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Artificial intelligence is no longer a future issue for Australia’s disability sector and the AI in the NDIS Summit has been designed to help providers respond with practical action.

NDIS providers are under pressure from workforce shortages, compliance demands, tighter margins and rising expectations around participant outcomes. In this environment, AI quickly becomes an operational question rather than a theoretical one.

The event focuses on how AI can reduce administrative pressure, strengthen decision-making and support better services without losing the human relationships at the centre of care.

Attendees at the event (held on Friday 24 July at ICC Sydney) will hear from sector
leaders, see live demonstrations will be held to show how AI can be used personalised 90-day implementation roadmap offered for participants to take back to their organisation.

[continue reading on the abilityNEWS website]

Bottom line: The Budget surplus now has the NDIS stamped across it. The PBO says the return to surplus depends on historically large Scheme savings and annual growth falling below 2 per cent after averaging 18.7 per cent over the past five years. At 10 per cent growth, the surplus disappears.

Why this matters: Everything affects the bottom line. The PBO projects the cost of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme will rise from $23.4 billion in 2026–27 to $33.9 billion in 2036–37. NDIS expenditure rises from $53.7 billion to $75.3 billion. Both programs are recognised as vital, but both keep growing.

Oh, and there’s the cost of the submarines as well. Oh, and there’s Jim Chalmers’ prediction the budget will return to surplus. Something’s got to give, but the Budget depends on making the NDIS grow far more slowly than its recent history.

Meanwhile Health Minister Mark Butler insists that the individual’s right to choose and control the care they receive is still the central philosophy behind the NDIS. Joshua Ruff’s case exposes the qualification: family-paid care is expected to be exceptional and temporary, and the minister says he cannot direct the NDIA.

In regional Australia, the line between “family care” and a functioning support market can disappear. The same market failure sits behind Summer Foundation’s warning that SDA buildings may work while shared onsite support does not.

Data Watch: Summer Foundation says reliable shared support could reduce individual assistance by two hours a day for between 2,000 and 5,000 SDA tenants, producing estimated annual savings of $100 million to $256 million. That’s the modelling; quality, trust and provider-viability issues must be solved first.

PBO says projected Budget surplus depends on historically large NDIS savings

The Parliamentary Budget Office says the projected return to surplus from 2034–35 relies heavily on the Government’s $37.8 billion in four-year NDIS savings and around $170 billion less projected NDIS expenditure by 2035–36, warning that Scheme spending has grown by an average 18.7 per cent annually over the past five years and that continued 10 per cent growth would prevent a surplus during the medium term.

Source: Parliamentary Budget Office

Butler says regional NDIS participants may receive more leeway on family-paid supports

During a broader ABC Central Victoria interview, Mark Butler said choice and control remained central to the NDIS, family-paid supports should generally be exceptional and temporary, regional participants could receive more leeway where providers were scarce, and he would seek advice about Joshua Ruff’s loss of self-management; Butler also said Victoria’s Thriving Kids blueprint gave child and maternal health nursing a significant role.

Source: Health Minister — ABC Central Victoria transcript

Butler wants threatened MS medicines to remain on the PBS

During a broader Bendigo healthcare press conference, Butler said he wanted two medicines used by Australians living with multiple sclerosis to remain on the PBS and was awaiting urgent advice after the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee met their manufacturers.

Source: Health Minister — Bendigo press conference

$311 million Support at Home thin-market grants round opens

Eligible providers can apply for more than $311 million in 2026–27 funding to maintain rural, remote, specialised and culturally responsive Support at Home services, with applications closing on 26 November 2026.

Source: Department of Health, Disability and Ageing

Summer Foundation says SDA buildings are working but shared support is not

Summer Foundation says unreliable shared onsite support, low tenant confidence and an economically fragile provider model are undermining the independence promised by the SDA 10+1 apartment model, and it will develop and test a new operational blueprint with tenants and providers.

Source: Summer Foundation

PWDA calls for enforceable disability rights in NSW

People with Disability Australia says NSW needs a strong Human Rights Act that expressly protects CRPD rights, requires government to consult affected communities and gives people accessible ways to challenge breaches and seek remedies.

Source: People with Disability Australia

Provider explainer: support coordination and SIL funding

Rise has published participant guidance explaining how support coordinators can help gather evidence, explore housing arrangements, connect participants with SIL providers, monitor budgets and prepare for plan reviews.

Source: Rise

Chalmers' budget surplus rests on 'unrealistic' assumptions

The Parliamentary Budget Office says the projected 2034–35 surplus depends on unprecedented restraint in NDIS spending, a shrinking public service and record taxes. This means NDIS growth must fall below 2 per cent, despite averaging 18.7 per cent over the previous five years.

Source: Australian Financial Review | Paywall: Yes.

The tax bill for working Australians is in the mail – and it’s growing

The May Budget improves the projected fiscal position, but the surplus is built on an additional $336 billion in personal income tax, cuts to the public service and historically large NDIS savings. The PBO says the Budget would not return to surplus if annual NDIS growth remained at 10 per cent.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald | Paywall: Likely.

Surplus versus tax cuts part of Jim Chalmers budget dilemma

The Australian says Chalmers will be forced to choose between further income-tax relief and preserving a projected surplus that depends on ambitious NDIS savings, reduced public-service spending and bracket creep. The PBO describes the assumed NDIS growth path as challenging and says similar future income-tax cuts would make a medium-term surplus unlikely without other policy changes.

Source: The Australian | Paywall: Yes. Summary based on visible public preview.

‘Fantasy land’: Chalmers’ promised budget surplus will ‘never ever’ happen

Former Victorian Liberal Party president Michael Kroger has dismissed the Government’s projected surplus as “fantasy land” following the PBO report. The opinion segment responds to projections that depend partly on unprecedented restraint in NDIS expenditure and substantial reductions in public-service costs.

Source: Sky News Australia — opinion video | Paywall: Unknown.

Legal action dropped against Ann Marie Smith's NDIS provider Integrity Care

The NDIS Commission discontinued Federal Court proceedings against Integrity Care after the former provider was deregistered as a company; the Commission had accused it of failing to provide safe and competent services and take reasonable steps to prevent neglect.

Source: ABC News — Adelaide | Paywall: No

Woman strangled by wheelchair lap belt due to staff shortage, court hears

A South Australian inquest has heard Christine Wyld, who had Huntington’s disease, was left unsupervised before slipping from her wheelchair and being strangled by its lap belt, with staff shortages, unclear worker allocation and the condition of her wheelchair among the issues under examination.

Source: ABC News — courts | Paywall: No

'I lost a normal childhood': What it's like being a young carer

Young carers describe missing school, losing friendships and undertaking personal care, household work, medication management and NDIS advocacy, while calling for schools and the wider community to better recognise their responsibilities.

Source: ABC News — lifestyle | Paywall: No