Since 1 October the NDIA can suspend your plan if it cannot reach you. Here is the test it must meet first

On 1 October 2026 a new section 40A of the NDIS Act commenced. If the Agency has tried to reach a participant for information or reports and cannot, the chief executive may suspend a participant’s plan. Before that, the Act requires at least 5 attempts by the person’s preferred form of contact, with the last at least 3 months and no more than 4 months after the first. While a plan is suspended, nothing is paid for supports bought during the suspension. Make contact within 90 days and the Agency must respond within 28 days. The decision is reviewable, and a review request must be made within 3 months of the notice. The practical step: keep your contact details, and your nominee’s, current with the Agency, and answer requests for information.

5 October 2026 Act, compilation and EM read 5 Oct 2026 9 primary sources

This is general information about what the law says, not legal advice about anyone’s plan. Where to get help is at the end.

Who this could affect

The power is narrow on its face. Section 40A(1) says the chief executive may suspend a plan if the CEO is satisfied that, first, the CEO has made reasonable attempts to contact the participant for the purposes of making a request under section 36 or 50 for information or reports, and second, the participant is not contactable. Both limbs must be met. Sections 36 and 50 are the Act’s powers to ask for information or reports when preparing, varying or reassessing a plan. So the people in scope are those the Agency is trying to reach about their plan and cannot.

The verb is may. Nothing in section 40A requires the chief executive to suspend a plan when the test is met.

The Revised Explanatory Memorandum explains why the government wanted the power. Without it, the memorandum says, a plan continues to be extended, without the Agency having any insight into the status or wellbeing of the participant, which it describes as a risk to the participant and an integrity issue for the Agency. The memorandum also says the chief executive currently cannot suspend a plan where a participant refuses to engage in a plan reassessment process but is otherwise contactable. The operative text of section 40A covers the second case only: a participant who is not contactable.

What counts as a reasonable attempt

The Act does not leave this to the Agency. Subsection 40A(1A) says who must be contacted: the participant, unless they have a nominee, in which case the participant’s nominee, or, with no nominee, another authorised contact or representative. Subsection 40A(1B) then sets the minimum:

at least 5 attempts have been made to contact the person using the person’s preferred form of contact;
the last of those attempts was made at least 3 months, and not more than 4 months, after the first of those attempts; and
if the person’s preferred form of contact is not in writing, at least one additional attempt in writing between the first and the last.

Subsection 40A(1C) is the safeguard for people who could not have answered. When the person being contacted is the participant, an attempt does not count if, before suspending the plan, the CEO becomes aware that at the time the attempt was made, the participant was in the care of a hospital or other institution, or experiencing homelessness.

Note the condition: the chief executive has to become aware. The Revised Explanatory Memorandum says so directly: There is not a positive obligation on the CEO to investigate whether one of the above applies to the participant, but the CEO will rely on existing mechanisms, including notification by a person on behalf of a participant or information gained through hospital liaison officers and justice liaison officers. If someone you support has been in hospital, in custody or without a home, telling the Agency is what brings this subsection into play.

One transitional rule matters now. Item 87(2) of the amending Act says the chief executive may have regard to reasonable attempts made to contact the participant before, on or after the day this item commences. Attempts made before 1 October can count towards the 5, so the 3 month span does not mean no suspension can happen until 2027.

What you must be told, and what happens to the money

If the chief executive decides to suspend, subsection 40A(2) says the CEO must give the participant a written notice of the decision, specifying the day on which the suspension takes effect, and the plan is suspended from that day. Because the decision is now a reviewable decision (new item 5A in the table in subsection 99(1)), section 100 also applies: the decision-maker must give written notice of the reviewable decision, and of the reasons for the reviewable decision, including a statement that the person may ask for a review. Subsection 100(8) adds that failing to give that notice does not affect the decision’s validity or the right to ask for review.

The effect is set by section 41, which now lists section 40A among the ways a statement of participant supports is suspended. Subsection 41(2) says the plan remains in effect but, during the period of suspension:

a person is not entitled to be paid NDIS amounts so far as the amounts relate to supports that are acquired or provided during that period;
the Agency is not required to provide or fund other supports under the plan, but is not prevented from doing so if the CEO considers it appropriate; and
the participant cannot request a variation under subsection 47A(2) or a reassessment under subsection 48(2).

Subsection 41(3) lets the NDIS rules say when particular supports are taken to be, or not to be, acquired or provided during a suspension. For providers and plan managers, the plain consequence of 41(2)(a) is that supports delivered on or after the date in the notice are not payable from the plan while it lasts.

