Why treatment matters for NDIS access
To join the NDIS, your impairment must be permanent or likely to be permanent. Treatment is part of how the NDIA judges that. If a widely used treatment is likely to fix or greatly reduce the impact of your impairment, the NDIA may decide it is not yet permanent.
This idea is not new. The current rules already ask whether there are known, available and appropriate evidence based treatments likely to remedy your impairment. The Securing the NDIS for Future Generations Act 2026 spells it out more clearly for access decisions from 1 January 2028.
The test from 1 January 2028
Under the 2026 Act, access is only granted when all three of these are true:
- All appropriate treatment to remedy or ease the impairment has been undertaken
- No other treatment is likely to materially improve the impact of the impairment
- The impairment is likely to be lifelong
What counts as appropriate treatment
The government's explanation of the law sets some clear limits on what the NDIA can expect:
- Treatment that is regularly undertaken in Australia and has public funding available, for example through Medicare, the PBS and public hospitals
- Treatment that is widely accepted and likely to make a meaningful difference to your impairment
- Treatment expected to significantly improve, reduce or manage the impact of your impairment. Small or short term improvements would not usually be enough
- Once you have had all appropriate treatment, there is no requirement to keep trying more
What you will not be expected to do
The law does not force anyone to have treatment, and you keep the right to make your own decisions about your health care. You will not be expected to have treatment that:
- Is not recommended for your impairment or your other conditions, or where the benefit is negligible, highly uncertain or outweighed by the clinical risk
- Is unsuitable for you, carries significant risks or could cause serious long term side effects
- Could alter your fertility or have other major lifelong impacts
- Is an invasive or significant medical intervention, such as a cochlear implant
Restrictive practices are never treatment
Seclusion and chemical, mechanical, physical or environmental restraint do not count as treatment when the NDIA decides whether you have tried all appropriate treatment. Nobody needs to have been restrained to show that an impairment is permanent.
Who decides, and the role of your doctors
The NDIA makes the access decision, but your treating practitioners can advise it on whether a treatment is likely to significantly improve, reverse or reduce the impact of your impairment. They can also explain any medical reason you cannot have a particular treatment.
More detailed rules about treatments you are not expected to have are still being developed through consultation with the community and clinical experts. The government says those rules cannot require you to have a particular treatment. If you disagree with an access decision, you can still ask for it to be reviewed.
Who it applies to and when
Nothing changes about how people access the NDIS until 1 January 2028. From then, new applicants are assessed under the new criteria, and current participants are reassessed progressively over 3 years, with information given well in advance.
The most useful thing you can do now is keep a clear record of your treatment history: what you tried, when, for how long, what changed, and why you stopped or could not continue. Ask your treating professionals to describe this in their reports.