what you can do because of your disability, or from a new disability. It can also come from a big change you did not expect, in where you live, your school, your work or the help family and friends give. Say the parent who cared for you moves to another state. That could count.

The agency can still start a new check itself. When you ask, the agency can move you to the newer style of plan.

Support must link to disability

The scheme will only pay for support for needs that come straight from the disability that got you in. Before, the law did not have the word "directly".

Cuts to groups of supports

The minister can now make an order that cuts money for a named group of supports by a set share. It applies to older-style plans that start after the order is made.

The cut applies even if it leaves you with less than the full cost of a support the agency has found you need. The minister must think about people's safety.

The order is a detailed rule the minister writes without a new vote. So you cannot appeal it. Parliament can cancel it.

The minister plans to use it first on support for social and community life. This helps people take part in things like choir, sport or trips to the library.

He said average plan spending of about $31,000 would fall to about $26,000. The government says this alone saves $13.2 billion over four years.

The government says these cuts are not meant to touch support needed for health, safety or ongoing care.

Plans that roll over

Older-style plans now get an end date. When it comes, the plan is renewed by itself for 12 months.

The new plan is the same, with two changes. One-off money is dropped. Any cut from a minister's order applies.

Some plans have a check-up date on or before 1 October 2027. That date now counts as the end date. The minister can set the end date for plans with a later date. That can bring it forward.

A rolled-over plan is not a new decision. So there is nothing new to appeal. You can still ask for a review of the first plan.

Reasonable and necessary redefined

The scheme only pays for support that is "reasonable and necessary". The bill changes the main goals of the law. Support must now fit with keeping the scheme able to pay its way in future.

New guiding ideas say people on the scheme pay their own daily living costs. The scheme should also respect the part families and carers play. It should help communities support people on the scheme.

The old section 31 is removed. It said plans should be led by the person and respect their right to run their own life. The Parliamentary Library says those rights words are not found anywhere else in the law.

The minister can also set top amounts of money, how much support, or staff numbers for supports in older-style plans.

Pausing unreachable people's plans

The agency can now pause your plan if it has tried hard to contact you and cannot. It must tell you in writing.

If you get in touch within 90 days, it must act within 28 days. It must either lift the pause or ask you for details.

If your plan stays paused for at least 90 days, the agency can take you off the scheme. You can ask for a review of a pause.

Trying treatment first

The bill changes what a lasting disability means. Your condition only counts as lasting if three things are true. You have had all suitable treatment. Other treatment is unlikely to help much. It will likely last your whole life.

Suitable treatment means treatment backed by good proof. It must truly help and be commonly given in Australia. It counts even if you cannot get it because of the cost or where you live. If there is a medical reason you cannot have it, you count as having had it.

Independent MP Helen Haines said this puts up an extra hurdle for people in country areas. Her change to fix it did not pass.

Other systems come first

The bill adds a new entry test. You may not get into the scheme if another system should support you.

That includes injuries from car crashes or work that an injury payout scheme covers. The minister, with the states, can also name other kinds of help as the right place for some conditions. Examples are aged care or some care for long-term illness.

The Parliamentary Library says this could hit Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. They can get aged care from age 50, but the disability scheme until 65.

Fraud and compliance changes

The second part of the bill rewrites who counts as a provider. It now covers anyone, apart from the agency, who gets scheme money other than as a person on the scheme. Rules can add or take out groups.

The agency gets its own inspectors, with powers to watch and look into providers. It can give out fines without going to court. It can order people to fix things. It can take promises that a court can make them keep.

Ignoring a request from the agency for details can bring a fine set by a court. The fine is 60 penalty units ($19,800).

The agency can make people come and answer questions. It must give at least 14 days' notice.

People on the scheme must keep claim records for 3 years. People who act for them must keep them for 5 years. Providers must keep them for 7 years. Providers can be fined up to 120 penalty units ($39,600) if they do not.

If a paid claim is missing a record it needed, the money can become a debt.

The time to make a claim drops from 2 years to 90 days. Late claims are allowed only in rare cases.

Plan managers handle the money side of a person's plan. They can no longer also provide support, or be linked to a provider that does. They need a signed deal with the agency covering honesty, staff and claims. Running plans without one can bring a fine of 250 penalty units.

Prices and computer decisions

The third part of the bill lets the minister set top prices for scheme supports paid by the agency or a plan manager. The agency will not pay above the cap. Providers must not charge more.

The rules can make providers do things like get a set number of quotes. The agency must give the minister advice on prices.

The head of the agency can use computer programs to make some decisions, such as paying or rejecting claims. Computers can only make judgment calls under clear written rules. Unclear cases go to a person. You keep the same right to a review as for a human decision.

The bill also makes small fixes. The fourth part changes the rules for newer-style plans. For example, money set for a need can be less than the real cost. The fifth part lets the minister make rules for moving to the new system.

Start date

As first brought in, the parts start at different times. Most of the second, third and fourth parts start 7 days after the bill became law. So do the new test, the plan check limits and the direct link rule. Money cuts and plan pauses start on 1 October 2026. The 90-day claim limit starts on 1 December 2026.

Plan renewals and the new "reasonable and necessary" rules start on 1 February 2027. The treatment and other-systems entry tests start on 1 January 2028. The plan manager rules start on a date the government announces, at the latest within 24 months.

The House of Representatives passed the bill on 2 July 2026 with 30 changes. The Senate passed it on 18 August 2026 with 32 government changes. The Senate is the second house of Parliament, which checks bills. The House agreed on 19 August.

The Governor-General signed it into law on 20 August 2026. The Governor-General is the King's stand-in in Australia. It is Act No. 66 of 2026.

How they voted

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

• Bill page on aph.gov.au
• Text of the bill
• Explanatory memorandum
• Bills Digest

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