NDIS Plan Suspension: The New No-Contact Rules

From 1 October 2026, the NDIA can suspend your plan if it has tried to reach you and could not. It can also end your status as a participant, either straight after those contact attempts or once a plan has been suspended for 90 days.

A suspended plan stays in place, but it stops paying. Supports delivered during the suspension cannot be claimed, and you cannot ask for a plan variation or reassessment until the suspension ends. The rules are aimed at people who have stopped responding altogether, but a changed phone number or a long hospital stay can look the same from the Agency's side, so it is worth knowing exactly what the NDIA has to do first.

Where do the rules come from?

They are in Schedule 1, Part 7 of the NDIS Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Act 2026, which received Royal Assent on 20 August 2026. Section 2 of the Act sets 1 October 2026 as the start date for Part 7. The suspension power is a new section 40A of the NDIS Act and the revocation power is a new subsection 30(1A). Both apply to plans already in place, not only to new ones.

How many times does the NDIA have to try?

The Act sets a minimum before the NDIA can treat its attempts to reach you as reasonable. The attempts are made so it can ask you for information or reports, and all of these conditions have to be met:

• At least five attempts, using your preferred form of contact.
• The last attempt at least 3 months and no more than 4 months after the first. If the first attempt is on 2 January, the fifth has to fall between 2 April and 2 May.
• If your preferred form of contact is not in writing, at least one extra attempt in writing somewhere between the first and the last. For someone who prefers phone calls, that makes at least six attempts.

The attempts go to a set person. If you have a nominee, the NDIA contacts your nominee. If you have no nominee but have another authorised contact or representative, it contacts them. Otherwise it contacts you.

Attempts made before 1 October 2026 can count. The Act lets the NDIA rely on contact attempts made before, on or after the day the rules start, so calls or letters you missed in the months before October could already be part of the count.

When do contact attempts not count?

An attempt made directly to you does not count if, at the time, you were in the care of a hospital or other institution or experiencing homelessness. The exception covers attempts made to you, not attempts made to a nominee.

It also only applies if the NDIA becomes aware of your situation before it suspends the plan. The Act does not require the Agency to go and find out. If you go into hospital for six weeks, or lose your housing, someone needs to tell the NDIA while it is happening. That could be you, a family member, your support coordinator or your provider with your permission.

What happens when a plan is suspended?

The NDIA must send you a written notice giving the day the suspension takes effect. From that day the plan stays in place, but NDIS payments stop for supports delivered during the suspension. A provider who keeps delivering supports in that period cannot claim for them. You also cannot ask for a plan variation or a reassessment while the plan is suspended.

If you contact the NDIA within 90 days of the suspension decision, it must respond within 28 days in one of two ways. It either ends the suspension, which takes effect straight away, or it asks you for information or reports. If you send what it asked for on time, it has another 28 days to make the same choice again. If you do not, the suspension continues until you contact the Agency again or your participant status is revoked.

Contact after the 90 days is still worth making. The NDIA can still end the suspension then, but it is no longer bound to respond within 28 days.

When can the NDIA end your participant status?

Subsection 30(1A) lets the NDIA revoke your status as a participant in two situations.

• It has made reasonable attempts to contact you, under the same rules set out above, and you are not contactable.
• Your plan has been suspended for at least 90 days.

The first situation does not need a suspension beforehand. Revocation takes you out of the scheme, and getting back in means making a fresh access request.

Can you challenge a suspension or revocation?

Yes. Both are reviewable decisions under section 99 of the NDIS Act.

• Internal review first. You ask the NDIA to look at the decision again, within 3 months of being notified of it.
• Then the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART). If the internal review does not resolve it, you can apply to the ART, which replaced the AAT in October 2024. You can apply online, by email, or by calling 1800 228 333.

A free disability advocate can help with both steps. You can find one near you using the Disability Advocacy Finder.

What can you do before October?

• Check the contact details the NDIA has for you. Log in to myplace, or call the NDIA on 1800 800 110.
• Check your preferred form of contact. The attempt rules are built around it, so make sure it is the phone number, email or address you actually use, and that any need for an interpreter is recorded.
• Think about a nominee. If you have one, the NDIA contacts them, which helps if you travel, spend time in hospital or find calls hard to take.
• Tell someone if you go into hospital or lose your housing. The exception only works if the NDIA knows before it acts.
• Open NDIA letters when they arrive. A letter can be one of the attempts that counts.

How can a provider help?

A provider often finds out before anyone else that a participant has gone into hospital or moved out of home. If that happens to you, you can ask your provider or support coordinator to let the NDIA know, with your permission. It also helps to tell your provider which contact details you have given the NDIA, so the two records match.

Frequently asked questions

Does my funding disappear when my plan is suspended?

No. The plan stays in effect, but NDIS amounts are not paid for supports delivered during the suspension. If the suspension ends, the plan can be used again.

What if I contact the NDIA but cannot give it what it asks for?

Making contact does not end a suspension on its own. The NDIA can ask for information or reports first, and if they do not arrive within the time it sets, the suspension continues. If you need more time or help pulling the information together, tell the NDIA straight away and talk to an advocate.

Can the NDIA end my participant status without suspending my plan first?

Yes. Under subsection 30(1A) it can revoke your status once it has made reasonable attempts to contact you under the same rules and you are not contactable. That decision can be reviewed too.

Does this apply to children?

The attempts go to the participant's nominee, or to another authorised contact or representative where there is no nominee. For a child that is usually the parent or guardian the NDIA has on record, so check those details are the ones the parent actually uses.

Is 1 October 2026 definitely the start date?

Yes. Section 2 of the Act sets 1 October 2026 for Schedule 1, Part 7, which contains these rules. Attempts made before that date can still count.

Not sure where you stand?

Bring your plan to a free Plan Health Check. It takes 15 minutes, in English, Farsi, Urdu, Hindi or Punjabi. We will go through which contact details you have given the NDIA, talk about whether a nominee would help, and read the rest of the plan while we are at it.

The same Act changes other parts of the NDIS too. Read NDIS plan changes from 1 October 2026, or see how our daily living support works.

Sources: NDIS Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Act 2026 (Cth), Act No. 66 of 2026, as made: s 2 table item 5 (commencement of Schedule 1 Part 7) and Schedule 1 Part 7, items 79 (new subsections 30(1A) to (1D)), 83 (new section 40A), 84 (section 41), 86 (section 99 table item 5A) and 87 (application, including attempts made before commencement), Federal Register of Legislation C2026A00066, read 15 September 2026. National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (Cth), Compilation No. 23, ss 41(2), 99 and 100. Administrative Review Tribunal, NDIS review page, art.gov.au, checked 15 September 2026, for how to apply.