Changes to existing NDIS Rules
The Government is proposing changes to several of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Rules to improve participants’ experience of the NDIS.
On this page
- What has led to the changes
- Have your say on amendments to two Rules
- Have your say on updates to three Rules
- Learn more about out of date Rules for repeal
What has led to the changes
The 2019 independent review of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (NDIS Act) found that some changes to the existing NDIS Rules could be made to benefit participants.
Broadly, these amendments would increase flexibility for participants, assist those with psychosocial disability to access the NDIS, enhance participants’ choice and control by reducing potential conflict of interest in the service provider market, and better align the operation of the NDIS with the policy decisions of all the Governments who contribute to and manage the Scheme.
The review also recommended assessing all the NDIS Rules to ensure they work for an NDIS that is truly national. This means that parts of the Rules that are out of date will be removed.
Read more:
- The NDIS Act review report for the full recommendations and the reasons for them
- A plain English summary of the NDIS Act review report
- The Government’s response to the NDIS Act review report
- Easy Read summary of the report, recommendations and response.
Have your say on amendments to two Rules
Two existing NDIS Rules are being presented for public consultation, as the changes proposed are significant and represent a shift in policy.
These Rules are the:
- National Disability Insurance Scheme (Plan Management) Rules 2013 – the Plan Management Rule
- National Disability Insurance Scheme (Becoming a Participant) Rules 2016 – the Becoming a Participant Rule
The Plan Management Rule
The Plan Management Rule sets out how participants’ plans are to be managed. This includes how and when NDIS amounts are paid, how supports are specified, how we assess risks to participants who manage their own funding, and what the grace period is when participants are temporarily absent from Australia.
The changes to this Rule will provide better safeguards for managing the risks for those self-managing their funding, and address potential conflicts of interest and abuses of power by providers (recommendations 16b and 19 of the 2019 review of the NDIS Act).
Read more about the Plan Management Rule.
You can have your say on the Plan Management Rule by making a submission.
The Becoming a Participant Rule
The Becoming a Participant Rule sets out what factors the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) considers when someone wants to become a participant and makes an access request. These factors relate to the age, disability and residency criteria under the NDIS Act.
The changes to this Rule improve guidance for how the NDIA considers access for people with psychosocial disability (recommendation 8 of the 2019 review of the NDIS Act), and remove outdated transitional provisions.
Read more about the Becoming a Participant Rule.
You can have your say on the Becoming a Participant Rule by making a submission.
Have your say on updates to three Rules
Three existing NDIS Rules are being replaced with new versions that reflect clearer and more appropriate legislative drafting (recommendation 27 of the 2019 review of the NDIS Act). These updates provide more clarity but do not change the meaning of the underlying legislation.
These Rules are the:
- National Disability Insurance Scheme (Children) Rules 2013
- National Disability Insurance Scheme (Nominee) Rules 2013
- National Disability Insurance Scheme (Specialist Disability Accommodation) Rules 2020.
The Children and Nominees Rules provide guidance about the circumstances under which another person may act or make decisions on behalf of an individual child or adult who is an NDIS participant.
The Specialist Disability Accommodation Rules provide guidance on matters relating to the funding of Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) for participants under the NDIS and the requirements with which NDIS providers who provide SDA must comply.
The changes do not affect policy and will have no impact on participants.
You can have your say on the updates to these Rules by making a submission.
Learn more about out of date Rules for repeal
The NDIS replaced a series of state and territory based programs of disability support. To make it easier for those people to gain access and receive supports under the NDIS as the Scheme rolled out, a number of Rules were created which set out the criteria for facilitating transfer from a state and territory program into the NDIS.
Now that the NDIS has been rolled out across every state and territory, the Rules created to help people transition into the NDIS are no longer needed. These Rules will be repealed later in 2021 as part of the suite of legislative reforms (recommendation 27 of the 2019 review of the NDIS Act).
The redundant Rules from the transition period that will be repealed are the:
- National Disability Insurance Scheme (Facilitating the Preparation of Participants’ Plans—Australian Capital Territory) Rules 2014
- National Disability Insurance Scheme (Facilitating the Preparation of Participants’ Plans—New South Wales) Rules 2016
- National Disability Insurance Scheme (Facilitating the Preparation of Participants’ Plans—Queensland) Rules 2016
- National Disability Insurance Scheme (Facilitating the Preparation of Participants’ Plans—South Australia) Rules 2014
- National Disability Insurance Scheme (Facilitating the Preparation of Participants’ Plans—Tasmania) Rules 2016
- National Disability Insurance Scheme (Facilitating the Preparation of Participants’ Plans—Victoria) Rules 2016
- National Disability Insurance Scheme (Facilitating the Preparation of Participants’ Plans—Western Australia) Rules 2014
- National Disability Insurance Scheme (Facilitating the Preparation of Participants’ Plans—Northern Territory) Rules 2016
- National Disability Insurance Scheme (Prescribed Program—Western Australia) Rules 2018
- National Disability Insurance Scheme (Prescribed Programs—New South Wales) Rules 2016.
Two other NDIS Rules have become redundant and will also be repealed later in 2021.
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (Registered Providers of Supports) Rules 2013 will no longer be needed because the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission will provide for the registration of all NDIS providers from 1 July 2020 under its own Rules and authority.
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (Timeframes for Decision Making) Rules 2013 will no longer be needed as all timeframes for NDIA decision-making will now form part of the new Participant Service Guarantee Rule.
The Government is not consulting on the proposal to repeal these Rules, as there will be no impact on participants or providers.