The clocks, if you make contact

Subsection 40A(3): If the participant contacts the Agency within 90 days after the suspension decision is made, the CEO must, within 28 days of the contact, do one of the things mentioned in subsection (4). Those two things are to decide to cease the suspension and give written notice, or to make a request under section 36 or 50 for information or reports. A suspension ceases at the time the CEO makes the decision (subsection 40A(5)). If the information requested arrives within the period in the request, the 28 day decision applies again (subsection 40A(6)).

If it does not arrive, subsection 40A(7) says the suspension continues until the participant contacts the Agency or the CEO revokes the participant’s status as a participant, whichever happens sooner. The Act sets no fixed maximum length for a suspension.

Contact after 90 days is weaker. Subsection 40A(8) says the chief executive may (but need not) act as if the 90 day rule applied.

After 90 days: the revocation power

The same Part inserts subsection 30(1A). The chief executive may also revoke a person’s status as a participant if satisfied of either of two things: the same failed-contact test, or that the participant’s plan has been suspended under section 40A for at least 90 days. The contact test for revocation (subsections 30(1B) to (1D)) sets out the 5 attempts, the 3 to 4 month span and the hospital, institution and homelessness rule in the same terms as section 40A. Revocation needs written notice of the date it takes effect (subsection 30(7)) and is itself a reviewable decision (subsection 99(1), item 3).

Revocation is not a lifetime bar. Subparagraph 19(2)(b)(ii) now covers revocation under 30(1A), so the person may make another access request at any time, unless a review of the revocation has started and not been finally decided.

The Revised Explanatory Memorandum’s own worked example, Cyrus, runs the whole path: 5 attempts by email, his preferred method, over 4 months, then telephone and letter, no response, suspension, and As Cyrus does not contact the Agency over the next 90 days, a decision is made to revoke his status as an NDIS participant. Its other example, Sheridan, was making regular self-managed claims when her plan was suspended, and can no longer access NDIS supports until she contacts the Agency. Still claiming from a plan does not, in the memorandum’s example, stop the power applying.

Review rights and the 3 month window

A suspension under subsection 40A(1) is now item 5A of the reviewable decisions table, and the Act’s own note to section 40A(1) says so. Under subsection 100(2), a person directly affected must make the request within 3 months after receiving the notice. A request can be in writing or by phone or in person (subsection 100(3)). Without rules setting another period, the reviewer must decide within 90 days (paragraph 100(6A)(b)).

Two points to have straight. Asking for review does not pause the suspension: subsection 100(7) says a request does not affect the operation of the decision. And the quicker route back is usually the one in section 40A itself: contact the Agency, which starts the 28 day clock. After internal review, section 103 allows an application to the Administrative Review Tribunal.

What the government’s own summary says, beside the Act

The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing published a fact sheet on 15 July 2026 describing the House amendments that added the contact test. Two of its sentences sit differently from the Act’s text.

The Department’s July 2026 fact sheet and the Act, side by side
Fact sheet, 15 July 2026	The Act as in force from 1 October 2026
These attempts to contact the participant will not count if the participant is in hospital or an institution or is experiencing homelessness.	s 40A(1C): an attempt does not count if, before suspending the plan, the CEO becomes aware that at the time the attempt was made, the participant was in the care of a hospital or other institution, or experiencing homelessness.
A participant’s status as a participant can also be revoked if their plan has been suspended for at least 90 days and they are not contactable.	s 30(1A): revocation if the CEO is satisfied of the failed-contact test or that the participant’s plan has been suspended under section 40A for at least 90 days.

Our view, labelled as opinion and built on the two columns above: the fact sheet’s first sentence leaves out the condition that does the work. In the Act, a hospital stay or homelessness discounts an attempt only if the chief executive becomes aware of it before suspending, and the Explanatory Memorandum says there is no duty to find out. A family reading the fact sheet could reasonably think the protection is automatic. It is not, which is why telling the Agency matters. The second sentence joins with and two grounds the Act joins with or.

What we could and could not check

The NDIA’s website blocks automated reading, so we could not check whether it has published guidance on how it will use plan suspension. We make no claim either way, and we will read it when we can.

On the Department’s side, in the documents we read on 5 October 2026: its Securing the NDIS for future generations timeline PDF, dated September 2026, has no plan suspension entry, and its 1 October entry lists the Thriving Kids rollout, the budget reset for two support groups and a new plan variation pathway. Its frequently asked questions page, updated 2 October 2026, does not mention suspension.

The Revised Explanatory Memorandum gives the reason the Part did not start in August. The delay, it says, will allow the Agency to operationally prepare for these changes including providing additional training and guidance for delegates and communicating changes with participants.

This story covers the 1 October tranche’s plan suspension Part. The other half of that tranche, support determinations, is in our reading of section 34A and the two instruments made under it. The full commencement timetable is in every date the Act changes; the next tranche is the prohibition on inducements, on 20 November 2026. For how internal review and the Tribunal work, see our explainer on NDIS review rights.

