Australia · NDIS legislation
The NDIS bill passed the Senate with a new endpoint for the reassessment wait
This August 18 record explains the Senate amendments that created a 90-day NDIS reassessment window. The bill later passed the House, received Royal Assent and took effect for reassessment requests on August 27, 2026.
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Reported and checked by Walter Armani. Last checked September 2, 2026. Research and verification follow the QueueCheck editorial standards. How we verify information
The wait got longer, and gained an endpoint
This is the record of what the Senate changed on August 18. What was then a bill is now law: the House agreed to the amendments on August 19, Royal Assent followed on August 20, and the reassessment provisions began on August 27. The trade the Senate wrote into the bill is now the current rule. The agency can take up to 90 days to decide a properly made reassessment request, but silence at day 90 is treated as a refusal that can be reviewed.
Who a reassessment clock governs
NDIS participants whose circumstances have changed and who need a plan reassessed, nominees and child representatives 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 House later agreed to the amendments, the Act received Royal Assent on August 20, and these provisions commenced on August 27.
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 a participant, their plan nominee or, for a child, the person authorized to act for the child can request an unscheduled reassessment under the new rule.
Senate passage alone did not make the amendments law. House agreement and Royal Assent followed before commencement on August 27.
Pending-request worries, answered
My reassessment request has been pending for months. Does this mean it is now refused?
Not simply because it has been pending for months. The new rules began on August 27 and also cover earlier requests that were undecided then, but the 90-day calculation depends on whether the request meets the current form and information requirements. Ask the NDIA which date it is using for your request.
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?
They started on August 27, 2026, seven days after Royal Assent. The newer QueueCheck record linked at the top carries the current position.
What 90 days with a consequence changes
For participants requesting reassessments under the provisions now in force, the realistic planning number is 90 days rather than the former 21-day window.
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.
Requests made before August 27 but still undecided on that date are also covered by the Act's transition provision.
Now, after commencement, and at day 90
- Read the newer commencement update linked above before using this Senate record to make a decision.
- Use the current reassessment form and include the information and evidence the NDIA asks for at the start.
- If a compliant 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's August 19 record now carries the assent date, commencement date and current filing position.
What this Senate-stage record no longer carries
- This page preserves the Senate-stage history. It is not the current commencement record.
- The treated-as-refused description is now confirmed by the enacted text; the newer record links directly to the Act and the NDIA's current instructions.
- 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.