Portfolio — 22 April 2026

Minister for the NDIS Jenny McAllister announced a sweeping package of structural reforms to the scheme on 22 April, with the centrepiece target of reducing the participant base from 760,000 to approximately 600,000 by 2030 and cutting annual cost growth from roughly 10 per cent to 2 per cent [TA-260422-ndis-c5552d3db3a2]. The scale of the ambition is significant: the scheme has already grown well past the Productivity Commission's original projection of 550,000 participants, and the minister framed that deviation explicitly as the rationale for intervention [TA-260422-ndis-c5ef801e3079].

The reforms rest on three structural pillars. First, eligibility assessment moves from diagnosis-based criteria to functional capacity evaluation — applicants will need to demonstrate significant and permanent disability with support needs warranting scheme access, with a Technical Advisory Group to develop the methodology in consultation with the disability community [TA-260422-ndis-be24557fd7c8].

This is the reform most directly implicated in the participant reduction target, and the minister's decision not to specify a timeline for reassessing the existing 760,000-strong participant base will be the focus of sustained scrutiny. Second, mandatory provider registration will extend to almost all scheme providers, with 90 per cent of scheme spending projected to flow through registered providers once arrangements are finalised; plan management oversight will be tightened to address integrity gaps including unauthorised provider diversions and inappropriate claiming [TA-260422-ndis-fe4feb9aa7a8].

Third, the annual budget for social and community participation activities will be cut from approximately $31,000 per participant to $26,000 within two years, offset by a new Inclusive Communities Fund to support sports, arts and other community programs accessible to people with disability [TA-260422-ndis-c5552d3db3a2].

Across multiple media appearances on the day, McAllister acknowledged that reassessments of current participants will eventually occur but declined to commit to a timeline, emphasising instead that implementation will proceed in consultation with the disability community and state and territory governments [TA-260422-ndis-be24557fd7c8]. The minister's consistent framing — that the reforms restore the scheme to its original design intent rather than diminish it — represents the government's key political positioning as it enters what will be a contested implementation phase.

The gap between the announced functional assessment regime and the unspecified reassessment schedule is the most consequential ambiguity in the package as released.