NDIS 1 October budget reset: what plan managers and coordinators do

The short answer: the 1 October 2026 refresh resets budgets for two NDIS support categories, one plan at a time, over about 12 months. Nothing changes for a participant until their plan is created, reassessed or renewed. For plan managers and support coordinators, the work is to know which plans have been reset, what is still funded, and which providers your participants will use next.

What changed on 1 October

The NDIA says that from 1 October 2026 budgets are reduced for two support categories:

• Social, Economic and Community Participation (SECP)
• Improved Daily Living Skills (IDLS)

The reduction is applied as a plan is created or reassessed from 1 October 2026, or renewed from 1 February 2027. It is a legal instrument called a *support determination*, and it phases in over about 12 months. The NDIA says the impact is different for every participant, and that many people don't spend their whole plan.

What is not affected

The NDIA lists these groups of supports as outside the change:

• employment supports
• disability-related health supports
• high intensity supports
• intensive and complex behaviour supports

The NDIA says other parts of a plan are not affected by this change, and a new plan variation pathway is being created for participants with high support needs who need 24-hour disability support. This change isn't a reviewable decision, but participants can still ask for a plan reassessment or variation if their circumstances change in a significant and ongoing way.

Exact percentages differ between articles online. We don't quote any here: the number that matters is the one in the participant's own plan, so check ndis.gov.au and the plan itself.

What happens next, and when

• From 1 October 2026: budgets are reset as plans are created or reassessed.
• From 1 February 2027: changes to reassessments and renewals begin progressively.
• By 30 September 2027: anyone with funding in the two categories who hasn't had a plan created or reassessed since 1 October 2026 will have their plan renewed.
• 1 October 2027 and 1 July 2028: the plan management panel and the new support coordination service start. The dates, the 90-day claim window from 1 December 2026 and what to do about each are in NDIS changes 2026 to 2028.

What this means if you manage plans

• Budgets will change plan by plan, not all at once. Your caseload will have some plans reset and some not, for up to a year. A simple note of which participants have had a new, reassessed or renewed plan since 1 October makes invoice checks easier.
• Participation and daily living spending is where you'll see it first. Invoices in these categories may come against smaller budgets, so participants will ask you more often how much is left.
• Providers will adjust too. When budgets move, some providers change what they offer, and some stop. Registration status and ABN status change in any week, so a check done at onboarding can be out of date.

What this means if you coordinate supports

• Reviews matter more. Participants who have had a significant, ongoing change in their daily activities, living arrangements, education or employment, or informal supports can ask for a reassessment. Good notes help them make the case.
• Help people choose within a budget. With less funding in some categories, the question becomes which supports and which providers give the most of what a participant wants.
• Check who you refer to. Before pointing someone to a provider, it takes a few minutes to check registration, compliance actions and ABN. That isn't a recommendation either way. It is a dated fact you can show.

Four things to do this month

1. List the plans you look after that include the two categories. Note each plan's start, reassessment or renewal date.
2. Write down which supports are outside the change. Employment, disability-related health, high intensity, and intensive and complex behaviour. Keep the NDIA's list with the date you read it.
3. Re-check your providers. In eight weeks to 26 September 2026, 66 revocations of registration and 35 banning orders took effect, so an old check is a photo, not a live feed.
4. Keep a dated record. Each provider check with its date and the date of the official record behind it, ready for an audit or a tender.

Where TrueBlue Scout fits

TrueBlue Scout does the provider-checking part of that list. It checks your providers against the NDIS provider register, the NDIS Commission's compliance actions and the Australian Business Register, keeps watching your saved list, emails you when something changes, and gives you a dated record of your checks you can download.

It doesn't score providers or tell you what to decide, and it can't say what any participant's budget will be. Providers can't pay to appear, rank higher or be removed.

You can try it on your own providers with Check a list, free for up to five ABNs. How it works explains where each fact comes from.

Questions people ask

Does the 1 October change cut every NDIS plan straight away?

No. It applies plan by plan, when a plan is created or reassessed from 1 October 2026, or renewed from 1 February 2027, and it phases in over about 12 months (NDIA).

Which supports are being reduced?

Budgets in Social, Economic and Community Participation and in Improved Daily Living Skills. Employment, disability-related health, high intensity, and intensive and complex behaviour supports are not affected (NDIA).

Is plan management or support coordination funding part of the 1 October change?

The NDIA's announcement of the 1 October change names only the two categories above. Plan management and support coordination are changing on a different timetable: a panel of plan managers from 1 October 2027 and a new support coordination service from 1 July 2028. See NDIS changes 2026 to 2028.

Can a participant ask for a review if their budget is reduced?

The support determination isn't a reviewable decision. A participant can still ask for a plan reassessment or variation if there has been a significant and ongoing change in their circumstances (NDIA).

Where can plan managers and support coordinators talk this through?

We run a free Facebook group, NDIS Reform Watch: Plan Managers & Support Coordinators, where we post each change with its official source and members share how they're getting ready.

Same road, new signs. Read them early and the drive stays calm.