Major changes are now in effect which change how NDIS funds will be made available in NDIS plans. 

Categories of NDIS funding will be split into instalments over the life of the NDIS plan, with a specified amount made available in "Funding Periods".

Currently the funding period for all supports is 12 months. Now that the PACE system has been updated, the NDIS is expected to change this to shorter periods.

These changes, introduced under Section 33 of the NDIS Act, will affect HOW and WHEN Participants can access their NDIS plan funding budgets.

What are these NDIS changes and who do they affect?

These changes will affect how and when Participants can access their plan budgets. 

Instead of receiving the full budget upfront (and it being available for 12 months), Participants will now have their funding released in smaller instalments over the duration of their plan, called Funding Periods.

These changes will be applied to new NDIS plans and to current Participants' NDIS plans when they are reassessed.

What are Funding Periods in the NDIS?

Funding Periods break the availability of your NDIS funds into instalments. 

NOTE: Currently, funding periods are 12 months.

How often you receive an instalment depends on the type of support. The 3 main Funding Periods will be:

1. Quarterly (every 3 months): funding for most supports will be released quarterly.
2. Monthly: Home and Living supports like Supported Independent Living (SIL) will be usually released monthly
3. Up front: Funding for supports like Assistive Technology or Home Modifications will be released up front to pay for the item. They will typically have a funding period of 12 (months).

For example:
Your new 1 year NDIS plan includeds $48,000 for Assistance with Daily Life. You want to use this to pay for a support worker. 

You will have $12,000 available when your NDIS plan starts and then an additional $12,000 each quarter until the NDIS plan period ends. Any unspent funding will be carried forward and made available in addition to the next instalment. 

When does a Funding Period start?

The Funding Period starts when your NDIS plan starts. It is not linked to a calendar month.

For example:
If your NDIS plan starts on 27 March, this will be the start of your Funding Period. If you have quarterly funding, the next instalment you receive for a support will be 27 June.

What happens if you don't spend your funds in the funding period?

Unused NDIS funds rollover into the next period - they will keep adding up and will be available for the duration of your plan.

But any unused funding at the end of your plan will not be carried over into your next NDIS plan.

For example:
You have $21,000 of funding for Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy in your 1 year NDIS plan. The Funding Period is quarterly.

When your NDIS plan starts, you have $5,250 available. You are unable to find a speech therapist for the first 3 months, so the next Funding Period you have $7,875 available ($5,250 + unused funds of $2,625)

Where can I see the dates of my Funding Periods?

You will be able to see the Funding Periods in your NDIS portal as part of your NDIS PACE plan.

Your endorsed Plan Manager (if you have one) and your endorsed Support Coordinator (if you have one) will also be able to see all of these breakdowns in your NDIS plan.

Each support in your plan will now include the number of funding periods (e.g. 4 or 12) it has. It will specify the dates and amounts of the upcoming funding periods.

It's important that you share this with the Providers you engage as this information will need to be in their service agreements.

Other NDIS providers CANNOT see them.

Claiming for Supports with Funding Periods

When must I claim for my supports?

Claims must match the funding period. If a support spans two periods, it may require two separate claims or split invoices.

The funded amount is made available from the start of each Funding Period so that you can pay your invoices during the funding period.

For example:
Your new NDIS plan starts on 27 March. You engage a support worker from 17 - 31 March.

If you have reached your funding limit in the current period, you will need to claim 2 invoices: one for support delivered 17-27 March and one for support delivered 28-31 March.

What happens if I run out of funds?

Each funding period you will have the amount of funding allocated + any rollover funds. If you 'spend' more than this amount, you can only pay the overspent amount in the next funding period. 

For example:
You have $10,474 of therapy funding in your plan.

This amount will be released quarterly, so you will have $2,618.50 available for therapy each quarter. If your therapy costs more than this, you will not be able to claim it until your next funding period. 

NOTE: If you spend more than this in even one funding period, your funding will not last for the duration of your NDIS plan. 

Ask for a reassessment if you need to change the frequency of funding periods or the amount of funding.

Can I 'borrow' from future Funding Periods?

No. You can only spend the amount you receive in a Funding Period + any rollover funds from previous periods.

In Summary

1. All new NDIS plans will include funding in instalments.
2. If you don't spend the whole instalment during its funding period, it is added (rolled over) to the next Funding Period.
3. Unspent funds are not rolled over to your next plan.
4. Ask for a reassessment if you need to change the frequency of funding periods or the amount of funding.
5. You can see the Funding Periods in your portal and so can your Plan Manager and Support Coordinator. No other Providers can see them.

Sense Check

If you feel like this announcement came out of nowhere, quite frankly you are right. There has been very little information shared by the NDIA about it. The NDIA had to announce the changes because, according to Disability Intermediaries Australia they were working to update PACE all weekend (16-18 May 2025) so that it now shows funding periods. You may have noticed funding periods of 12 (months) which reflects the current setup of 1 year NDIS plans. 

There has been no planning for Providers who will need to update their service agreements and data collection fields. It doesn't make sense to implement quarterly funding periods immediately, but the NDIS does have the habit of doing unexpected things. 

We are watching and waiting.

Important things you need to do

1. Update your Service Agreements
   Make sure that your service agreements/schedule of supports talk about funding periods. You will need to specify this moving forward.
   For example, don't commit to spending more during a funding period than you are receiving for the period.
    
2. Do you have funding for Assessments?
   Make sure you have funding for this upfront.
    
3. Stay Informed
   As we find out more, we will be updating this resource. We will let you know more as we find out more.
    
4. Contact the NDIA
   If you need help, be sure to contact the NDIA.
   If you are having trouble matching your support needs to the Funding Period, contact the NDIA and ask for a plan reassessment.

New Words

• Funding Amounts – This is the total dollar value of a Participants NDIS plan.
   
• Funding Components – These are the categories that make the Participants plan, like Core Supports, Capacity Building, and Capital (assistive technology, home modifications, etc.).
   
• Funding Periods – This is the new part. Funding periods control how much of a Participants plan budget you be accessed at a given time over the course of the plan. So if a participant is approved for a 2 year plan, they might only be able to use 3 months’ worth of that funding at a time. This restricts when a NDIS Participant can spend their NDIS Plan Funds.
   
• Section 33 - Section 33 of the NDIS Act sets out the core requirements of a participant’s plan. Changes to the NDIS Act in 2024 introduced funding periods. The main concept of funding periods is a way for the NDIA to set how often participants can access part of their funding, across the length of their plan, in simple terms its to limit the ability for Participants and their service providers to draw down on big chunks of their funding in very quickly.