NDIS Budget Resets from October 2026: What Changes and What Does Not

Home » NDIS Budget Resets from October 2026: What Changes and What Does Not

Many people have been calling them the NDIS budget resets. The NDIA’s own word is now plainer: its update, first published on 17 September 2026 and updated on 1 October 2026, says that starting from 1 October, some NDIS support budgets will change over the coming 12 months, and that the change reduces budgets in two support categories. It has also published which support categories are affected, which supports inside them are protected, and when the change reaches your own plan. This guide sets all of that out in the NDIA’s words, and what to do before your next reassessment.

Every fact below comes from two NDIA pages: the Securing the NDIS for future generations page, and the NDIA news item Changes to support budgets from 1 October. We link both, so you can check any of it in a few minutes.

NDIS budget resets: quick summary

The NDIA calls it a reduction. Its reform page says support budgets for social, economic and community participation supports and improved daily living skills “will be reduced as participants’ plans are reassessed or renewed”.
Two support categories are affected. The NDIA names them as Social, Economic and Community Participation, and Improved Daily Living Skills.
Some supports inside those categories are protected. The NDIA says supports in employment, disability-related health supports, high intensity supports, intensive and complex behaviour supports, customised and wearable technology, and hearing services won’t be affected.
Essential day-to-day supports are not affected, including help with eating, drinking, dressing, toileting, laundry, cleaning, nurse care and medication. The NDIA has now published a list of the supports not affected.
There are two dates, not one. Reductions apply from 1 October 2026 when a plan is reassessed or a new plan is approved, and from 1 February 2027 when a plan is renewed, over a 12-month period.
It is not a reviewable decision. But you can still ask for a plan reassessment or a plan variation if your circumstances change.
Plans can still go up. The NDIA says plans may go up and down as needs change over time, and that this is not related to the reform changes.
Plan suspensions started on 1 October 2026, and they are a separate change worth knowing about.

What the NDIS budget resets actually change

The NDIA’s reform page now carries the heading “Support budget reductions”. It says support budgets for social, economic and community participation supports and improved daily living skills will be reduced as participants’ plans are reassessed or renewed.

Its news item, updated on 1 October 2026, names the two support categories: Social, Economic and Community Participation, and Improved Daily Living Skills. It says the budget reductions will be applied as plans are created or reassessed from 1 October 2026, or renewed from 1 February 2027.

In your own plan, the capacity building category appears under the name improved daily living, which is how the NDIA’s capacity building page lists it. Our guides to core supports and capacity building supports explain how support budgets and categories fit together, so you can find which of your funding sits in the affected areas.

The NDIA’s update does not put a number on how much any one plan moves. In its words, the impacts of this change will be different for every participant, because every NDIS plan is based on individual goals, circumstances and support needs.

What the NDIS budget resets do not touch

This is the part worth reading twice. The NDIA has published protections in two places, and they overlap:

Protected from the reduction	Where the NDIA says so
Help with eating and drinking	Reform page (“will not impact funding for”)
Education supports	Reform page
Employment supports	Reform page, and the NDIA update
Disability related health supports	Reform page, and the NDIA update
High intensity supports	NDIA update
Intensive and complex behaviour supports	NDIA update
Customised and wearable technology	NDIA update (added 1 October 2026)
Hearing services	NDIA update (added 1 October 2026)

Sources: NDIA, Securing the NDIS for future generations, page current as at 1 October 2026; NDIA news, Changes to support budgets from 1 October, first published 17 September 2026 and updated 1 October 2026.

The same update adds that other parts of participant plans will not be affected. It lists essential day-to-day supports such as help with eating, drinking, dressing, toileting, laundry, cleaning, nurse care, medication, home and vehicle modifications, personal mobility equipment and specialist disability accommodation.

The NDIA has now published the full list: List of supports not affected by the budget reductions, a spreadsheet of 98 support items in the two affected categories, each with its support item number, so you can match it against the supports in your plan. It has also published an Easy Read guide to the budget reductions.

