September gave providers plenty to put in the diary and very little reason to close it. The new pricing powers were used for the first time, payroll picked up one immediate change and another December deadline, and the Commission announced a portal transition with homework attached. Meanwhile, the October budget changes moved from a broad announcement to the detail that determines what a participant can actually keep receiving.
Here is the month in practical terms, with the position checked at publication on 3 October. Some of the dates in our August edition have moved, so the calendar below replaces those earlier reminders.
The price limits now have a Minister’s signature
On 24 September, the Minister made the first NDIS pricing determination under the powers introduced by August’s legislation. It took effect immediately. The NDIA said the limits aligned with its previously published pricing guidance, so this announcement did not bring a fresh across-the-board increase. The change was the legal footing of the limits. The pricing announcement (opens in a new tab) explains the decision.
For NDIA-managed and plan-managed supports, the current pricing schedules (opens in a new tab) set the maximum payable amounts. Check the item, region and date of service when reviewing a claim, and keep the participant’s agreed rate alongside the cap. A new document date is not, by itself, an instruction to increase an invoice.
Differentiated pricing for registered and unregistered providers remained under consultation during September. The Annual Pricing Review recommended a 1 January 2027 start, but the September announcement did not introduce that change. Keep it in your forecasts as a proposal until the final arrangements are published.
Four cents a kilometre belongs in September’s payroll
The SCHADS and Aged Care Award vehicle allowance temporarily increased from $1.01 to $1.05 per kilometre, starting with the first full pay period on or after 1 September 2026. It runs until 28 February 2027. This covers eligible employees required and authorised to use their own vehicle for work. The Fair Work Ombudsman's notice (opens in a new tab) includes an example of how the pay-period timing works.
Check the September pay runs that have already gone out, including any rate held separately in an expense or mileage system. Four cents looks small until it has been multiplied across a month’s travel and a whole workforce. Keep employee reimbursement and participant travel charging as separate checks; changing the payroll allowance does not establish what a particular participant has agreed to pay.
December’s pay rise needs a classification check
The Fair Work Commission’s 11 September decision confirmed the next step for home-care employees performing disability care under Schedule E of the SCHADS Award. Their minimum award rates increase by up to 15 per cent from the first full pay period on or after 1 December 2026. The wider classification changes and any remaining increases follow from the first full pay period on or after 1 October 2027. The Fair Work update published on 21 September (opens in a new tab) sets out the timing and links to the new pay guide.
Start with a list of the employees actually covered by those classifications. A worker’s job title alone will not tell payroll which increase applies. Model the affected roster costs and prepare the correct rates before December’s first pay run.
The NDIA’s September pricing announcement also said the 2026-27 Pricing Schedule would be updated later in the year to reflect any required award changes. That is a reason to watch for the next schedule, not to assume today’s NDIS caps have already increased by the same percentage.
October’s budget changes now have a working checklist
September’s NDIA guidance put more detail around the reductions covered in our August edition. The published changes are 50 per cent for affected social, economic and community participation funding and 10 per cent for affected improved daily living skills funding. They apply as new or reassessed plans begin from 1 October 2026, and to plan renewals from 1 February 2027. Participants can continue using their existing plan and supports until their plan changes. The department's funding guide (opens in a new tab) explains the sequence.
The exclusions matter when reading an individual plan. The NDIA lists employment supports, disability-related health supports, high intensity supports, intensive and complex behaviour supports, customised and wearable technology, and hearing services among the unaffected groups within those categories. Other parts of a participant’s plan are outside these reductions. Its budget-change notice and excluded-support list (opens in a new tab), updated for commencement on 1 October, are the useful references.
There is also a new variation pathway for participants receiving 24-hour funded disability support who meet the eligibility criteria. The published budget threshold is $215,030 before the reset, across Assistance with Daily Life, Home and Living, and Assistance with Social, Economic and Community Participation combined. Check the full conditions before treating a participant as eligible.
The office task is to identify upcoming plan changes, separate affected funding from excluded supports, and discuss what the actual new budget can sustain. A blanket reduction to everyone’s roster would miss those distinctions. Keep the participant involved in the service-agreement conversation before changing the supports you deliver.
Another portal, and some drafts will not come with you
The Commission’s September newsletter confirmed that its new provider portal launches on 12 October 2026. The existing portal continues alongside it during the transition. Active users are to receive access automatically; the Commission asked providers to review access lists by 1 October because later changes might not be reflected at launch. If your team changed after that date, put an access check on the launch-day list. The September Commission newsletter (opens in a new tab) carries the announcement.
The task-by-task portal guide (opens in a new tab) has the details worth giving to the people who do the work:
- Start new activities in the new portal; finish existing work in the old one where directed.
- Unsubmitted registration applications and draft behaviour support plans will be removed from the old portal on 12 October. Re-registration drafts are retained.
- Incidents lodged before 12 October stay in the existing portal, including their follow-up reporting. New incidents go through the new portal.
- Registered-provider worker screening tasks move to the new portal.
