NDIS Support Budgets Are Changing From 1 October 2026: What Participants Need to Know
Some NDIS support budgets are about to change, but the change does not mean every participant will lose half of their NDIS plan on 1 October.
From 1 October 2026, the Australian Government will begin progressively resetting funding allocations for two particular areas of NDIS supports:
- Social, Economic and Community Participation supports
- Improved Daily Living Skills supports
The current government guidance says affected budget allocations will be reduced by:
- 50% for Social, Economic and Community Participation supports
- 10% for Improved Daily Living Skills supports
Those percentages are significant, but understanding when they apply, which supports are affected and which supports are excluded is important before assuming what they mean for an individual plan.
The short version: the changes begin progressively from 1 October 2026 for new plans and plans that are reassessed. Plan renewals begin being affected from 1 February 2027. Participants can continue using their existing plan and supports until their plan is changed. Only the specified support areas are subject to this particular reset, and some supports within those areas are excluded.
What is changing from 1 October 2026?
The change is a reset to funding allocations for two support areas.
| Support area | Current announced change |
|---|---|
| Social, Economic and Community Participation | Affected budget allocations will be reduced by 50% when the funding reset applies. |
| Improved Daily Living Skills | Affected budget allocations will be reduced by 10% when the funding reset applies. |
| Other parts of the participant's plan | They are not subject to this particular support-budget reset simply because these changes commence. |
The government describes this as a funding reset that will be introduced progressively over a 12-month period.
It is therefore important to distinguish between:
a reduction to an affected budget allocation
and:
a reduction to the participant's entire NDIS plan.
They are not the same thing.
Does everyone's NDIS plan change on 1 October?
No.
An existing participant does not simply wake up on 1 October with their current plan automatically reduced.
Current government guidance says participants can continue using their existing plan and supports until the relevant plan change occurs.
The timing depends on how the participant's next plan is created, reassessed or renewed.
When will the changes apply?
| Situation | When the funding reset begins to apply |
|---|---|
| New participant receiving a new plan | From 1 October 2026 when the new plan commences. |
| Existing participant whose plan is reassessed | From 1 October 2026 when the reassessed plan commences. |
| Existing participant whose plan is renewed | Plan renewals begin being affected from 1 February 2027. |
The changes are intended to be introduced progressively across relevant participant plans through to 30 September 2027.
That means two people with similar support categories may experience the change at different times depending on when their plan is created, reassessed or renewed.
What happens if I already have a current plan?
Continue using your current plan in accordance with your plan and the NDIS rules.
The NDIA has said participants can continue using their current plans and supports until the plan is reassessed or renewed.
There is no need to treat 1 October itself as an expiry date for the funding already shown in an existing plan.
What does a 50% reduction actually mean?
The 50% figure applies to affected budget allocations for Social, Economic and Community Participation supports.
It does not mean every participant's whole plan will be cut by 50%.
It also does not necessarily mean the participant's actual historical use of those supports will fall by exactly 50%.
For example, a person may have had a larger allocated budget than the amount they were actually using.
If that allocation is reset, the difference between previous real-world spending and the new available budget may therefore be smaller than the headline percentage.
For another participant who was using most or all of the affected allocation, the practical difference could be much larger.
This is one reason the effect will vary significantly between participants.
What about the 10% Improved Daily Living Skills reduction?
The same distinction applies.
The announced reduction is to affected Improved Daily Living Skills budget allocations.
Not every support that happens to sit within a broad category will necessarily be affected.
Current government guidance specifically provides that some support subgroups considered important to health, safety and wellbeing are excluded from the reset.
Which supports are not affected by this particular change?
The government and NDIA have stated that other parts of participant plans are not being reduced by this specific funding reset.
Examples currently identified as unaffected include supports such as:
- help with eating and drinking;
- help with dressing and toileting;
- laundry and cleaning supports;
- community nursing care;
- help with medication;
- home modifications;
- vehicle modifications;
- personal mobility equipment;
- transport;
- some disability-related health supports;
- employment supports;
- some high-intensity supports;
- some intensive and complex behaviour supports;
- Specialist Disability Accommodation;
- certain disability-related consumables identified in current government guidance.
