The abilityNEWS Daily
Parliament has now passed laws permitting the most dramatic change ever to the NDIS. That story is now over complete. Over the coming year, abilityNEWS will focus on how this re-drafting of how the NDIS will be implemented. together with differing interpretations of what these changes actually mean, by politicians, the department, the NDIA, and us all!
UpDate
As we press send, the Bill is still awaiting Royal Assent. That’s a formality. Governor General Sam Mostyn will sign this into law later today.
The NDIA says participants should continue using their plans as usual. Some administrative changes will begin immediately, reductions to social and community participation funding will phase in from October, and new framework planning is expected from April next year.
Implementation has already begun. A consultation opened on 19 August on planning rules. Drafts of all eight framework-planning rules are promised later this year.
The unresolved risk is what sits outside the Scheme. Queensland says it still lacks basic definitions and service detail for Thriving Kids. Health Minister Mark Butler says the state must get ready. Regional advocates in Western Australia warn moving children to schools and community services means moving to nothing if services don’t exist.
Protections were secured for participants needing continuous care and for specialist disability accommodation. Huge problems will emerge if alternative services don’t exist before support is reduced.
Gov Info
Different support: Health Minister Mark Butler told the Today Show people moved from the NDIS would receive different support, often group-based and organised by state-funded bodies. He said those systems would operate when the new eligibility rules begin in 2028, after the interviewer asked whether some people would be worse off.
Source: Mark Butler | Minister for Disability and the NDIS
Queensland holdout: Butler said every jurisdiction except Queensland had agreed a Thriving Kids implementation plan and promised alternative services would operate before access changes begin. He acknowledged considerable work remains for children over nine and adults with low-to-moderate needs, while a technical group develops the functional assessment.
Source: Mark Butler | Minister for Disability and the NDIS
Smaller Scheme: NDIS Minister Jenny McAllister told ABC Hobart the Government expects participant numbers to fall from about 760,000–770,000 to 600,000 after reform. She said access rules will not change before January 2028 and people leaving the Scheme should use mainstream or new foundational supports.
Source: Jenny McAllister | Minister for the NDIS
Reform timetable: The NDIA has published a staged timetable beginning seven days after Royal Assent, when new reassessment and record-keeping rules start. Social and community participation budgets begin resetting from October, while the new access assessment starts in January 2028.
Law timetable: The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing says Parliament passed the NDIS Amendment Bill on 19 August, awaiting Royal Assent.
Planning consultation: The Department has opened consultation on new framework planning and NDIS supports, with feedback due by 14 October.
School failures: A Tasmanian parliamentary inquiry found discrimination, bullying and harassment remain persistent across schools and disproportionately affect students and staff with disability. Its 55 findings and 33 recommendations call for better data, reasonable adjustments, policy implementation and participation by families and external carers.
Source: Parliament of Tasmania
The Briefing
Community grief: People with Disability Australia says the Bill passed despite extensive evidence of foreseeable harm to people with disability, families and carers. It expects hundreds of thousands of people to lose access and says it will document the consequences as the changes are implemented.
Source: People with Disability Australia
Easy Read: Inclusion Australia has published an Easy Read account of what happens after Parliament’s vote. It explains the October social and community participation changes, the additional pathway for some people needing continuous care, and the organisation’s continuing concern about rules that remain unwritten.
Source: Inclusion Australia
Safeguards incomplete: Every Australian Counts says community advocacy secured protections for some continuous-care, complex-support and review decisions. It argues the Bill still allows scheme-wide funding decisions to override individual need and says people with disability must shape the coming rules and support determinations.
Source: Every Australian Counts
Help after cuts: Every Australian Counts has also published a practical guide to advocacy, internal review, the Administrative Review Tribunal and legal help. It advises participants to retain every decision and plan, check deadlines and seek independent advice early if funding, eligibility or supports change.
Source: Every Australian Counts
No amendment: First Peoples Disability Network says none of the 32 final Senate amendments was written specifically for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with disability. It says 63,000 First Nations participants face the changes and will judge implementation against three public tests.
Source: First Peoples Disability Network
Automation warning: ACOSS says expanded automated decision-making could repeat the conditions that produced Robodebt when discretion and evaluative judgement are required. It welcomed some late protections but says ministerial powers over funding and supports still create a serious risk of harm.
Carer burden: Carers Australia says the reforms rely on unpaid carers absorbing support gaps without a guarantee that replacement services will be operating first. It warns working carers may reduce paid hours and already exhausted families face faster burnout.
