22/04/2026
🚨 NDIS CUTS: Minister Butler announced a series of major NDIS changes today, including a new planning framework, tighter eligibility based on functional capacity rather than diagnosis, cuts to social and community participation budgets, reduced third-party provider spending, and a push to move more people into supports outside the NDIS.
He also said the government will be reducing participant numbers by the end of the decade, with new eligibility rules and reassessments expected to affect who can enter the scheme and who stays in it.
We know this will feel really unsettling for so many in our community of autistic people and families, especially those who already know how easy it is for hidden needs, fluctuating capacity and internalised struggles to be missed or brushed aside.
Things like ‘objective independent assessments of functional capacity’ will not doubt fail our ladybugs, as will the reduction of community and social participation budgets, as we know how important access to community is as a protective factor.
And we also know that when supports are reduced or made harder to access, the need (and cost) does not simply disappear. It is likely to be pushed somewhere else, in mental health, hospitals, schools, family stress and people becoming more isolated from community.
The bottom line is, you are not alone in feeling concerned, frustrated, angry or scared. As we process this more, we will keep you updated.
* changes announced in summary: He announced a set of major changes to the NDIS aimed at slowing growth and reducing costs, including moving to a new planning system, cutting spending in some areas, and tightening who can access the scheme.
A big shift is the move to standardised “objective” assessments of functional capacity. Diagnosis alone won’t determine access anymore, and over time all participants will be reassessed. These changes are expected to reduce the number of people on the NDIS from around 760,000 to about 600,000 by the end of the decade.
Funding for social and community participation will be capped and reduced (back to around 2023 levels, about $26,000 per person), alongside a new $200 million fund for community organisations. There will also be cuts to plan management spending, changes to how providers operate and are paid, and stronger oversight to reduce fraud.
Eligibility changes are expected to start from 2028 for new participants, with existing participants reassessed as their plans come up. At the same time, governments say they will rebuild “foundational supports” outside the NDIS for people who no longer qualify.