This is not a reason to assume that every support outside the two affected headings is automatically funded.
The ordinary NDIS rules still apply to individual purchases and supports.
Does this mean low-cost assistive technology funding is being cut by 50%?
No blanket rule like that has been announced.
This particular change targets funding allocations for Social, Economic and Community Participation supports and Improved Daily Living Skills supports.
Whether a particular assistive technology product can be purchased using a participant's NDIS funding remains a separate question.
That still depends on matters such as:
- whether the item is an NDIS support under the current rules;
- whether it relates to the participant's disability support needs;
- whether it fits their current plan and available funding;
- how their funding is managed;
- whether a replacement-support approval is required in the circumstances.
A product does not become claimable simply because it is useful, and these October budget changes do not automatically make an otherwise eligible assistive technology product ineligible.
What does “NDIS Claims Ready” mean at LowCost AT?
LowCost AT uses the term NDIS Claims Ready for products where we have prepared product information, NDIS guidance and invoicing documentation to help participants, nominees, support coordinators and plan managers assess and submit a claim.
It does not mean that an item is “NDIS approved”, automatically funded or guaranteed to be claimable.
The participant's individual disability-related needs, plan, available funding and the current NDIS rules still determine whether a purchase is appropriate.
Should I rush to spend funding before my plan changes?
A funding reset is not a reason to buy products or use supports simply to exhaust the remaining balance.
NDIS funding should continue to be used for appropriate NDIS supports that relate to the participant's needs and comply with the rules that apply to the plan.
If you were already planning an assistive technology purchase, it may be useful to understand when the participant's current plan ends or is due for reassessment.
But timing should not replace the underlying question:
Is this an appropriate support for this participant?
What happens during a reassessment?
If an existing participant's plan is reassessed after 1 October 2026, the NDIA will consider the participant's current circumstances and support needs through the reassessment process.
The funding reset will then apply to the affected support allocations in the reassessed plan.
The participant should be told how much affected funding has been reduced when they receive the reassessed plan.
Plan reassessment rules themselves also changed recently.
Read: NDIS Plan Reassessments Changed – What Participants Need to Know
What if my support needs have genuinely changed?
The new budget reset does not remove the ability to seek a plan change when circumstances or support needs have significantly and continually changed.
Participants can still request a plan variation or an unscheduled reassessment where the applicable requirements are met.
Examples of significant changes may include changes to:
- functional capacity;
- support needs;
- living arrangements;
- education or employment circumstances;
- available informal supports.
The appropriate pathway depends on the individual circumstances.
Can I appeal the funding reset itself?
The NDIA has stated that the support-budget reduction itself is not a reviewable decision.
That should be distinguished from other decisions made about an individual participant.
For example, current government guidance provides review rights for certain decisions made through the separate high-support-needs plan variation pathway.
If you receive a decision notice, read it carefully because the review rights available depend on the specific decision that has been made.
What is the high-support-needs safeguard?
A separate plan variation pathway is being introduced for eligible participants who rely on funded 24-hour disability supports.
The purpose is to address situations where the funding reset would otherwise leave an eligible participant without enough funding to maintain the 24-hour disability supports required for their safety.
Eligibility is subject to specific criteria.
This is not a general mechanism for restoring any reduction in Social, Economic and Community Participation or Improved Daily Living Skills funding.
Current government guidance also says that an eligible variation can only increase funding to the extent required to maintain the participant's necessary 24-hour disability support arrangements.
Will participants be told before their plan changes?
Yes, current government guidance says participants will be notified ahead of their relevant reassessment or renewal.
When the new or reassessed plan is provided, participants should also be told how much funding in the affected support areas has changed.
What about plan renewals?
The renewal phase starts later.
From 1 February 2027, the funding changes will begin being applied through plan renewals for relevant participants who have not already had the change applied through a new or reassessed plan.
The broader implementation is intended to occur progressively through to 30 September 2027.
What happens with the new way of planning?
