Queensland's health minister has said that one patient has been waiting in a public hospital for more than 1,000 days to be discharged to aged care or NDIS support.

They are not sick. They are medically ready to leave. What they are waiting for is funded support in the community.

They are not alone.

More than 3,700 Australians are currently stranded in public hospital beds — medically cleared to be discharged, unable to leave.

Most are older Australians waiting for aged care placement. Approximately 1,140 are NDIS participants — people with disability who should be living in the community with appropriate support, at the cost the NDIS exists to cover.

From 1 October 2026, the Commonwealth began reducing budgets for two categories of NDIS support — social, economic and community participation, and improved daily living skills — as plans are created, reassessed or renewed. Advocates warn that some of these supports help keep people out of hospital. It is too early to know whether the reductions will change the numbers, and every figure in this article pre-dates them.

---

The Numbers: State by State

Michael West Media's reporting, published on 7 October 2026, assembles state-level data on the scale of the problem. These figures all pre-date the October budget changes.

New South Wales: According to the NSW Government (9 June 2026), stranded patients rose from 871 in March 2025 to 1,276 in March 2026 — a 46% increase in one year. Patients waiting for an NDIS placement rose from 274 to 328 over the same period.

South Australia: Michael West Media reports 488 older patients stranded in hospital beds waiting for aged care, up from about 60 in October 2022 — roughly an eightfold increase in four years.

Western Australia: Michael West Media reports an 84% increase in stranded patients between mid-2025 and mid-2026.

Queensland: ABC News reported that more than 1,400 patients in Queensland hospitals were waiting to be discharged to aged care or NDIS placements as of April 2026 — the highest number nationally, around three-quarters of them older patients.

Michael West Media also reports that the Royal Darwin and Palmerston Hospitals declared Code Yellow — a hospital capacity emergency — for the first time, with aged care bed block cited as the key cause.

This is not new. In 2022, the Summer Foundation reported about 1,430 NDIS participants stuck in hospital, and then-NDIS Minister Bill Shorten warned that bed block was costing state hospital systems about $1.5 billion a year. The roughly 1,140 NDIS participants stranded today is not higher than that earlier figure. Most of the recent growth in overall numbers appears to come from older Australians waiting for aged care — in NSW, for example, the total rose by more than 400 patients while the NDIS-related group rose by 54.

---

The Economics: Who Is Actually Saving Money?

The government's rationale for the NDIS reforms is fiscal sustainability, with savings estimated at about $38 billion over four years.

The hospital stranding data raises a pointed question about where those savings actually land.

Michael West Media reports that a hospital bed costs between $2,000 and $3,500 per day, and argues it is cheaper to fund someone to live at home than to keep them in a hospital bed. The figure this article uses for NDIS-funded round-the-clock community support is about $1,765 per day; ICANReady has not independently verified it, and costs vary widely between individuals.

The costs are paid from different budgets: the NDIS is Commonwealth-funded; hospitals are state-funded. When community support is delayed or insufficient, the participant can stay in hospital, and the cost falls on the state health system.

The Summer Foundation's CEO, Di Winkler, told Michael West Media that the number one reason NDIS participants remain in hospital for months and years is that the NDIS approval process is simply too slow.

Advocates warn the October reductions could add another layer to this dynamic. The budgets being reduced — social, economic and community participation, and improved daily living skills — fund some of the community-based and skills-building supports that help participants stay well at home. Some supports within these categories, including disability-related health supports, are excluded from the reductions, and the NDIA has published a list of what is not affected. How many participants will be affected, and how, will only become clear as plans are reassessed or renewed through to September 2027.

Critics argue that, for people at the margin between hospital and community, savings on the NDIS side may simply move costs to state hospital systems — from prevention to crisis, from community to hospital. The data to test that claim does not exist yet.

---

What the October Cuts Are Actually Cutting

The October 2026 support determination reduces two NDIS budget categories:

1. Social, Economic and Community Participation — reduced by 50% as plans are created, reassessed or renewed. Typical supports in this category include help to take part in community activities and programs that maintain social connection. Some participants report using this budget to attend medical appointments, so check the NDIA's list of supports not affected to see how your own supports are classified.

