What PACE is
PACE is the name of the NDIA's business system: the software behind your plan, your budgets and every payment from it. Participants moved onto PACE as they received a new or reassessed plan, so you may still hear people talk about old system plans and PACE plans.
For most people PACE is invisible. What you notice are the changes it brought to how providers are linked to your plan and how your budgets are shown.
My providers replaced service bookings
In the old system, a service booking reserved funding for a provider before they could claim. PACE plans have no service bookings. Instead, you record the providers you work with regularly as your my providers.
For most supports this is optional. It is required for SIL, SDA, home and living supports, behaviour support, and your plan manager, support coordinator or psychosocial recovery coach. If one of those providers is not recorded, their claims are rejected.
Claims and SMS checks
If your funding is NDIA managed and a provider who is not recorded as your my provider makes a claim, the NDIA sends you an SMS and checks with you before paying. You can accept or dispute the claim in the my NDIS app or portal.
The NDIA says valid claims from my providers are usually paid within 2 to 3 business days, while claims that need checking can take about 10 business days. The NDIA will never ask you to reply to that SMS, click a link or give personal details.
21 support categories
Old system plans used 15 support categories. PACE plans use 21, with some renamed and some new ones added:
- New: 16 Home and Living, 17 Specialist Disability Accommodation, 18 Recurring Transport, 19 Assistive Technology Maintenance, Repair and Rental, 20 Behaviour Support, and 21 for young people in residential aged care
- Renamed: Improved Relationships became Relationships, Improved Health and Wellbeing became Health and Wellbeing, Improved Learning became Lifelong Learning, and Improved Life Choices became Choice and Control
- Category 07 became Support Coordination and Psychosocial Recovery Coaches
The my NDIS portals
PACE plans are viewed in the my NDIS participant portal and app, and registered providers use the my NDIS provider portal. The older myplace portals were built for old system plans and cannot show PACE plans.
What it means for providers
- Ask new clients to record you as a my provider, or send a relationship request in the my NDIS provider portal
- Send a separate request for each specialised support category you deliver
- Check the participant's support category names and numbers before quoting or claiming
- Unregistered providers do not use the NDIA portals: invoice the participant or their plan manager
PACE and the 2026 reforms
The 2026 changes, such as the funding reset applied from 1 October 2026 and new framework planning from 1 April 2027, are applied through the NDIA's systems. Your plan will show both your total funding and the funding available after any reset, so check your budgets in the my NDIS app after each plan change.