Portfolio — 30 April 2026

Minister for the NDIS Jenny McAllister announced the most significant structural change to Scheme eligibility since its inception: new access thresholds will take effect from 2028, tightening entry to people with significant and permanent disabilities as the Scheme was originally designed to serve [TA-260430-ndis-b3cd491fb413]. The government will run a lengthy consultation process with the disability community and technical experts before the tests are finalised, signalling the 2028 date is a commitment to reform rather than an imminent administrative change.

Existing participants will face plan reassessments against the new thresholds from the same date, though the Minister indicated those clearly within the Scheme's intended cohort will receive a light-touch approach rather than full reassessment scrutiny.

The central policy logic is that the NDIS cannot be made sustainable by eligibility restriction alone — the government must simultaneously build the mainstream service infrastructure that will absorb people who do not meet the tightened threshold. The $10 billion community support commitment made in 2023 is the instrument for this. Of that total, $4 billion funds the Thriving Kids early intervention program for children aged zero to eight, and the remaining $6 billion will be co-funded equally by the Commonwealth and States and Territories to establish alternative services for those who no longer qualify for the NDIS [TA-260430-ndis-b3cd491fb413].

The Minister's framing positions the $6 billion bilateral funding arrangement as a precondition for preventing a service gap — the reform is presented as dependent on states and territories building their own systems in parallel, which introduces a significant intergovernmental execution risk the media release does not address directly.

On fraud and provider conduct, the Minister acknowledged the problem as significant while making a notable distinction: disrupting fraudulent activity returns funds to intended recipients rather than producing savings the government can deploy elsewhere. This framing limits the extent to which enforcement can be offered as a fiscal solution to the Scheme's cost trajectory.

The Quality and Safeguards Commission is expanding its community engagement presence in remote areas, where provider misconduct has been identified as a particular concern.