The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing says participants will begin gradually transitioning to the new NDIS planning framework from 1 April 2027.
The October funding reset described in this article applies under the existing planning arrangements.
According to current government guidance, the reset will not apply to new framework plans once a participant transitions to that new planning model.
Further information about new framework plans is expected as implementation progresses.
Does this change the NDIS support lists?
Do not treat the October budget reset and the NDIS support rules as the same thing.
They answer different questions.
Budget question
How much funding is available in a particular part of the participant's plan?
Support question
Is the particular product or service an NDIS support the participant can appropriately purchase using their funding?
A participant may have enough money in a budget but still need to determine whether the proposed purchase is an NDIS support.
Equally, something may meet the rules as an NDIS support but the participant may not have sufficient appropriate funding available in their current plan.
What should participants do now?
A practical checklist
- Check your current plan dates. Know when your plan is due for reassessment or renewal.
- Keep using your current plan normally. The change does not automatically rewrite an existing plan on 1 October.
- Identify whether you currently receive funding in the affected support areas.
- Watch for correspondence from the NDIA. Participants should be notified before the relevant reassessment or renewal.
- Keep information about genuine changes in support needs up to date. A significant and ongoing change may justify a separate plan-change request.
- Do not make unnecessary purchases simply to use remaining funding.
- Check current NDIS rules before purchasing assistive technology.
- Ask for help if the new plan is difficult to understand. Depending on the participant, this may include their nominee, plan manager, support coordinator, advocate or other appropriate support.
What should plan-managed participants do?
If your funding is plan-managed, your plan manager can help you understand the available budget shown in your current plan and process appropriate claims.
A plan manager cannot make an otherwise ineligible purchase become an NDIS support, and they cannot override an NDIA funding decision.
When a new or reassessed plan begins, make sure everyone working from the plan is using the current funding information.
Read: Plan-managed NDIS – How to Buy Assistive Technology
What about self-managed participants?
Self-managed participants remain responsible for ensuring purchases are appropriate NDIS supports and fit their plan and funding.
The October changes do not remove that responsibility.
When a new plan takes effect, use the funding amounts in the new plan rather than relying on balances or assumptions from the previous plan.
Read: Self-managed NDIS – How to Buy and Claim Assistive Technology
What about NDIA-managed participants?
NDIA-managed participants continue to use the applicable registered-provider and claiming pathways.
A change in the amount allocated to a particular support area does not remove the ordinary requirements around provider registration, support eligibility and claiming.
Read: NDIA-managed NDIS – How to Buy Assistive Technology
Why the percentages can be misleading without context
The headline numbers are:
50% and 10%.
But those figures do not tell you, by themselves, how much an individual participant's total plan will change.
The actual effect depends on factors including:
- whether the participant receives funding in the affected areas;
- how much of their plan is in those areas;
- whether some supports within those areas are excluded;
- how much funding they were actually using;
- when their plan is created, reassessed or renewed;
- their individual support needs and circumstances.
For one participant, the affected categories may represent a large proportion of their plan.
For another, they may represent a relatively small proportion.
That is why individual plan information matters more than applying the headline percentages to the total plan amount.
What does the Government say is the reason for the change?
The Australian Government says funding for Social, Economic and Community Participation and Improved Daily Living Skills supports has grown significantly and is funded at a higher level than comparable support programs.
It says the reset is intended to make funding more consistent with other programs and support the long-term sustainability of the NDIS.
Those are the Government's stated reasons for the reform.
For participants, the practical question is how the rules will apply to their own plan and supports.
What LowCost AT customers should take from this
If you are purchasing low-cost assistive technology, avoid assuming either of these statements is automatically true:
"The October changes mean I can no longer buy assistive technology."
or:
"My assistive technology funding is unaffected, so anything I buy will still be claimable."
Neither conclusion follows automatically from the budget reset.
Instead, check:
- the participant's current plan;
- which funding area is being used;
- the current NDIS support rules;
- the disability-related purpose of the item;
- whether any replacement-support approval is required;
- the participant's funding-management arrangement.
Buying assistive technology with NDIS funding?
