Provider Update, October 2026: the NDIS register in numbers and what changed
JBy Jarrod, Editor · Published 4 October 2026 · See editorial standards
This is the web edition of the Provider Update, the monthly email for NDIS providers, issue No. 1. The Commission register was re-read on 2 October 2026; every item below is dated and links its source.
The register this month
- 27,250 approved providers on the register (+73 since 1 September 2026).
- 3,399 have a period of registration ending within six months (+169); 1,741 are past the in-force date shown while still listed as Approved, which may mean a renewal is under way rather than a lapse.
- 596 entered the six-month renewal window since the 1 September 2026 read; 206 renewed in the same period; 261 providers are new on the register and 188 have gone from it.
Source: NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission provider register, read 2 October 2026 (status filter Approved). Counts are ProviderScout’s own compilation of the public register, using a 183-day window from 4 October 2026, and can differ from the Commission’s published totals. Your own date is on the free check page.
Correction, 5 October 2026: this update first said the ban on kickbacks and inducements starts 27 November, the date shown on the department’s reform timeline. The Act’s commencement table gives 20 November 2026, and the Federal Register of Legislation lists the same date. The item below now follows the Act. The department’s timeline still read 27 November when we checked on 5 October 2026.
What changed
- 1 Oct 2026 The 1 October SIL registration date. Providers delivering supported independent living had to be registered or to have applied before 1 October 2026. On the same day the NDIA said it had updated its SIL operational guideline to reflect recent changes to SIL provider registration requirements. What the Rules say from that date, including for applications still in progress, is on the deadline page. Read the deadline page · NDIA notice on the guideline
- 4 Sep 2026 More than 285,000 letters from the regulator. The Commission says it wrote to more than 285,000 unregistered providers identified through NDIS plan payments: the Code of Conduct applies whether or not you register. Commission release · What the letter signals
Around the sector
- 1 Oct 2026 Support budget reductions. The NDIA says budgets in two categories, social, economic and community participation and improved daily living skills, are reduced as plans are created or reassessed from 1 October 2026 or renewed from 1 February 2027, and that some supports in those categories are not affected. It has also set up a plan variation pathway for participants who receive 24-hour funded supports and whose combined budget for Assistance with Daily Life, Home and Living, and Assistance with Social, Economic and Community Participation is $215,030 or more. NDIA notice
- 1 Oct 2026 Thriving Kids, first phase. The NDIA says expanded information and supports for families of children with extra developmental needs started on 1 October, with all Thriving Kids supports to be in place by 1 January 2028 and no changes to NDIS access or eligibility until 1 January 2028. NDIA notice · Minister's release
- 30 Sep 2026 Provider Alert on conduct online. The Commission's new Provider Alert, Respectful conduct online, reminds providers and workers that obligations under the NDIS Code of Conduct apply online as well as face-to-face, and covers participant privacy, online behaviour and safeguards. Commission notice
- 24 Sep 2026 First ministerial pricing determination. The 2026-27 price limits are now set by the Minister under the new Act. The NDIA says they reflect its June guidance, are effective immediately, and that participants and providers do not need to do anything. Consultation on 2027-28 prices is open until 1 November. NDIA notice · Pricing updates
- 11 Sep 2026 SCHADS Schedule E decision. The Fair Work Commission's decision brings the first phase of increases for home-care disability workers into operation on 1 December 2026; Visory's summary of the decision puts the interim rise at about 15%, deferred from 1 October, with the new classification structure from 1 October 2027. FWC · Minister's 24 Sep release, which reports the decision · Visory summary
- 27 Aug 2026 The new Act, dated. Since 27 August providers must keep claim records for seven years and face new offences for false information and funds obtained by deception. The ban on kickbacks and inducements starts 20 November (corrected 5 October 2026; see the note above). From 1 December the time to claim a support drops from two years to 90 days. The department's timeline says expanded mandatory registration for personal care and daily living supports begins to roll out on 1 July 2027, with every in-scope provider registered by December 2030; no rules for it have been made. Government timeline · NDIA summary
Worth knowing (Checked 4 Oct 2026)
From ProviderScout's registration guides: a worker screening clearance can last up to five years and can be renewed from 90 days before it expires, and the renewal guide sets out when a registration renewal needs to start and what the audit involves. Worker screening · Renewal
Get it by email
Verified Provider and Multi-site subscribers receive this update as part of their plan, with their own listing’s registration status and numbers. Everyone else can have the free edition by asking for it.
How to verify this yourself
- The register: Find a registered provider on the Commission’s site; the counts above are a compilation of that public register.
- Each dated item links the notice it summarises; read the notice, not our sentence, before acting on it.
- Nothing here is legal or financial advice, and nothing on ProviderScout keeps a provider compliant. ProviderScout is not affiliated with the NDIA, the NDIS Commission or the Australian Government.