Will I need to keep proving my eligibility for the NDIS?
Short answer: Not right now. From 1 January 2028, current NDIS participants will begin to have their eligibility reassessed against new access criteria. This will happen progressively over 3 years.
The NDIS says people with permanent and significant disability will continue to be able to access the Scheme. The NDIA will provide information well before a person’s reassessment takes place.
What is changing?
From 1 January 2028, NDIS access decisions will use a standardised, evidence-based assessment of functional capacity. This means the assessment will focus on how a person’s disability affects their day-to-day life.
There will also be a more consistent assessment of whether an impairment is permanent or likely to be permanent, and whether treatment may alleviate it. The new criteria will apply to people who apply to the NDIS from 1 January 2028 and will also be used when existing participants are reassessed.
Will every current participant be reassessed?
The Australian Government says current participants will start to be reassessed from 1 January 2028. The process will be phased in over 3 years, rather than happening to everyone at once.
This means an existing participant should not assume they need to do anything now. The NDIA says it will let people know in advance if a change affects them and will provide information and support.
What will the reassessment look at?
The new process will focus on functional capacity. In simple terms, this is how a person’s disability affects everyday activities and participation.
The Technical Advisory Group will provide advice about the assessment tools and thresholds used for access. The Government says this work will consider different types of disability and impairment, including conditions that are degenerative, fluctuating or episodic.
The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing also says a person will not be required to undertake a particular treatment. Expected treatments will be limited to those that receive public funding, such as through Medicare, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme or public hospitals. Further rules are still to be developed through consultation.
Is an eligibility reassessment the same as a plan reassessment?
No. A plan reassessment looks at whether a person’s NDIS plan still meets their disability support needs. An eligibility reassessment looks at whether the person continues to meet the requirements to access the NDIS.
A change to a plan or funding through the ordinary planning process is not, by itself, an eligibility reassessment. The NDIS says it is normal for plans to change as a participant’s needs change over time.
What should I do now?
You do not need to reapply for the NDIS now. Continue using your current plan and supports as usual. The NDIS says eligibility changes do not begin until 1 January 2028.
It may be helpful to keep relevant reports and information about how your disability affects everyday life organised. However, the exact assessment process, thresholds and information requirements for reassessments are still being developed. Wait for information from the NDIA about your individual circumstances before assuming you need a new assessment or report.
If a person disagrees with an NDIS access decision, they can still ask for the decision to be reviewed.
How NDIS diagnoses map to impairment categories
Here are some of the conditions from the guide:
| Condition | Required category | Optional categories |
|---|---|---|
| Autism, including Rett and Asperger syndrome | Neurological | Intellectual, cognitive, physical, psychosocial |
| Cerebral palsy | Physical | Intellectual, cognitive, neurological, sensory |
| Down syndrome | Intellectual | Cognitive, physical |
| Stroke | Physical | Cognitive, neurological, sensory, psychosocial |
| Multiple sclerosis | Neurological | Cognitive, physical, psychosocial |
| Schizophrenia | Psychosocial | Cognitive |
| Hearing loss | Sensory | Cognitive |
| Visual impairment, including blindness | Sensory | None |
| Spinal cord injury, incomplete | Physical | Neurological, sensory, psychosocial |
| Dyslexia | Cognitive | Psychosocial |
A few things stand out.
- Cerebral palsy has no psychosocial option.
- Down syndrome has only two options and sensory is not one of them, despite how common hearing and vision issues are.
- Stroke has one of the widest maps in the guide, with almost everything available on evidence.
Conditions that map to an unexpected impairment category
The guide groups conditions under familiar headings, then sometimes sends them to a different category entirely.
- Spina bifida is listed under the intellectual disability heading, but the required category is physical.
- Tourette syndrome is listed under psychosocial disability, but the required category is neurological.
- Alzheimer’s disease is listed under other neurological, but the required category is cognitive.
- Foetal alcohol spectrum disorder sits under intellectual disability, but the required category is neurological.
If you have ever wondered why a notice says something that does not match how the condition is usually described, this is often why.
For your Curiosity
Required impairment categories
We counted every entry in the guide. Ninety four conditions in total.
Here is how many times each category was use:
| Impairment category | Times required | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Physical | 32 | 34% |
| Intellectual | 21 | 22% |
| Neurological | 17 | 18% |
| Psychosocial | 10 | 11% |
| Cognitive | 8 | 9% |
| Sensory | 6 | 6% |
| Total | 94 | 100% |
Physical is the workhorse. It is the required category for a third of everything listed, which makes sense once you notice how many chronic health conditions appear in the guide.
Renal failure, chronic lung disease, lupus, osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia and lymphoedema are all in there.
Optional impairment categories
Here is how many times each category appears as an optional category on across those same 94 conditions.
| Impairment category | Times available as optional |
|---|---|
| Cognitive | 53 |
| Psychosocial | 40 |
| Physical | 37 |
| Sensory | 29 |
| Neurological | 24 |
| Intellectual | 6 |
Two things jump out.
- Cognitive is listed as an optional category for 53 of the 94 conditions in the guide.
This means that if your disability falls within those 53 conditions, cognitive may be added to your impairment notice if your evidence shows that your disability affects your memory, thinking, planning, problem-solving or attention - Intellectual impairment is the required category for 21 of the 94 conditions, and is only optional for 6.
This means it is much more commonly assigned as the main impairment category than added as an extra category.
NDIS conditions with only one impairment category
Twenty of the 94 conditions have no optional categories at all and only o required category. These include:
- Visual impairment including blindness, albinism and congenital eye conditions
- Rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, ankylosing spondylitis and lupus
- Chronic lung disease and COPD
- Renal failure
- Ehlers Danlos syndrome
- Obsessive compulsive disorder and borderline personality disorder
- Early onset dementia and rapidly progressing dementia
Under the 2026 reform Bill, where supports must directly arise from a listed impairment, a single category notice is a much narrower base to build a plan on.
If one of these is the only condition on a notice, that is worth a conversation now rather than at the next plan reassessment.
Limits of the impairment categories guide
It is a staff tool, not the law.
The document itself says it is not approved for use outside the agency’s system. It guides decisions. It does not make them.
It is a snapshot from October 2024. Internal guidance gets revised. What delegates are working from today may differ.
It does not decide access. The guide tells a delegate which categories to select for someone who has already met the eligibility requirements.
Whether you meet those requirements is a separate assessment.
Not every condition is in there.
How to use the impairment map
If you are a participant or family member, find your diagnosis in the list. Look at the optional categories. Ask yourself honestly whether any of them describe something you live with day to day that is not showing up in your plan.
If you are a support coordinator, use it as a gap finder. When you are preparing for a reassessment, compare the categories on the notice against the optional ones available for that diagnosis. The difference between the two is where the missing evidence usually sits.
If you are a provider, know which category your service naturally attaches to, then check it appears on the notices of the participants you support.
