NDIS Integrity & Safeguarding Bill Tabled in Parliament

The Australian Government has introduced the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Integrity and Safeguarding) Bill 2025 into the Senate. This Bill represents one of the most significant expansions of the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission’s powers since its establishment, responding directly to the NDIS Review, the Disability Royal Commission, and long-standing calls for stronger safeguards to protect people with disability.

Overview of the Bill

The Bill amends the NDIS Act 2013 with two overarching aims:

Strengthen integrity, regulation, and enforcement across the NDIS market, including new civil penalties, new criminal offences, and expanded powers for the NDIS Commission.
Improve participant protections and streamline NDIA operations, including new rules around plan variation, documentation and information prior to funds release, and withdrawal from the Scheme.

These reforms are underpinned by evidence from the
2023 NDIS Independent Review and the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability, both of which called for stronger regulatory tools and better safeguards.

DIA’s Position

DIA supports strong regulation that protects participants. DIA is generally supportive of the tabled legislation, which has been through a fairly extensive series of engagement. There are a few areas that we will discuss with Government, the NDIA and NDIS Commission around including:

Proportionate, fair, and educative transition
Clear, accessible guidance for intermediary providers
Adequate implementation – the last round of legislative changes has seen rushed implementation with significant operational gaps being created.
Recognition of the unique nature and scale of intermediary service delivery
Clear, published expectation on what reasonable evidence is required for each claim.

Key Changes: What’s in the Bill?

1. Stronger Penalties for Non-Compliance

The Bill introduces new civil penalties and significantly increases existing penalty amounts for NDIS providers, including intermediary providers.

Major changes include:

New civil penalties for:
- Failing to provide information to the Commission (e.g., not complying with s55A notices)
- Providing false or misleading information to the Commission
- Improper use or disclosure of protected Commission information
Higher penalties for serious contraventions (up to 10,000 penalty units, far higher than the current 250 penalty units in many sections)

Introduction of strict liability and fault-based offences for key compliance failures.

This marks a major shift: conduct previously resulting only in compliance action may now attract significant financial penalties or even prosecution.

2. New Powers: Anti-Promotion Orders & Expanded Banning Orders

Two major new powers are introduced:

Anti-Promotion Orders

The Commissioner will gain authority to issue orders preventing a person from:

advertising,
promoting, or
representing themselves as an NDIS provider

if their behaviour undermines the principles or objectives of the Act. This is intended to stop harmful actors before they enter or re-enter the market.

Expanded Banning Orders

The categories of individuals who can be banned are widened, and failure to comply with a banning order becomes a new criminal offence with penalties of up to 5 years imprisonment or 300 penalty units.

3. Significant Expansion of the Commission’s Investigative Powers

Schedule 1 also introduces:

Broader powers to compel information within shorter timeframes
Expanded monitoring and investigation scope under the Regulatory Powers Act
Stronger capacity to pursue undertakings, injunctions, and infringement notices

This gives the Commission a firmer, more proactive regulatory posture.

4. Clarification and Strengthening of Registration Requirements

The Bill clarifies that:

A person contravenes the Act if they provide supports requiring registration while unregistered.
A person contravenes the Act if they hold themselves out as able to provide such supports without being registered.

The penalty framework is substantially uplifted, including:

Fault-based offence (up to 2 years imprisonment)
Strict liability offence (60 penalty units)
Civil penalties (up to 10,000 penalty units for serious contraventions)

This will have implications for sectors where registration will be mandatory in the coming reforms (including Support Coordination and Plan Management).

5. Stronger Powers to Compel Information and Documents prior to funds release

One of the most consequential changes for providers—particularly intermediary providers—is the expansion and clarification of section 45, which deals with the NDIA’s ability to require information, documents, and evidence from providers before funds are released.

What the Bill Does

The amendment inserts additional subsections into section 45 of the Act, which deals with the need for a claim for payment of amounts payable under the NDIS. These new provisions impose additional requirements before the Agency may make a payment in respect of a claim.

These amendments are an extension of the CEO’s ability to request information as part of submitting a claim in accordance with section 45A(3). There may be instances where the information provided as part of submitting a claim is not sufficient to satisfy the CEO that the claim should be paid.