2. Improved Daily Living Skills — reduced by 10%. This category covers a range of therapy and skills-building supports, but disability-related health supports and other listed supports are excluded.

For participants at the boundary between hospital and community — those who need complex, regular allied health input to maintain the capacity to live at home — advocates argue these are not discretionary supports but the ones that make community living possible. Participants who receive 24-hour funded NDIS supports may be able to use the new high support needs variation pathway, which has its own conditions: see our guide to the 24-hour support safeguard.

A person with acquired brain injury who needs weekly OT support to manage daily living tasks. A person with progressive neurological disease whose physio keeps them mobile enough to remain at home. A person with complex mental health needs whose community program provides the structured support that prevents crisis and hospitalisation.

For these participants, advocates say, a reduction in therapy or community participation funding can change the trajectory of their care — which is why the specifics of each plan, and what is and is not excluded, matter.

---

The NDIS Assessment, Hospital Discharge, and Your Rights

For NDIS participants who are currently in hospital — or who have recently been discharged — there are practical considerations for preparation. The NDIA's version of the I-CAN v6 process has not been published in full, so how assessments for people in hospital will be handled has not been confirmed. Ask the NDIA directly.

If you are in hospital when your assessment or plan review is due: Ask the NDIA how it will handle your situation. The assessment is about your support needs in daily life, so be ready to describe what you need at home and in the community — not only what happens in hospital — and ask your advocate or Support Coordinator to raise this with the NDIA.

Hospital length of stay affects evidence. If you have been in hospital for an extended period, your most recent functional reports may predate your hospital admission. Request updated allied health assessments that reflect your current functional status and discharge support needs.

Discharge support should be reflected in your plan. If your NDIS plan does not fund the supports needed for safe discharge, you can ask the NDIA for a plan variation or an unscheduled plan reassessment where there has been a significant and ongoing change in your circumstances, support needs or functional capacity. If a decision about your plan is one the NDIA treats as reviewable, you can also ask for an internal review. Seek support from a disability advocate if the NDIA's process is delaying your discharge.

For participants at risk of hospitalisation: The October reductions may affect your access to supports that currently maintain your health and independence. If you believe they have increased your risk of hospitalisation or health deterioration, document this specifically — including what your allied health team says about the consequences of reduced funding. The NDIA has said the budget reductions themselves are not a reviewable decision, so you cannot ask for an internal review of the reduction. What you can do is ask for a plan reassessment or variation if your circumstances or support needs have significantly and continuously changed, check whether your supports are on the NDIA's list of those not affected, and, if you receive 24-hour funded supports, check whether you qualify for the high support needs variation pathway. A disability advocate, for example through DANA, can help.

---

What This Means for Preparation

The hospital stranding data points to something advocates have long argued about the relationship between community support funding and health outcomes: for many participants, adequate NDIS support is a health necessity, not a lifestyle choice.

When you prepare for your I-CAN v6 assessment, describing your community participation and daily living support needs is not asking for extras. It is describing the support that keeps you out of hospital, maintains your health, and allows you to live in the community rather than in an institution.

The assessors who will conduct I-CAN v6 assessments from April 2027 will ask structured questions about your daily functioning. Your answers will help shape your plan. Critics argue that a plan that under-funds community and therapy supports may not save money overall, because costs can move to hospitals. Whatever the wider debate, an accurate account of your needs is what protects you.

Document what your community participation supports make possible — and what happens when they are unavailable. This is the most honest, most accurate, and most protective account you can give.

---

Sources: Michael West Media, "Stranded. Thousands in hospital beds as NDIS cuts bite home support" (7 October 2026); NSW Government, "State government plan to address Commonwealth government bed block" (9 June 2026); ABC News, "Number of patients stuck in Queensland hospital beds rises to 1,400" (1 September 2026); The Conversation, "NDIS participants are left waiting for too long in hospital beds due to bureaucratic delays" (2022); NDIA, Changes to support budgets from 1 October (1 October 2026). ICANReady has not independently verified the South Australian and Western Australian figures reported by Michael West Media.

ICANReady helps NDIS participants articulate their functional support needs across the 12 I-CAN v6 domains. It does not provide medical or legal advice. If your NDIS plan affects your ability to be discharged from hospital or to live safely in the community, seek urgent support from a disability advocate through DANA (dana.org.au).