NDIS Reform Bill passed: what changed and what it means for people with cerebral palsy

Updated August 2026

The National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 has passed Parliament and become law, following a number of amendments made during the parliamentary process. The Parliament of Australia Bill page records that the Senate agreed to 32 Government amendments on 18 August 2026 and that the Bill’s third reading was agreed to in the Senate on the same date. The House agreed to the Senate amendments on 19 August and the Bill received Royal Assent on 20 August 2026. The Parliament record confirms those dates.

The Bill makes changes to the NDIS Act, including changes relating to eligibility, functional capacity, plan reassessments, reasonable and necessary supports, plan end dates, fraud and integrity measures, and governance arrangements.

Cerebral Palsy Australia recognises that many people with cerebral palsy, families and supporters are concerned about what these reforms may mean in practice. While the Bill has now passed, many of the detailed rules, guidance and implementation arrangements are still to be developed.

What changed before the Bill passed?

A number of amendments were made before the Bill passed. The Australian Government’s final changes fact sheet says the amendments were made following further feedback from people with disability, families, advocates and organisations, and were intended to fight fraud, strengthen scheme integrity and make changes clearer for participants.

Some of these amendments relate to concerns raised by participants, families and disability organisations. They include changes about reassessments, protections for people with very high support needs, recognition of impacts on families and informal supports, debt recovery safeguards, provider conduct and fraud and integrity measures.

Changes to reassessments and review rights

The Bill clarifies when participants can request an unscheduled plan reassessment. The Government fact sheet says this includes circumstances where there have been significant and ongoing changes to a participant’s functional capacity and support needs, or significant and ongoing changes to living, education, work or informal support arrangements.

The amendments add that if the NDIA has not made a decision on a reassessment request within 90 days, the request is treated as refused. This gives participants access to review rights, rather than needing to keep reapplying while waiting for a decision.

Disability organisations and advocates raised concerns that participants could be left waiting extended periods for decisions on reassessment requests. The amendment provides a pathway for participants to seek review if a decision has not been made within 90 days.

The amendments also clarify that changes in living, education, work or informal support arrangements do not need to be “unanticipated” for a participant to request an unscheduled reassessment. This means a foreseeable change may still support a reassessment request if it is significant and ongoing.

For people with cerebral palsy, this is important because support needs can change across the life course, including during transitions in education, employment, living arrangements, informal supports, health and ageing.

Protections for people with very high support needs

The Bill allows the Minister to make support determinations for specified groups of supports. These determinations may affect the amount of funding available for some supports and can set funding limits or maximum amounts for particular support categories. The Government has stated that support determinations are intended to be used for some support categories, including community participation and capacity building supports.

Before the Bill passed, amendments were made to clarify how support determinations would operate and who they would apply to. The Government’s fact sheet states that these amendments are intended to safeguard against risks to participant health and safety for people who require continuous 24-hour disability-related care.

The amendments create a new plan variation pathway for participants who require continuous 24-hour disability-related care. If a support determination applies following a plan reassessment or renewal, eligible participants may request a plan variation within 90 days. The Government says the NDIA will be able to vary a participant’s plan where necessary to ensure their 24-hour disability-related support needs continue to be met.

The amendments also exclude some supports from support determinations, including:

high intensity supports
complex behaviour supports
customised and wearable technology
hearing supports

For some people with cerebral palsy, this may be relevant where they rely on supports such as high intensity supports or customised assistive technology that fall within the categories excluded from support determinations. The amendments mean these supports are excluded from support determinations established under the Bill.

Recognition of impacts on families and informal supports

The amendments include changes relating to how family and informal supports are considered when decisions are made about reasonable and necessary supports.

The Government’s fact sheet says the amendments clarify what may be considered ordinary parental responsibility for a child with disability, including supervision, personal care, transport, emotional support and behavioural support. It also states that this does not include the additional support a child requires because of their disability compared with children of a similar age without disability.

The amendments also require the NDIA to consider the risk of harm to informal supports, family relationships and informal networks if a support is not funded.

The amendment does not guarantee that a support will be funded. However, it requires the NDIA to consider potential impacts on family members, informal supporters and support networks when making support decisions.

For people with cerebral palsy, informal supports may include parents, partners, siblings, grandparents, friends and other unpaid supporters who assist with daily activities, transport, communication, advocacy, community participation or care. Changes to funded supports can have a significant impact not only on the participant, but also on those people and relationships.

For many people with cerebral palsy, family members and informal supporters play an important role throughout different stages of life. These amendments recognise that support decisions may have broader impacts beyond the individual participant.

Other amendments made before the Bill passed

The final amendments also include a number of fraud, integrity and administrative changes.

These include:

restrictions on provider inducements and kickbacks, where these are likely to influence a person to engage, maintain or increase use of a provider’s services
new or strengthened offences relating to false or misleading information, obtaining NDIS funds by deception, intentionally destroying records and misuse of a nominee position
improved whistleblower protections
additional debt recovery safeguards, including mandatory notification of debt and an opportunity for participants and providers to respond
an increase in the low-value debt waiver threshold from $200 to $500
clarification that participants and providers may provide alternate evidence of services received if they have not kept records in the required format.

What did Cerebral Palsy Australia advocate for?

Cerebral Palsy Australia made a submission to the Senate inquiry into the Bill. Our submission supported the long-term sustainability and integrity of the NDIS, while highlighting the need for safeguards for people with lifelong and evolving disabilities such as cerebral palsy.

Our submission focused on:

recognising cerebral palsy as a lifelong disability with support needs that may change over time
ensuring people can seek reassessment when needs change
maintaining flexibility in planning and funding
ensuring people with complex or overlapping support needs are not disadvantaged
establishing clear and consistent approaches to functional capacity assessment
ensuring safeguards around decision-making processes.

CPA’s advocacy has extended beyond the formal submission process. People with lived experience of cerebral palsy, including members of the CPA Board, Advisory Panel and broader community, have engaged with parliamentarians and policymakers throughout the reform process to share their experiences and perspectives.

These conversations have helped ensure that the voices of people living with cerebral palsy have been part of the discussion as the reforms have been considered.

Some of the amendments made before the Bill passed relate to issues raised by participants, families and disability organisations during the parliamentary process, including reassessment rights, high support needs and the impact of support decisions on families and informal supporters. While some amendments responded to these concerns, many details of how the reforms will work in practice remain subject to future rules, guidance and implementation arrangements.

What remains uncertain?

Although the Bill has passed, many practical details are still to be developed.

This includes:

how functional capacity assessments will work
how new framework planning will operate
how foundational supports will be designed and delivered
how support determinations will be designed and applied in practice
what evidence participants may need during future reassessments
how support needs linked to multiple conditions or systems will be assessed
how the reforms will affect people with lifelong and complex disabilities over time.

Cerebral Palsy Australia will continue to engage with government, the NDIA and the disability sector as these reforms are implemented.

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