Australia · NDIS legislation
The NDIS bill passed the Senate with a new endpoint for the reassessment wait
Australia's NDIS overhaul passed the Senate on August 18 with 63 last-minute amendments. For people waiting, the one that matters most changes what silence means: under the amended bill, an unscheduled plan reassessment request the agency has not decided within 90 days is treated as refused, which unlocks review rights instead of leaving the request pending without end. The bill still needs House agreement on the amendments and Royal Assent.
Published .
Reported and checked by Walter Armani. Last checked August 18, 2026. Research and verification follow the QueueCheck editorial standards. How we verify information
The wait got longer, and gained an endpoint
Two clocks changed in one bill, and they pull in opposite directions. The agency's window to decide an unscheduled plan reassessment request stretches to 90 days, far longer than the 21 days the current rules gave it. In exchange, the 90th day now means something: under the amendments tabled hours before the Senate vote, a request with no decision by then is treated as refused, and a refusal can be taken to review. An open-ended wait becomes a bounded one. None of it is law yet: the amended bill goes back to the House, and the department schedules these provisions to start seven days after Royal Assent.
Who a reassessment clock governs
NDIS participants whose circumstances have changed and who need a plan reassessed, the nominees and guardians who request reassessments for them, and anyone currently sitting in an undecided reassessment queue wondering what happens next.
What the Senate's 63 amendments did on August 18
- The Senate passed the NDIS Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill on the night of August 18, 2026, by 28 votes to 12, after the government struck a deal with the Coalition.
- The government tabled 63 amendments hours before the vote, responding to community concern about the original text.
- Under the amended bill, the agency has 90 days to decide an unscheduled plan reassessment request, and the department's fact sheet on the final changes states that a request not decided within 90 days is treated as refused.
- A deemed refusal carries review rights, where the original text left an undecided request pending with no defined consequence.
- The amendments require House agreement, and the bill then needs Royal Assent; the department's implementation timeline schedules the reassessment provisions to commence seven days after assent.
Deemed refusal, decoded
A deemed refusal is a legal device that converts administrative silence into a reviewable decision; it does not mean the reassessment was considered and denied on its merits.
The bill covers far more than reassessments: the overall package is projected to reduce scheme spending growth by tens of billions of dollars over the decade, which is what the political contest was about.
Only participants, their plan nominee, or their guardian can request an unscheduled reassessment under the amended bill's tightened criteria.
Senate amendments do not become law on passage: the originating house must agree to them, and commencement dates run from Royal Assent.
Pending-request worries, answered
My reassessment request has been pending for months. Does this mean it is now refused?
No. The deemed-refusal rule is not in force and applies only to requests decided under the amended act once it commences. Your current request runs under the existing rules, and nothing about your case changed on August 18.
Is a deemed refusal bad news for my reassessment?
It is not a judgment on your circumstances. A deemed refusal is what the law calls agency silence at day 90, and its purpose is to hand you review rights instead of leaving you waiting indefinitely. The review is where the merits of your request actually get decided.
When do the new rules start?
Not before the amended bill clears the House and receives Royal Assent, and the department's timeline then schedules the reassessment provisions to commence seven days later. QueueCheck will publish the commencement date when it is fixed, because that is the day the new 90-day clock starts governing real requests.
What 90 days with a consequence changes
For participants requesting reassessments once the provisions commence, the realistic planning number becomes 90 days, longer than the current rules' 21, and the practical advice changes with it: a complete, well-evidenced request matters more when the window is a quarter of a year.
For anyone whose request reaches day 90 undecided, the path is no longer waiting harder: a deemed refusal opens the review process, which is where an unresolved request gets a decision-maker with a deadline.
For people in the queue today, nothing changes until the bill completes its passage and the seven-day commencement runs; the current rules apply to current requests.
Now, after commencement, and at day 90
- If you have a reassessment request in the queue now, the current rules still govern it; the 90-day clock and the deemed-refusal endpoint apply only after commencement.
- If you plan to request a reassessment after the changes commence, submit the evidence complete at the start: a 90-day window rewards a request the agency can decide without follow-up rounds.
- If a future request reaches day 90 without a decision, treat the deemed refusal as the door to review rather than as a verdict on your circumstances.
A rare trade: slower but bounded
This is a rare shape for a waiting-time story: the wait got longer and more honest at the same time. Ninety days is a worse headline than 21, but a 21-day window the agency routinely missed left people in an indefinite pending state with nothing to appeal. A bounded wait with a consequence at the boundary is the version a planner can actually use.
QueueCheck will record commencement when it happens, since the seven-days-after-assent date is the moment the new clock starts applying to real requests.
What can still change before assent
- The bill is not law at publication: the House must agree to the Senate amendments and Royal Assent must follow, and either step can change details or timing.
- The treated-as-refused description comes from the department's own fact sheet on the final changes and reporting of the amendments; the enacted text governs once assent arrives.
- This record covers the reassessment provisions; the bill's 63 amendments touch many other parts of the scheme that are outside this page's scope.
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Official citation
Published August 18, 2026. Original source: Department of Health, Disability and Ageing: changes to the NDIS bill.
- Also checked: Parliament of Australia: bill record.
- Also checked: ABC News: NDIS changes pass after Labor strikes deal with Coalition.