- Check staff roles after launch. Accounts are managed separately in each portal, so access changes may need to be made in both.
Give each outstanding draft and reporting task an owner now. Finding the right login is manageable. Discovering that the only copy of an unfinished application has gone is a worse start to a Monday.
The SIL transition reached its deadline
The Commission used its 30 September newsletter to give a final reminder to existing unregistered SIL providers: lodge the registration application within the transition deadline if you intend to continue. September was the last preparation month.
For October delivery, check registration or application status before treating the invoice as ready. The NDIA says providers who applied can continue claiming under registration group 0138 while their application is assessed. Those who did not apply by 1 October can only claim for services delivered up to 30 September 2026. Providers are encouraged to put their registration or application number on invoices. The SIL claiming guidance (opens in a new tab) sets out what plan managers should check.
Keep the application evidence with your provider records and make sure the people preparing invoices can find it. If registration status leaves service continuity uncertain, contact the Commission and NDIA promptly so participants can get support with the transition.
The regulator wrote to 285,000 providers
On 4 September, the Commission announced that it had written to more than 285,000 unregistered providers, including sole traders, about their Code of Conduct obligations. Registration status does not remove those obligations. Safe delivery, integrity and respect for participants apply across the market. The Commission's notice (opens in a new tab) makes its enforcement position clear.
The end of the month brought a more specific reminder. A 30 September provider alert on respectful online conduct addresses abusive commentary, privacy and participant dignity. Bring social media and staff-group behaviour into the same supervision conversations as conduct on a shift. The online-conduct alert announcement (opens in a new tab) explains why the Commission is treating this as a safeguarding issue.
There was a local development too: the Commission announced a 12-month Community Check-In pilot in the Northern Territory, which began on 1 September. Local disability advocates will gather participant and community feedback to help identify harm and service disruption earlier. Providers working in those communities should be familiar with the pilot and its advocacy pathways (opens in a new tab).
More claims are being checked before the money moves
On 23 September, the government reported that integrity interventions had prevented $1.2 billion in fraudulent and non-compliant payments between November 2022 and June 2026, with a further $900 million redirected towards legitimate supports. Those are cumulative figures, rather than a September result.
For providers, the more useful detail is where the checks happen. Over the preceding two financial years, more than 265,000 high-risk claims were reviewed before payment, and more than 135,000 were rejected. These figures describe a selected high-risk group, not the rejection rate for ordinary NDIS claims. The integrity update (opens in a new tab) sets out the figures and the expanding use of evidence checks.
The practical response is familiar: make the service date, worker record, support delivered, agreement and invoice tell the same story. Resolve missing evidence while the work is recent. A payment query is much easier to answer when nobody has to reconstruct the shift from memory.
Planning is being tested, coordination is being redesigned
The NDIA’s 28 September update confirmed that new framework planning is being tested ahead of rollout in April 2027. Participant feedback has led to work on clearer preparation information, better explanations of what happens next and more support during testing. The testing update (opens in a new tab) is the current reference for that timetable.
A separate consultation opened on 7 September for the proposed commissioned Support Coordination and Connection service, intended to begin on 1 July 2028. It closed on 2 October, just before this edition was published. The design remains a government decision following consultation. The consultation page (opens in a new tab) records the scope and next steps. Existing service arrangements still need to be managed under the rules that apply now.
One calendar correction from August: consultation on new framework planning and NDIS supports closes on 14 October, rather than 10 October. The department has also deferred consultation on social and community participation and capacity-building market reforms, with further timing to come. Use the planning consultation (opens in a new tab) and department's reform update (opens in a new tab) when refreshing your diary.
Circle these dates
- Already effective from September’s first eligible pay period: the temporary $1.05 vehicle allowance. Check completed payroll as well as the next run.
- 1 October 2026: support-budget changes began for new and reassessed plans, and the SIL registration transition reached its next stage.
- 12 October 2026: the new Commission portal opens. Resolve the affected drafts before this date.
- 14 October 2026: new framework planning and NDIS supports consultation closes.
- 27 November 2026: the ban on provider kickbacks and inducements begins, according to the updated reform timeline (opens in a new tab).
- 1 December 2026: the 90-day claiming window begins. The Schedule E minimum-pay increase starts with the first full pay period on or after this date. The NDIS implementation guide (opens in a new tab) confirms the claiming change.
- 28 February 2027: the temporary vehicle-allowance period ends.
Where OneForce Care fits
A short word on our end, because September’s recurring theme was the gap between a policy announcement and the records needed to act on it. OneForce Care brings participant plans, service agreements, rosters, delivered work, travel, notes, invoices and payment records into the same workflow. Our searchable support catalogue also gives your team a quick reference for support codes and regional price limits, alongside the official source.
Keep your classifications, agreements and participant budgets under review as the changes arrive. Software can make those records easier to work with; the conversation with the participant still belongs to you.
If September left your team with three calendars and no clear owner for the deadline, that is worth a conversation.