For NDIS providers, the reforms have mostly felt like something happening to them. But a window is opening to actually shape the detail: the government is beginning consultation in the second half of 2026 on the changes that will define how providers operate for years. For anyone running a service, this is a rare chance to influence the rules rather than just live with them. Here’s the plain-language guide.
What’s Being Consulted On
The government has confirmed consultation will begin in the second half of 2026 on several of the most consequential reform elements. These include the new way of planning, known as new framework planning; the changes to eligibility assessment based on functional capacity; the design of a commissioning approach for supported independent living; the commissioning of new support coordination and connection functions; and expanding differentiated pricing for unregistered providers.
That last item deserves attention.
“Expanding differentiated pricing for unregistered providers delivering social, civic and community participation, capacity building daily activities, and assisted daily living,” the department states as a consultation topic.
Differentiated pricing, potentially paying unregistered providers differently from registered ones, could directly affect the economics of a large part of the sector.
Why Providers Should Engage
Consultation is where abstract reform becomes concrete rules, and the providers who engage are the ones whose realities get built into the design. A provider that participates can flag the practical problems, the rural coverage issues, the administrative burdens, the pricing consequences, that policymakers working from spreadsheets may not see.
The alternative is having the rules shaped entirely by larger players and peak bodies, then living with whatever emerges. For small and mid-sized providers especially, whose margins are already thin, with nearly half of NDIS providers reporting operating at a loss recently, the difference between a workable rule and an unworkable one can be existential.
What’s at Stake for Different Providers
The consultation topics hit different providers differently. If you deliver SIL, the commissioning approach directly shapes your future operating model. If you provide support coordination, the commissioning of that function determines how you’ll be selected and funded. If you operate as an unregistered provider in the affected support categories, differentiated pricing could reshape your revenue. And every provider is affected by the new framework planning and functional-capacity assessment, because those determine participant budgets, and participant budgets are provider revenue.
There’s genuine strategic value in understanding these changes early, not just to comment on them, but to prepare your business for what’s coming.
How to Get Involved
The practical steps. The government has said information about how to participate will be published on the department’s Consultation Hub over the coming months, so watch it. A Technical Advisory Group is being established for the assessment design, and consultation processes will run alongside. Engage through your peak body if you’re a member, but also consider participating directly, individual provider voices describing real operational impact carry weight. The official detail sits on the Department of Health’s Securing the NDIS page.
The Bottom Line
The NDIS consultation opening in the second half of 2026 is the providers’ chance to shape the rules that will govern planning, pricing and commissioning for years. Sitting it out means living with whatever others design. Watch the Consultation Hub, understand which topics hit your service hardest, and engage, because the providers who help write the rules are always better placed than those who merely inherit them. This is general information, not business, legal or financial advice.
Epik Wire covers the NDIS in plain language for participants, families and providers. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed.