Where to get help

If you have been sent a notice, or think the Agency may be trying to reach you, contact the NDIA directly. Under subsection 40A(3) it is contact with the Agency that starts the 28 day clock.

For free, independent help, the Department names the Disability Advocacy Support Helpline, delivered by Advocacy Law Alliance, on 1800 643 787 or thehelpline@advocacylaw.org.au. It says the helpline can help people understand their rights with government services and programs like Centrelink and the NDIS. If an internal review does not resolve it, the Department’s NDIS Appeals Program funds free advocates, and in some cases legal representation, for people taking an NDIA decision to the Administrative Review Tribunal. The program requires that an internal review has been completed first.

Primary sources

Federal Register of Legislation, National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Act 2026, No. 66, 2026, C2026A00066 (authorised PDF as made, 151 pages, downloaded and read 5 Oct 2026): the commencement table giving 1 October 2026 for Schedule 1 Part 7; Part 7 in full, items 77 to 87, including new subsections 30(1A) to (1D), the replacement subsection 32D(5), new section 40A with subsections (1) to (8) and its note, new paragraph 41(1)(aaa), the amendments to subsection 99(1) items 3 and 5A, and the application and transitional provisions in item 87.
Federal Register of Legislation, National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013, Compilation No. 27, C2026C00401 (authorised PDF, 470 pages, compilation date 19 September 2026, read 5 Oct 2026): the existing text that Part 7 amends and relies on, namely subsection 19(2), section 30, section 36, section 41 including subsections (2) and (3), the subsection 99(1) table, section 100 including subsections (1), (1A), (2), (3), (6A), (7) and (8), and subsection 103(1).
Federal Register of Legislation, data interface, current version of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (queried 5 Oct 2026): the version in force from 1 October 2026 to 20 November 2026, with no register identifier or compilation number, flagged as having unincorporated amendments, and listing its reason as Schedule 1 items 34 to 34G and 77 to 86 of Act No. 66 of 2026.
Parliament of Australia, Senate, National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026, Revised Explanatory Memorandum (PDF, downloaded and read 5 Oct 2026): the commencement table and its stated reason for delaying Schedule 1 Part 7 to 1 October 2026; the general outline of Part 7 and the notes on items 77 to 87, including the passage on there being no positive obligation to investigate, and the worked examples Sheridan and Cyrus.
Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, Changes to the NDIS Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026, fact sheet (publication date 15 July 2026, read 5 Oct 2026): the section headed Plan suspensions and revocation, quoted in the side-by-side table.
Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, Securing the NDIS for future generations timeline (PDF dated September 2026, publication page dated 17 September 2026, read 5 Oct 2026): the 1 October 2026 entry and the absence of any plan suspension entry.
Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, frequently asked questions about the legislation (date last updated 2 October 2026, read 5 Oct 2026): searched in full; the word suspension does not appear.
Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, Disability Advocacy Support Helpline (date last updated 21 July 2026, read 5 Oct 2026): what the helpline does, who delivers it, and its phone number and email address.
Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, NDIS Appeals Program (date last updated 6 August 2026, read 5 Oct 2026): what the program provides, that it is free, and that an internal review must be completed before it can be accessed.

Methodology

The authorised compilation of the NDIS Act that incorporates the 1 October amendments was not yet registered when we checked on 5 October 2026: the Register’s data interface shows the version in force from 1 October with no compilation number and with unincorporated amendments. So every provision quoted here is read from the amending Act, C2026A00066, Schedule 1 Part 7, applied to Compilation No. 27, C2026C00401, the latest compiled text. Where a quoted subsection is new (30(1A) to (1D), 32D(5), 40A, 41(1)(aaa) and item 5A of subsection 99(1)) the words are the amending Act’s. Where it is unchanged (19(2), 41(2) and (3), 100 and 103) the words are the compilation’s. Section numbers are to the NDIS Act 2013.

Quotations are verbatim. Where we summarise a provision rather than quote it, we have kept its verb: may stays may, and must stays must. Where the Explanatory Memorandum and the Act word the same safeguard differently (the memorandum says before the suspension comes into effect; the Act says before suspending the plan), we quote the Act.

The NDIA’s website, www.ndis.gov.au, and its guidelines site, ourguidelines.ndis.gov.au, return a bot verification page to automated requests, a constraint we have recorded since August 2026. We do not try to get around it. We therefore make no statement about what the NDIA has or has not published on plan suspension. The statements about what the Department’s timeline and frequently asked questions do not contain are limited to those two documents, as they stood on 5 October 2026.

We have not sought comment from the Agency, the Department or the minister. This is a reading of published documents, not an account of how the power is being used.

Spotted an error, or has the NDIA published guidance on plan suspension? Tell us and we will check it against the Act and log the outcome here.