Billions slashed from NDIS packages as reassessments lead to more cuts

The agency running the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) slashed more than $2.8 billion from participant plans over a 21-month period, documents show, with "ruthless" cuts for whole categories of supports also set to begin from tomorrow.

The figures, from the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) and recently released under Freedom of Information laws, cover participant plans reviewed by the NDIA between July 1, 2024, and March 31, 2026.

The data shows that since mid-2024, the number of plans cut after a reassessment per quarter has been rising, while increases have almost halved.

Of the NDIS plans reassessed between January 1 and March 31 this year, 18,037 were reduced — the most of any quarter since Q1 2024-25.

The 26,998 reassessed plans that increased during the same quarter was by far the lowest return since July 2024.

Briefing documents also show the average number of participant eligibility revocations per week in the first three months of 2026 was 498 — more than quadruple the 116 per week across the same period in 2025.

While $2.83 billion has been cut from reassessed packages since July 2024, $11.11 billion has been paid out across plans that were increased.

The figures align with anecdotal evidence from disability advocates and ABC readers, who have been increasingly reporting sudden cuts to plans, sometimes by staff with little understanding of disability.

Emma Bennison, CEO of Disability Advocacy Network Australia, said it appeared the NDIA was cutting plans long before a generational overhaul of the scheme was passed by the parliament in August.

"This matches what our members have been telling us for some time: plans are being reduced at review, decisions are harder to get changed, and people are coming to advocates when they are already in difficulty," she said.

"It appears the direction was set well before August, and the legislation has locked it in."

Ms Bennison also said increases to reassessed packages did not necessarily indicate the NDIA was being generous to a participant, but that it was correcting an earlier under-assessment.

"Advocates see this every day. People's needs change, informal supports break down, and plans are often written on incomplete information," she said.

In a statement, a NDIA spokesperson said eligibility reassessments have been a normal practice in the NDIS since it began.

"In 2025, the NDIA extended the time-frame from 28 to 90 days to collect information to support a reassessment. As a result, staffing and decision volumes increased," they said.

"It is normal for plans to go up and down as participants' needs change over time. The purpose of many NDIS supports is to build capacity so participants will need less support over time."

The spokesperson said plan changes occurring "through the usual planning process" should "not be confused" with wider government reforms to be introduced gradually over time.

Community supports to be cut

It comes one day before the slashing of a category of funding allowing support workers to take participants to appointments, work and social activities.

From tomorrow, all participants' budgets for social, civic and community participation supports will be cut by 50 per cent.

Budgets for improved daily living skills supports — a category covering allied health therapies and skill training — will also be reduced by 10 per cent.

Those changes will occur as plans are created, renewed or reassessed over a 12-month period, according to the Department of Health.

Ms Bennison said community supports were how many participants stayed connected and safe.

George Taleporos, chair of NDIS advocacy group Every Australian Counts, said the "ruthless" cuts meant participants would be "seen less" and rely more heavily on their families for support.

"The disability royal commission taught us that when isolation increases, the abuse and neglect of people with disability also increases," he said.

The cuts are part of the Albanese government's wider NDIS overhaul, expected to remove 240,000 participants from the scheme over the next four years, saving about $38 billion during that time.

The NDIS was supporting 782,013 participants at the end of June this year and cost more than $50 billion last financial year.

It is currently growing at 10.5 per cent per year, about half the rate it was when Labor took power in 2022, but the federal government wants it down to 2 or 3 per cent.

Tomorrow also marks the first phase of Thriving Kids, a NDIS alternative for children under nine with developmental delay or autism who have "low to moderate" support needs.