NDIS rules: public consultation on new framework
Submission Date: 26 March 2026
The Law Council of Australia provided a submission to respond to the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing’s consultation on the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Rules and new framework planning.
In 2024, amendments were made to the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (Cth) (NDIS Act) by the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Getting the NDIS Back on Track No. 1) Act 2024 (Cth) (Amendment Act). Information about how the changes will work will be outlined in new NDIS Rules.
The amendments were in response to a 2023 Independent Review into the NDIS which found that the NDIS planning process was confusing, frustrating and even traumatic for participants,1 and that there were particular issues arising from a lack of clarity around what supports should be considered as “reasonable and necessary”, and consequently what could be funded under an NDIS plan.
While the criteria for “reasonable and necessary” supports had been intentionally broad to provide sufficient flexibility to tailor supports for the individual, this had the unintended consequence of creating inconsistent and inequitable decisions about funding.2
The proposed new framework planning process subject to the consultation is intended to implement certain recommendations from the 2023 Independent Review to enable fairer, more consistent, and person-centred budget determinations. The Law Council supports this intent. However, we hold concerns that the new framework planning process may not achieve this in practice.
1 Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Working Together to deliver the NDIS - Independent Review into the National Disability Insurance Scheme (Final Report, 2023) 26.
2 Ibid.
Last Updated on 10/04/2026
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