New subsection 45(3A) will prevent the Agency from paying a claim if the person who made a claim under section 45A has not given the CEO the information and documents requested under new subsection 45(3B) within the specified period.
New subsection 45(3B) will allow the CEO to require, by written notice, a person who makes a claim for payment under section 45A to the give the CEO such further information or documents in relation to the claim as the CEO reasonably requires.
New subsection 45(3C) provides the notice must specify a period of no less than 14 days within which the information and documents must be given.
New subsection 45(3D) will allow the CEO to extend the period by notice in writing, and may do so more than once, so long as that extension occurs before the end of the period set out in the notice.
New subsection 45(3E) allows the Agency to treat information or documents as having been provided under new subsection 45(3B) within the specified periods if the CEO believes it is appropriate to do so. This allows flexibility for the CEO if there are genuine reasons as to why the timeframe has not been complied with.

The CEO’s decisions to extend (or not extend) the period under new subsection 45(3D) or to treat the information as provided within the specified period under 45(3E) are not reviewable decisions. This is consistent with the Administrative Review Council’s guide ‘What decisions must be subject to a merit review? 1999’, which provides that preliminary or procedural decisions may justify excluding merits review.

The decision to not extend the period would not generally have substantive consequences because a person may resubmit the claim for payment (if an extension is not given).

6. New Participant Safeguards in Scheme Withdrawal

Responding to concerns raised during consultation, the Government will introduce:

A 90-day “cooling off” period for participants who indicate a desire to withdraw from the NDIS
(up from the originally proposed 28 days)

This ensures participants have time, communication support, and safeguards to avoid accidental or coerced withdrawal.

7. Plan Variation Changes

The Bill clarifies that:

A plan variation may result in an increase or decrease in the total funding in a participant’s plan.

This aligns with the new model of funding periods and anticipates the design of new navigational services expected from 2027.

Why this matters to DIA Members

For Support Coordinators, Plan Managers, and Psychosocial Recovery Coaches, these changes significantly raise expectations regarding:

1. Increased Compliance Expectations

The strengthened penalty regime means:

Record-keeping, reporting accuracy, and timely response to Commission requests will be critical.
Even lower-level breaches may attract civil penalties where previously an education-first approach was taken.

This will place additional pressure on small and medium providers who already face administrative burden.

2. Higher Risk Environment for Administrative Errors

New civil penalties (including for providing incorrect information regardless of intent) will heighten risk for:

Plan Managers processing claims
Support Coordinators submitting reports or incident information
Providers responding to Commission inquiries

3. Implications for Mandatory Registration

As the Government moves Support Coordination into mandatory registration, joining Plan Management:

The penalty framework accompanying unregistered service delivery will now be far stronger.
This includes significant penalties for holding oneself out as registered when not.

This underscores the importance of a fair, accessible, and adequately funded registration system—a key area of DIA advocacy.

4. Increased Oversight of Market Conduct

The Commission’s expanded investigatory powers mean:

Providers may face more frequent compliance checks
Investigations may occur with shorter notice periods
Information requests will carry increased penalty risks

5. Need for Stronger Internal Governance

DIA members should prepare to review:

Policies and procedures for information handling
Compliance frameworks
Data security and privacy practices
Staff training and induction processes

The expanded use of civil penalties indicates a move toward a more aligned regulatory approach with aged care, where quality systems, internal governance, and documented oversight are scrutinised heavily.

Join DIA at next weeks Market Updates

DIA will be discussing this proposed new legislation — including its potential implications and our ongoing advocacy efforts — at our Market Updates on 2 and 3 December 2025.

PLAN MANAGEMENT SESSION - TUE 2ND DEC - REGISTER HERE

SUPPORT COORDINATION SESSION - WED 3RD DEC - REGISTER HERE

DIA is a members-based organisation. We are only able to do the work that we do because of the ongoing support of our members. Thank you to all DIA members that continue to support the work we do. If you’re a provider delivering Support Coordination or Plan Management are not yet a member, you should consider joining. Click here to join from our homepage.