Source: Carers Australia
Nutrition risk: Dietitians Australia warns reduced access to skilled feeding and nutrition support can lead to choking, malnutrition, dehydration and avoidable hospital admission. It says the average participant who used a dietitian received fewer than five hours of support in the six months to December 2025.
Housing safeguard: The Specialist Disability Accommodation Alliance welcomed protection of SDA funding from support determinations and the new variation pathway for some participants needing continuous care. It wants an accessible implementation roadmap and clear information about services for people expected to leave the Scheme.
Exercise support: Exercise & Sports Science Australia says the reforms may narrow the Scheme while allied health remains under-recognised in disability service delivery. It argues accredited exercise physiologists should remain visible in implementation because their work supports function, independence and participation.
The Wrap
The NDIS is undergoing a major overhaul. This is what the changes could mean for you
Guardian Australia explains the staged changes, including the October social-participation reduction, the high-support variation pathway and the 2028 eligibility test. It places those measures against the plan to reduce participant numbers from more than 770,000 towards 600,000.
Source: Guardian Australia | Paywall: No
'Left feeling like a burden': How the government's new NDIS changes may impact you
SBS News combines the legislative timetable with participant and advocate concerns about functional assessment, social participation and the absence of replacement services. The report is a participant-facing explainer published after final parliamentary passage.
Source: SBS News | Paywall: No
How will the NDIS changes impact you?
AUDIO: SBS’s seven-minute report hears from People with Disability Australia and explains how the functional-capacity test and support reductions may operate. The audio treatment adds an advocate’s direct account to the network’s separate written explainer.
Source: SBS News | Paywall: No
NDIS: Mark Butler challenges Queensland to “get its act together”
The Australian reports Butler accusing Queensland of delaying Thriving Kids while state minister Amanda Camm says key definitions and services remain unclear. Disability advocates say children ageing out of the program and people outside its scope could be left without support. Summary based on visible public preview only.
Source: The Australian | Paywall: Yes
NDIS change: What landmark reforms mean for autistic children
The Australian examines what the overhaul means for autistic children and the unresolved funding contest around Thriving Kids. It links the promised $10 billion foundational-support agreement to the 2028 eligibility changes and argues delivery, not passage, is now the hard part. Summary based on visible public preview only.
Source: The Australian | Paywall: Yes
Government calls reforms to NDIS “essential” – but key organisations express alarm, devastation and distress
Croakey contrasts the Government’s sustainability case with detailed responses from First Nations, disability, mental-health, carer, nutrition, housing and criminalised-women organisations. Its compilation shows that the post-vote dispute has shifted to implementation, substitute services, automation and who absorbs withdrawn support.
Source: Croakey Health Media | Paywall: No
South West and Great Southern WA local news briefing, August 19, 2026
An ABC regional briefing reports Advocacy WA’s warning that Thriving Kids could leave country children without support because schools and community services lack capacity. The disability item is one part of a broader local news briefing, but it supplies a distinct regional consequence.
Source: ABC News | Paywall: No
Patients abandoned and staff jobless after Nightingale Home Care folds
The Geelong Advertiser reports that the sudden collapse of Nightingale Home Care affected more than 300 clients and workers, including people receiving disability, palliative and dementia support. The NDIA said it was helping affected NDIS participants find continuity of care. Summary based on visible public preview only.
Source: Geelong Advertiser | Paywall: Yes
Report finds bullying, discrimination and harassment 'real and persistent’ problems in Tasmanian schools
ABC News reports the Tasmanian inquiry’s 33 recommendations and evidence that students and staff with disability are disproportionately affected. It also examines the report’s findings about discrimination in faith-based schools and uneven policy enforcement.
Source: ABC News | Paywall: No
Parliamentary inquiry finds bullying and discrimination persistent across Tasmanian schools
Pulse Tasmania reports that the inquiry received 294 submissions and heard 47 witnesses before concluding the problems were structural rather than isolated. Its local treatment highlights the disproportionate effect on students and staff with disability.
Source: Pulse Tasmania | Paywall: No
Tasmanian schools inquiry: Catholic Education accused of discrimination
The Mercury focuses on the inquiry’s findings concerning Catholic Education Tasmania while noting wider recommendations for students with disability and gender-diverse students. The treatment adds an institutional accountability angle to the parliamentary report. Summary based on visible public preview only.
Source: The Mercury | Paywall: Yes
Virgin Australia apologises to disability advocate removed from flight over wheelchair motor
Guardian Australia reports that Virgin acknowledged it failed its own service standards after Shane Hryhorec was removed from a flight. Hryhorec says he will keep his Australian Human Rights Commission complaint open until the airline demonstrates systemic change.
Source: Guardian Australia | Paywall: No