Disclaimer: This article reflects publicly available information as at 26 October 2026. It is for general information only and does not constitute legal, financial or disability support advice. For advocacy and submission support, contact PWDA, DANA or a disability advocate.

The public consultation on the rules that will govern NDIS new framework planning ran from 19 August to 14 October 2026, and it has now closed. If you read our earlier article on the closing date, this is the follow-up: what People with Disability Australia (PWDA) told the government in its submission, published on 19 October, and what happens next.

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What the Consultation Covered

The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing consulted on four of the eight rules for new framework planning, plus updates to the NDIS Supports Transitional Rule:

• how a participant's disability support needs will be assessed
• how reasonable and necessary budgets will be developed
• how a participant can use their plan
• how a new framework plan can be changed

New framework planning is expected to begin from 1 April 2027 and roll out gradually. Until you move to the new system, you keep using your current plan.

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What PWDA Told the Government

PWDA said it welcomes greater transparency, longer plan durations and more flexible funding. But it also reported a serious lack of confidence in the community. In a PWDA member survey, 89% of respondents said the new rules would make the NDIS experience somewhat or significantly worse for participants. The worry is that standardised assessments and rigid budgets may not reflect people's individual circumstances and changing needs.

PWDA made 27 recommendations. Its main call is that the government and the NDIA should thoroughly test the entire assessment and budgeting process before the rules are finalised, with people with disability involved in designing and testing it. PWDA's six key areas were:

1. Test before finalising. Test the full pathway with people with a wide range of disabilities and circumstances, and publish the results.
2. Assessments that reflect individual needs. Make assessments accessible, consider existing medical and professional evidence, and let participants check their assessment before it is finalised.
3. Transparent funding decisions. Explain how each budget was calculated, and publish regular information about outcomes for different groups.
4. Protect rights when plans change. Allow a request for reassessment when a variation would not address the person's circumstances, give written reasons, and set clear timeframes for urgent changes.
5. Flexible support categories. Categories should not become rigid spending limits.
6. Choice and control. Limit when the NDIA can require "stated supports", and keep exceptions for disability-related everyday items.

Three of the individual recommendations are especially relevant if you are preparing for an I-CAN v6 assessment:

• A public explanation of the "I-CAN 6 scoring-to-funding logic", so participants can understand how an assessment leads to a budget (Recommendation 4).
• Validation evidence that the combined pathway — a core assessment, the Personal and Environmental Circumstances Questionnaire (PECQ) and a targeted assessment — is reliable across disability types, communication methods and fluctuating or complex needs (Recommendation 5).
• Clarity on decision timeframes for urgent plan variations and reassessments, and on what funding or support continues while a decision is pending (Recommendation 16).

These connect to concerns we covered in our analysis of the I-CAN v6 validation questions. The NDIA's version of the assessment has not been published, so none of these questions can yet be tested against the final tool.

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What Comes Next

• Further consultation. The Department has said draft versions of all eight rules will be released for further consultation later in 2026. PWDA has asked that this round let the community look at the rules as one system, including the complete assessment-to-budget pathway, rather than commenting on components before the operative detail is available (Recommendation 2).
• Testing. The NDIA is running a voluntary, paid testing programme between July and December 2026 to refine the new planning process before rollout.
• Rollout. New framework planning is expected to begin from 1 April 2027. The NDIA has said it will contact you before anything changes for your plan.

Nothing here is final. The rules, and the tool they depend on, can still change.

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The Children's Gap: A Separate Warning

On 19 October, Wesley Mission told a NSW Parliamentary Inquiry on foundational supports for children and young people that children aged nine and over with low to moderate support needs risk being left behind. Wesley Mission's Managing Director of Community Services, Bay Warburton, said Thriving Kids, which is for children aged eight and under, is welcome, but that older children could fall into a gap when NDIS changes take effect in January 2028. Wesley Mission is asking the NSW Government to start a funded design process in 2027 for foundational supports for school-aged children.

It helps to be precise about what governments have said. The published position is that the child-specific changes to NDIS access from 1 January 2028 are limited to children aged eight and under with developmental delay and/or autism who have low to moderate support needs, and that children already in the NDIS before that date will be reassessed under the criteria in place before 2028. Wesley Mission's concern is about what happens for older children, and whether services exist for those who lose, or cannot get, NDIS funding.

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What You Can Do Now

Watch for the exposure drafts. They are expected later this year, and that will be the next chance to comment. The Department's consultation page and the advocacy organisations below are the places to watch.

Read PWDA's submission. It sets out all 27 recommendations in full on PWDA's website.

Connect with advocacy organisations. PWDA, DANA and Inclusion Australia are tracking these rules and can help you take part in future consultations.

Build your evidence base. Whatever the final rules say, the most protective thing you can do is build a thorough, specific, functional evidence base before your assessment. The rules will shape how that evidence is used, but the evidence is the part you control.

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What This Means for Your Preparation

There is a real tension in preparing for an assessment whose operating rules are not final. The rules could provide meaningful protection for individual circumstances, or they could produce a rigid system with limited human oversight. Which way it goes is still being decided.

For participants preparing for I-CAN v6, the practical message is unchanged: specific evidence and thorough documentation of your genuine functional needs are your strongest protection under any version of the rules. And the next round of consultation is a chance to say what you need those rules to do.

Related Reading

• NDIS New Framework Planning Rules: The Consultation Closing 14 October
• The I-CAN v6 Algorithm Under Scrutiny: What the Validation Questions Mean for Participants

Try ICANReady free →

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Sources: PWDA, Submission on New Framework Planning and NDIS Supports (19 October 2026); Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, New Framework Planning and NDIS Supports Consultation; Wesley Mission, media release (19 October 2026); NSW Department of Communities and Justice, Thriving Kids FAQ.

ICANReady is an independent preparation tool for the NDIS I-CAN v6 assessment. It does not provide legal or financial advice. For advocacy and submission support, contact PWDA or DANA.