There’s a persistent myth that the NDIS ends at 65. It doesn’t. If you became a participant before your 65th birthday, you can stay on the scheme. What turning 65 actually does is open a choice, between staying on the NDIS or moving into the aged care system, and that choice comes with one feature everyone needs to understand before they make it: it can’t be undone. Here’s the plain-language guide.
The Rule in One Sentence
You can stay on the NDIS after you turn 65, as long as you became a participant before your 65th birthday.
Nothing happens automatically on the day. Your plan continues, your providers stay the same, and there’s no new application or reassessment triggered by the birthday. The age of 65 is the cut-off for applying to the NDIS, not for staying on it.
Your Two Paths
If you do nothing, you stay on the NDIS. If you’d prefer to move to aged care, you can choose to, but you need to tell the NDIA in writing, as verbal requests aren’t accepted. You can’t use NDIS and aged care supports at the same time; it’s one system or the other.
The Triggers That End Your NDIS Automatically
There are two situations where the choice is made for you. You must leave the NDIS if you move permanently into residential aged care for the first time after you turn 65. And you must leave if you start receiving permanent home care, such as Support at Home, for the first time after you turn 65.
This is a legal requirement, and there’s no internal review. That’s why it’s worth being careful about accepting aged care services after 65 without understanding the consequence for your NDIS plan.
Why You Can’t Come Back
Here’s the part that makes the decision permanent. To become an NDIS participant, you must be under 65 on the day you apply. So if you leave the NDIS after turning 65, whether by choice or because of one of the triggers above, you can’t reapply. In practice, leaving after 65 is a one-way door.
If you’re approaching 65 and thinking about leaving and later rejoining, talk to the NDIA before your birthday, not after.
Why Most People Stay
For many participants, staying on the NDIS is the better arrangement, though not for everyone. The two systems are built differently. The NDIS funds disability-related supports and doesn’t charge means-tested participant contributions. Aged care funds age-related care and, apart from clinical care and, from 1 October 2026, personal care, generally involves contributions based on your income and assets.
The NDIS also funds things aged care may not, including Specialist Disability Accommodation. If your plan closes, SDA funding closes with it, which can mean having to leave an SDA home.
When Aged Care Might Suit Better
The NDIA itself says that you can ask for an aged care assessment when your ageing needs outweigh your disability needs, and that moving across will be a better arrangement for some people. That might apply if your support needs are now mainly about ageing rather than disability, if you need residential aged care, or if the services you need are more readily available through aged care in your area.
It’s also worth watching how the NDIS changes affect your own plan, since the participation budget adjustments beginning from 1 October 2026 apply to plans regardless of age as they’re reassessed.
How to Make the Decision Well
Don’t decide in a hurry, and don’t decide alone. Compare what your current NDIS plan funds with what you’d likely be assessed for in aged care, which a My Aged Care assessment can clarify. Talk to your support coordinator or plan manager, who can help you compare. And if you’re leaning toward aged care, confirm the practical detail first: what happens to your current providers, your equipment, and any SDA arrangement. The official guidance is on the NDIS age requirements page. If you’re weighing Support at Home, our free provider directory shows who operates in each NSW region.
The Bottom Line
Turning 65 doesn’t end your NDIS plan. If you joined before your birthday, you can stay for life, and nothing changes unless you choose to move or one of two triggers applies: permanent residential aged care or permanent home care for the first time after 65. Because you can’t reapply after 65, leaving is effectively permanent, so compare both systems carefully, get advice, and put your decision in writing only once you’re sure. This is general information, not disability, legal or financial advice.
Epik Wire covers the NDIS in plain language for participants and families. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed.
