On 22 April 2026, NDIS Minister Mark Butler stood up at the National Press Club in Canberra and announced the biggest re-design of the National Disability Insurance Scheme since it began. If you’ve been hearing about it on the news, on Facebook, or from your support worker, you probably have one big question — what does this mean for me?

We’ve read the announcement, the speech, the policy paper, and the early commentary from disability sector leaders. Here is the calm, plain-English version for our SESI clients and families.

The short version

  • The Government wants 160,000 fewer people on the NDIS over the next four years (taking it from around 760,000 today down to roughly 600,000 by the end of the decade).
  • It plans to do this mainly by changing who can get on the scheme in the first place, not by kicking large numbers of existing participants off.
  • A new way of testing eligibility is coming. It will look at how much your disability affects your day-to-day life (called your “functional capacity”) rather than what your diagnosis is.
  • The big eligibility changes don’t start until January 2028. Until then, the way you apply or stay on the scheme is largely the same.
  • Some plan-budget changes start sooner — from 1 October 2026 — for certain support categories, but the Government says critical care and everyday living supports won’t be touched.

That’s the headline. Now let’s unpack what it actually means for the people we support.

Why is this happening?

The NDIS has grown faster than anyone planned for. Costs have roughly doubled since 2019, and Treasury and the Productivity Commission have been warning for some time that the trajectory isn’t sustainable. The Minister has called the changes “hard” but “unavoidable and urgent.”

Whether you agree with that framing or not, the practical reality is that reform is now on the way — and being prepared is better than being surprised.

What’s actually changing — in plain English

1. Eligibility will be based on “functional capacity,” not diagnosis

Today, having a recognised diagnosis on the NDIS Access Lists (for example, certain levels of autism, intellectual disability, or psychosocial conditions) is often the gateway to getting on the scheme.

From January 2028, those Access Lists will be removed. Instead, a standardised assessment tool — the Government has flagged the I-CAN Support Needs Assessment as the likely candidate — will be used to measure how much your disability reduces your ability to do everyday things like:

  • Showering and dressing
  • Eating and drinking
  • Moving around your home and community
  • Communicating and interacting with others
  • Managing your routines and your safety

If the assessment shows a significant reduction in functional capacity, you’ll be eligible. If it shows a mild or moderate reduction, you may not be — and you may be directed to other “mainstream” supports instead (like school-based supports, community health, or the upcoming Thriving Kids program for children).

2. The threshold to get on the scheme is going up

The Conversation gave a useful example: today, a child with Level 1 autism who has challenges with social interaction and self-care has a reasonable chance of accessing the NDIS through early intervention. Under the new rules, that same child may need to demonstrate needs closer to Level 3 autism — for example, real difficulty dressing or eating without help, or coping with changes to routine — to qualify.

This doesn’t mean lower-needs children won’t get any support. But it does mean the support is more likely to come through schools, community services, and the new federal–state foundational supports, rather than through an individual NDIS plan.

3. Psychosocial disability — what we’re watching closely

This part matters a lot to many of the people we support at SESI.

Psychosocial disabilities — the impairments that come with mental health conditions like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, complex PTSD, or severe depression — have always been harder to assess than physical disabilities. They can be fluctuating (good days and bad days) and episodic (well for months, then unwell for weeks). A standardised, point-in-time assessment can easily miss what your disability is really like across a year.

Sector commentators have already flagged this as one of the biggest risks of the new model. Our position at SESI is simple: we will help our psychosocial recovery clients build the kind of evidence trail — across good days and difficult ones — that gives any future assessment a true picture.

4. Existing participants — what to expect

This is the question we’ve been getting most often, so let’s be clear:

  • Your current plan does not change today. It runs until its review date.
  • The new functional-capacity eligibility rules start being applied from January 2028, and they roll out gradually as plans come up for renewal — not all at once.
  • From 1 October 2026, some budget categories may be tightened — particularly Increased Social and Community Participation and Capacity Building – Improved Daily Living. The Government has said this will not affect supports needed for critical care and everyday living.
  • Plan rollovers are ending and unspent funds will no longer roll over from one plan to the next. So if you’ve been “saving” funding for later, talk to your support coordinator about using it well within your current plan period.
  • The NDIA is also tightening the rules around unscheduled plan reassessments (where a plan is reviewed early). It says these are happening too often.

5. New applicants — what to expect

If you’re thinking of applying:

  • Until January 2028, the current rules still apply. Don’t delay an application you were already planning.
  • After that date, expect the focus of your application to be on functional impact — concrete examples of what your disability stops you from doing, how often, and how much help you need to do it.
  • Reports from your GP, psychiatrist, OT, psychologist, or support coordinator will still matter — but they’ll need to describe function, not just diagnosis.

What we’re doing at SESI

We’ve been preparing for changes like this for some time. Here’s what’s already underway:

  • Training our support workers on what “functional capacity” means in practice, so the language we use in shift notes and progress reports is consistent with what the new system will be looking for.
  • Working with our recovery coaches and support coordinators to make sure our psychosocial-disability clients have evidence that captures the full picture — not just snapshots of “good days.”
  • Continuing core supports — personal care, community access, life-skills development, travel and transport, household tasks — exactly as they are today. None of these are disappearing.
  • Watching the policy detail closely — including the Government’s Technical Advisory Group, which is expected to design the assessment tool over the rest of 2026 and 2027.

What you can do right now

You don’t need to do anything urgent. But three small things will help:

  1. Keep a simple “what I need help with” diary. Even a few lines a week — what was hard, what support you needed — builds a strong record of functional impact.
  2. Use your current plan well. With unspent funds no longer rolling over, talk to your support coordinator or recovery coach about whether your plan is being used in the way that gives you the most benefit.
  3. Talk to us if anything changes for you — your health, your living situation, your supports — so we can update your records and your goals.

We’re here for the questions

The 2026 changes are big. They are also slow-moving — most of the eligibility detail won’t take effect for almost two years, and a lot of the design work still has to happen. There’s plenty of time to ask questions, plan, and adjust.

If you, your family, or your guardian want to talk through what this announcement means for your plan or your application — in English or in any of the languages our team speaks (including Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam, Mandarin, Persian, Farsi, Dari and several others) — please get in touch.

📞 1800 017 374

✉️ admin@sesi.com.au

🌐 sesi.com.au

Sources we read for this article

This article is general information only. It is not legal or financial advice. For decisions about your specific plan or eligibility, please speak with us, your support coordinator, your LAC, or the NDIA directly.

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