When the NDIS budget resets reach your own plan

Here is where most of the anxiety comes from, and it is the easiest thing to clear up. 1 October 2026 is not the day every budget changes. The reductions are applied as each plan is reassessed or renewed, over a 12-month period, on two triggers:

From	What applies the reduction
1 October 2026	When a plan is reassessed, or a new plan is approved.
1 February 2027	When a plan is renewed.

So the date that matters to you is not in the news. It is on your plan. If your plan reassessment falls next March, that is when this reaches you.

One term is worth knowing, because it arrives in February 2027 too. A plan renewal will replace what the NDIA currently calls a plan continuation. When a plan is due to be reassessed, it will either be reassessed by an NDIA planner, or a new plan will be created with the same supports as the old one. Unspent funds from the previous plan will not be carried over, which the NDIA states directly. Our guide to the new NDIS laws sets out every start date in the reform package.

You cannot seek a review of the reduction, but you can ask for a change

The NDIA says this change isn’t a reviewable decision. It also says participants can still request plan changes, including a plan reassessment or a plan variation, if their circumstances change.

That applies where there has been a significant and ongoing change to your

ability to complete daily activities
living arrangements
education or employment circumstances
available informal supports.

The reform page adds that all participants can continue to request a change to their plan where there is a significant change in their functional capacity or circumstances, and that in the meantime, “plans may go up and down as participants’ needs change over time. This is not related to the reform changes.”

The NDIS budget resets change how much certain categories hold. They do not close the door on asking for what you need.

If you need 24-hour disability support, there is a specific pathway

The NDIA has now set out a new plan variation pathway for participants with high support needs who need 24-hour disability support. Its update says you can ask it to vary your plan if both of these apply:

your total budget for Assistance with Daily Life, Home and Living, and Assistance with Social, Economic and Community Participation is at or above the threshold the NDIA has set (the amount is in its update), and
you receive 24-hour funded NDIS supports for support needs arising directly from the impairments you access the NDIS for.

The NDIA’s What is an NDIS plan page says you need to ask within 90 days of your plan being approved with budget reductions. If it varies your plan, it may increase funding for specific supports so you can keep accessing 24-hour disability supports, and the increase won’t be more than the budget reduction that was applied.

Ninety days passes quickly in a difficult month. If this applies to you or someone you support, put the date somewhere you will see it, and start the conversation early rather than at day 80.

Plan suspensions started on 1 October 2026

This is a separate change that started on the same day, and it has nothing to do with budgets. From 1 October 2026, the NDIA has the ability to suspend a plan if a participant doesn’t respond to requests for information.

The page sets the safeguard. Suspension will only happen after the NDIA has made reasonable attempts to contact you, which it defines as attempting to contact you, your nominee or authorised representative at least 5 times over a 3 to 4 month period, using your preferred contact method.

The practical step is simple: check that the NDIA has your current phone number, email and postal address, and that any nominee details are right.

What to do before your next reassessment

Because the NDIS budget resets reach you at your reassessment or your renewal, that meeting becomes the moment that counts.

Find your next reassessment date. Everything above hangs on it, and it is on your plan.
Look in your plan for the funding that covers social and community participation, and for improved daily living. Those are the areas the reductions are aimed at, so they are the parts of your plan to ask about.
Check whether your supports fall in a protected group, such as employment, disability-related health, high intensity, intensive and complex behaviour supports, customised and wearable technology or hearing services. The NDIA’s list gives each unaffected support its support item number, so you can check yours.
Keep evidence of what you use and why. If a support is working, the record of it working is what a reassessment reads.
Check your contact details with the NDIA, given the new suspension power.
Track your spending. Our guide to NDIS funding periods explains how funding reaches you across a plan.
If your circumstances have changed, say so and say how. A significant and ongoing change in daily activities, living arrangements, education or employment, or informal supports is what the NDIA says it may consider.

