The new NDIS law has passed
There's a lot of noise about NDIS reform right now, and a lot of it is being sold to providers as settled fact when it isn't, and some of it is now settled fact that providers still haven't been told about. Here's the honest version, with the dates read from the Act itself.
What the Act does, and when
The National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Act 2026 passed Parliament on 19 August 2026 and received Royal Assent on 20 August 2026. It changes the NDIS Act 2013 in stages. The dates below are the commencement dates written into the Act itself.
| Commences | What the Act says commences then |
|---|---|
| 20 August 2026In force | Formal and transitional provisions |
| 27 August 2026In force | The NDIA gains monitoring and investigation powers and can issue compliance notices, infringement notices and seek enforceable undertakings · new offences for knowingly giving false or misleading information (ss 59A, 59AB) and for obtaining payments that are not payable (ss 59AC, 59AD), and an offence for concealing or destroying a record the Act requires you to keep, but only where that is done to defraud or to obstruct an audit or investigation (s 59AE) · a new section 45B, under which a provider must keep records relating to claims and the provision of supports for 7 years from the claim, but only records of a kind the rules prescribe, and no such rules have been made · a new definition of “NDIS provider” (s 10C), which now catches anyone receiving NDIS amounts other than as a participant, and lets the rules exclude classes of person · a new framework for assessing functional capacity · only a participant, their nominee or a child's representative may request an unscheduled plan reassessment |
| 1 October 2026Not yet in force | Ministerial support determinations (budget resets for social/community participation and capacity-building daily activities, applied as plans are reassessed or renewed) · plan suspension provisions |
| 20 November 2026Not yet in force | The offence for kickbacks or inducements commences. It is not in force before this date. |
| 1 December 2026Not yet in force | Claims for NDIS amounts must be made within 90 days of the support being provided (down from 2 years), with an exceptional-circumstances discretion |
| 1 February 2027Not yet in force | Legislated plan end dates and renewals, with no carry-over of unspent funds · new factors for reasonable and necessary supports |
| 20 February 2027Not yet in force | Before recovering a debt the NDIA must give an initial notice setting out how the debt arose and what it is, with at least 14 days for a provider to respond in writing (28 days for anyone else), then a debt determination notice saying whether it will recover and why (new section 182A). The small-debt threshold rises from $200 to $500. It applies to debts arising on or after that date. |
| 1 July 2027Not yet in force | Whistleblower protections commence. They are not in force before this date. |
| 1 January 2028Not yet in force | Changes to the permanence test and to eligibility where other services are available |
| By proclamation (by 1 September 2028 at the latest)Not yet in force | Registered plan-management provider panel; plan managers may not provide other supports |
Checked against the published Act and the NDIS Commission’s website on 8 September 2026. Section 45B's seven-year duty bites only on records of a kind the rules prescribe, and no such rules have been made, so nothing is caught yet. The seven years run from the claim, not from the rules, so keep your claim records anyway.
Separately, and already in force
Providers of supported independent living and NDIS digital platforms have had to be registered since 1 July 2026, and a provider that was delivering SIL before that date must lodge its registration application before 1 October 2026. Lodged, not approved.
Announced, but not yet made
These are real proposals from government, and some of them are funded. None of them is law, and nobody, us included, can tell you today exactly who they will catch.
- Announced, not lawWhich record *kinds* section 45B catches. The section is in force, but it only applies to a record “of a kind prescribed by the National Disability Insurance Scheme rules”. Those rules have not been made, so today the duty catches nothing. When they are made, the seven years will run from the claim, which is why we tell clients to keep claim records now rather than wait.
- Announced, not lawThe 2027 expansion of mandatory registration, and the list of supports it covers. The list has not been published. The Department has given personal care, daily living supports and supports in closed settings as examples. Funding is not law and an example is not a list.
- Announced, not lawThe Practice Standards Review outcomes. Under way; nothing made.
- Announced, not lawA claim-documentation threshold. Discussed in explanatory material; no rule made.
If a compliance provider tells you any of the above is a current obligation, that tells you something useful about how carefully they check the rest of their advice.
Two things we'd want to know if we were you
If you're a plan manager: the Act creates an NDIA panel for registered plan-management providers, commencing by proclamation and no later than 1 September 2028, and stops panel plan managers providing other supports. We'd think hard before signing anyone, us included, to a long compliance contract without factoring that in.
If you claim late: from 1 December 2026 a claim must be made within 90 days of the support being provided. That is not a paperwork change; it is a cashflow change, and the work to be ready for it is measuring your claim lag now.
We'd rather tell you this and sell you less. It's the same reason our prices are on the website.
What's still only a consultation
The NDIA is consulting until 31 October 2026 on whether to commission part of the SIL market for participants needing 24/7 supports. No decision has been made. Consultation is also open on expanded differentiated pricing for unregistered providers and the Inclusive Communities Fund.
What this page is
General information, checked against the published Act and the NDIS Commission's website on the date shown below. What it is not: legal advice. If a change affects your obligations, speak to a lawyer, and speak to us about what your documents need to say.
Last verified: 8 September 2026. We re-check this page monthly, and on every commencement date in the table above. Sources: Federal Register of Legislation, search the 2026 Act by title · NDIS Practice Standards Rules, compilation C06 (F2026C00527) · NDIS Commission, mandatory registration · Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. About the changes to the NDIS