LowCost AT provides NDIS Claims Ready product information and invoicing documentation to help participants, nominees and plan managers assess appropriate purchases. Funding is never automatically guaranteed simply because a product is sold by an NDIS registered provider.
Using your NDIS funding with LowCost AT Contact LowCost ATThe most important dates
| Date | What it means |
|---|---|
| 1 October 2026 | The funding reset begins applying to new participant plans and plans reassessed under the current planning arrangements. |
| 1 February 2027 | The reset begins applying through relevant plan renewals as well. |
| 1 April 2027 | The government says participants will begin gradually transitioning to new framework planning. |
| 30 September 2027 | The current funding-reset implementation period is intended to have progressed across relevant plans by this point. |
Our practical recommendation
Do not make decisions based only on the words “50% reduction”.
First find out whether the participant actually has funding in an affected support area and when their current plan is due to change.
Then read the new plan when it arrives.
Look at what funding has actually changed, what has remained available and whether the participant's support needs themselves have changed.
For assistive technology purchases, continue assessing the individual support against the participant's needs, plan and the current NDIS rules.
The change starts on 1 October, but it does not happen to everyone on the same day
The new funding reset is significant, particularly for participants who rely heavily on affected Social, Economic and Community Participation or Improved Daily Living Skills funding.
But it is being introduced progressively.
Existing plans are not all being automatically rewritten on 1 October.
Other parts of participants' plans are not subject to this particular reset, and some supports within the affected categories are specifically protected.
The best starting point is therefore the participant's own current plan, their next reassessment or renewal date, and the official information they receive from the NDIA.
NDIS purchasing information Contact LowCost ATFrequently asked questions
Are all NDIS plans being cut by 50% from 1 October 2026?
No. The 50% reduction applies to affected budget allocations for Social, Economic and Community Participation supports. A separate 10% reduction applies to affected Improved Daily Living Skills allocations. It is not a 50% reduction to every participant's entire NDIS plan.
Does my existing NDIS plan change automatically on 1 October?
No. Current government guidance says participants can continue using their current plan and supports until the relevant plan is created, reassessed or renewed.
When do the NDIS budget changes start?
The changes begin applying from 1 October 2026 to new plans and reassessed plans. Plan renewals begin being affected from 1 February 2027. The changes are being introduced progressively over a 12-month period.
Which NDIS support budgets are being reduced?
The announced reset applies to Social, Economic and Community Participation supports and Improved Daily Living Skills supports. Some support subgroups within those areas are excluded.
How much is Improved Daily Living Skills funding being reduced?
Current government guidance says affected Improved Daily Living Skills budget allocations will be reduced by 10% when the funding reset applies.
Are essential daily supports also being reduced?
The government says this particular reset will not affect other parts of participant plans and has identified a range of excluded supports, including many essential in-home supports, home and vehicle modifications, personal mobility equipment, some disability-related health supports and Specialist Disability Accommodation.
Does this mean NDIS funding for low-cost assistive technology is being cut by 50%?
No blanket 50% reduction to low-cost assistive technology has been announced. This funding reset applies to two specified support areas. Whether a particular assistive technology purchase can be claimed remains dependent on the participant's plan, available funding, disability-related needs and the current NDIS support rules.
Can I request a plan change if my needs have changed?
Yes. Participants can still request a plan variation or unscheduled reassessment where there has been a significant and ongoing change in their functional capacity, support needs or circumstances and the applicable requirements are met.
Can I review or appeal the funding reset?
The NDIA states that the funding reset itself is not a reviewable decision. Other individual decisions may have different review rights. For example, current guidance provides review rights for certain decisions under the high-support-needs plan variation pathway.
Should I spend my remaining funding before my plan is reduced?
A future funding change is not a reason to make unnecessary purchases. NDIS funds should continue to be used for appropriate supports that meet the relevant rules and relate to the participant's disability support needs.
What happens to the reset when new framework planning starts?
Current government guidance says participants will begin gradually transitioning to new framework planning from 1 April 2027, and that this particular funding reset will not apply to new framework plans once a participant transitions to that planning model.
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