What does the 2024 NDIS changes mean for your evidence?
The NDIS has changed more than once since 2024, and if you feel like you can barely keep up, that reaction is fair. A law passed in 2024 changed how the NDIA explains its access decisions and set out a longer term shift in how plans get built. In May 2026, the government introduced a second, much larger bill that touches who can access the Scheme, how funding decisions get made, and how those decisions can be reviewed. It hasn’t passed. It’s a real, live process, and if it has added to your uncertainty rather than settled it, that makes sense: it isn’t settled yet, for anyone. This guide focuses on what the 2024 Act changed, because that’s the part with clear, confirmed facts to work from.
What the 2024 NDIS changes actually are
The law behind the changes is the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Getting the NDIS Back on Track No. 1) Act 2024. It passed Parliament on 22 August 2024, and most of its changes started from 3 October 2024. The Act followed the independent NDIS Review, and the NDIA describes its development as the result of tens of thousands of hours of consultation with people with disability and the sector around them.
A few changes were already switched on. There is now a clearer legal definition of what counts as an “NDIS support,” intended to make funding decisions more consistent. New and reassessed plans also come with funding periods, meaning your budget is released in stages, often three months at a time, rather than all at once, so it lasts the full length of your plan.
The two changes that matter most for your evidence are a new kind of access letter called a Notice of Impairments, and a longer-term move toward a different way of planning. Both deserve a closer look, because neither is as simple as “nothing changes for you.”
Notice of Impairments: clearer, but with a catch
From 1 January 2025, people newly found eligible for the NDIS receive a Notice of Impairments alongside their access decision. Existing participants are meant to get one too, but the NDIA has only said this will happen “over time,” without committing to a date. If you already have a plan, a notice may not land for a while yet.
The notice sets out which of six impairment categories the NDIA has recognised as part of your access: intellectual, cognitive, sensory, neurological, physical, or impairments relating to a psychosocial disability. Two people with the same diagnosis can end up with different categories recognised, because the notice is based on functional impairment rather than the diagnosis label itself.
Here is the part that often gets left out of plain-language explainers. The same legislation changed section 34 of the NDIS Act, the “reasonable and necessary” test used to decide what gets funded in your plan. A support now has to be shown to address a need arising from an impairment the NDIA has actually recognised in your access decision. In practice, this means that if you have a co-occurring condition that hasn’t been recorded as one of your recognised impairments, a request for support connected to that condition could be harder to secure, even where the underlying documents describe it clearly. The Act does include a note acknowledging that support needs can be affected by other factors, including impairments that do not meet access requirements on their own, so this isn’t an absolute wall. But it is a real, practical shift, not only a transparency exercise, and it’s worth understanding before a planning conversation.
If a notice looks wrong, or a category seems missing, you or your nominee can ask the NDIA to vary it at any time. If they decline, you can ask for an internal review, and from there an external review through the Administrative Review Tribunal.
A new way of planning is coming
The other big shift is a move toward planning that starts from a structured conversation about your support needs, called a support needs assessment, rather than relying mainly on reports you have gathered yourself.
This part of the reform has already slipped once. In December 2025, the NDIA said it was aiming for the first participants to start on the new approach from mid-2026. By mid-2026, after further consultation, that date had moved to April 2027. It’s a useful reminder that these timelines keep moving, and it’s reasonable to treat any date you read, including this one, as the current plan rather than a promise.
The assessment itself will use a tool called I-CAN v6 (the Instrument for the Classification and Assessment of Support Needs), alongside a questionnaire about personal and environmental circumstances (PECQ). Find more information on assessments in our guide to the new NDIS support needs assessment, I-CAN and PECQ.
The NDIA is currently training assessors to be accredited through a program built with the University of Melbourne and the Centre for Disability Studies. They will hold a structured conversation with you about daily life. Family, carers or support people can come along. Participants with more complex needs may still be asked for reports from treating professionals.
The rollout will be gradual and staged by age and complexity, so many participants will not see any change to their planning process for some time yet. You will still be able to ask for a plan review or reassessment, and you will keep your existing review rights, including access to the Administrative Review Tribunal, throughout.
What this means for the evidence you already hold
Nothing here removes the value of the reports, letters and assessments you already have. The core disability requirements in the NDIS Act, centred on a permanent impairment that significantly affects everyday functioning, have not been rewritten by this Act. If you want a refresher, see our plain-language guide to the NDIS disability requirements. What has changed is that the NDIA is being clearer about which impairments it has recognised, and it is building toward a planning process that relies less on you sourcing new reports.
Two things are genuinely worth doing now. First, if you receive a Notice of Impairments, check it against your own understanding of your impairments and their functional impact, since it may now shape which supports get approved. Second, keep your evidence current and specific about how your impairment affects daily life, not only the diagnosis, because that is the language the reforms are increasingly built around.
If you want a clearer read on how your existing reports and letters sit against the current NDIS requirements, an Evidence Alignment report checks your documents against each impairment category and life area, and shows you where your evidence appears strong and where it could be strengthened. It does not decide your outcome, and only the NDIA can do that. It is just a straight forward a way to see where things stand before you walk into a planning conversation.
For more information, explore our guide on what evidence you need for the NDIS, or the wider MagMindLab guides hub.
What is still being finalised
A few things that we haven’t had had answers on from the NDIA include:
- The exact date existing participants will receive a Notice of Impairments has not been set.
- How “arising from an impairment” will be interpreted for people with multiple, overlapping conditions is still being tested in practice.
- The rules for the new support needs assessment are still not finalised, and the April 2027 start date has already moved once.
- Full transition of all existing participants to the new planning approach is expected to take several years, phased by age group, though the NDIA has not published a single, confirmed end date.
Where a detail isn’t confirmed, it’s better to wait for the NDIA to confirm it than to guess.
You can read the changes straight from the source on the NDIA’s new way of planning page and its frequently asked questions about the legislation. The core disability requirements are on the NDIS disability requirements page.
Frequently asked questions
What law made the 2024 NDIS changes?
The changes come from the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Getting the NDIS Back on Track No. 1) Act 2024. It passed Parliament on 22 August 2024, and some changes started from 3 October 2024. This is general information, not legal advice.
What is a Notice of Impairment?
A document the NDIA sends with an access decision, setting out which of the six recognised impairment categories apply to you. New participants have received one since 1 January 2025. Existing participants will get one eventually, but no date has been confirmed.
Do the 2024 changes mean I need new evidence?
Not automatically. Your existing reports and letters that describe your impairment and its effect on daily life still matter. It is worth checking that your evidence clearly links to a recognised impairment category, since that connection now carries more weight under the reasonable and necessary test.
When does the new way of planning start?
The NDIA’s current plan is to begin from April 2027, later than the mid-2026 timeline it mentioned in December 2025. The rollout will be staged, so many participants will not be affected for some time.
Who decides my NDIS outcome under the new rules?
Only the NDIA. Understanding these changes and checking your evidence against current requirements helps you see where you stand, but it does not guarantee an outcome.