How to check any of this yourself

Open the NDIA’s Securing the NDIS for future generations page.
Find “Changes from October 2026” and the heading “Support budget reductions”. The affected supports, the four protected ones, the two dates, the 24-hour pathway and the plan suspension rule are all in that section.
Scroll to the bottom and check the “This page current as of” date. The version behind this guide is current as at 1 October 2026.
Open the NDIA news item Changes to support budgets from 1 October for the two category names, the further protected supports, the list of supports not affected, and the high support needs pathway.
For how your budgets and categories fit together, read the NDIA’s pages on core supports and capacity building supports.

Frequently asked questions

Will my NDIS funding be cut in October 2026?

The NDIA says some support budgets will change over the coming 12 months, with reductions in two categories: Social, Economic and Community Participation, and Improved Daily Living Skills. The reduction is applied when your plan is created, reassessed or renewed, not on one date for everyone, and the NDIA says the impact will be different for every participant.

Which supports do the NDIS budget resets affect?

The two categories above. Within them, the NDIA says supports in employment, disability-related health supports, high intensity supports, intensive and complex behaviour supports, customised and wearable technology, and hearing services won’t be affected. Its reform page also protects help with eating and drinking, and education supports.

When exactly does my own plan change?

From 1 October 2026 if your plan is reassessed or a new plan is approved. From 1 February 2027 if your plan is renewed. The rollout runs over a 12-month period, so the date that matters is your plan date.

Can I ask for a review of the reduction?

The NDIA says the change isn’t a reviewable decision. You can still request a plan reassessment or a plan variation if your circumstances change, and it lists the kinds of significant and ongoing change it may consider.

Can I still ask for more funding?

Yes. All participants can continue to request a change to their plan where there is a significant change in their functional capacity or circumstances, and the NDIA says plans may go up as well as down as needs change.

What if I need 24-hour disability support?

The NDIA has set out a new plan variation pathway for participants with high support needs. You can ask for a variation if your total budget for Assistance with Daily Life, Home and Living, and Assistance with Social, Economic and Community Participation is at or above the NDIA’s threshold, and you receive 24-hour funded NDIS supports. Ask within 90 days of your plan being approved with budget reductions.

What is a plan renewal?

From February 2027, when a plan is due to be reassessed, either an NDIA planner reassesses it or a new plan is created with the same supports as the old one. The NDIA calls that a plan renewal, and it replaces what it currently calls a plan continuation. Unspent funds from the previous plan will not be carried over.

Are there two different 90-day rules?

Yes, and they are unrelated. The first is the window for a high support needs participant to apply for a plan variation after a support determination applies to them. The second starts on 1 December 2026: the reform page says claims must be submitted within 90 days of delivering a support, which we explain in our guide to the NDIS 90 day claim rule. If you self-manage, you make your own claims, so this one applies to you. The NDIA’s how to make a claim page currently gives you 2 years.

Can the NDIA really suspend my plan?

Yes, since 1 October 2026, but only if you do not respond to requests for information, and only after reasonable attempts to contact you. The NDIA defines that as attempting to contact you, your nominee or your authorised representative at least 5 times over a 3 to 4 month period, using your preferred contact method.

How much will the NDIS budget resets change my budget by?

The NDIA’s update does not give a number. It says the impacts will be different for every participant, because every NDIS plan is based on individual goals, circumstances and support needs.

Does this change what my plan manager or coordinator does?

Not directly, although the reassessment becomes more important. If you are choosing support, our guide on how to choose an NDIS plan manager covers the questions the NDIA itself says to ask.

How Centre of Hope can help

Centre of Hope is a registered NDIS provider in New South Wales. We provide support coordination, and with the NDIS budget resets a reassessment is exactly where coordination earns its place: knowing what is in your plan, what you have used, and what evidence supports the supports you want to keep.

Our approach starts with your goals, and we tell you plainly what the evidence supports. If your reassessment is coming up and you want someone to work through it with you, get in touch.