From 1 December 2026, NDIS claims have to be made within 90 days of the support being delivered. Until now the limit has been two years. For most participants that sounds like a provider problem, and mostly it is. But a late invoice can still land on your plate, and a few groups need to change how they work now, not in December.
Here is what the law actually says, who it affects, what happens to a claim that misses the window, and one question nobody can fully answer yet. Everything below comes from the NDIS Act, the NDIA's own guidance and notices, and the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. Links are at the end.
What changes on 1 December 2026
The rule lives in section 45A of the NDIS Act. It says a claim must be made within a set period, counted from the day the support is provided. The NDIS Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Act 2026 changes that period from two years to 90 days, starting 1 December 2026.
Three things in that wording matter:
- The clock starts on the day of the support. Not the day the invoice is written, sent or received.
- It covers every way a plan is managed. Self-managed, plan-managed and NDIA-managed claims all fall under the same section.
- There is one exception. The NDIA can accept a late claim if exceptional circumstances justify it and the claim was made within a reasonable time given those circumstances.
The two-year limit itself is fairly new. It started on 3 October 2024, before which there was no time limit at all, and the NDIA gave everyone a 12-month grace period before it began rejecting old claims. So this is the second tightening in two years.
It has already started, in a way
On 5 October 2026 the NDIA announced extra checks, starting 15 October, on any claim submitted more than 90 days after a support was delivered. Those claims can be held for up to 28 days while the checks happen, and the NDIA may ask for more information before paying.
Claims inside 90 days go through the usual process. So right now an older claim is slower rather than refused. From 1 December, an older claim is out of time unless an exception applies.
Who has to make the claim
The Act is specific about this. The claim is made by whoever manages the funding for that support.
| How the support is managed | Who makes the claim | Where the 90 days can be lost |
|---|---|---|
| Plan-managed | Your plan manager | Mostly at the provider end, before the invoice reaches the plan manager |
| Self-managed | You, or your nominee | Anywhere: paying the provider, keeping the receipt, lodging the claim |
| NDIA-managed | The provider, directly with the NDIA | Entirely with the provider |
The 90 days starts with the support, not the invoice
This is the part people get wrong. Say a support worker visits on 2 December. The 90-day window ends in early March. If the provider sends the invoice in late February, everyone downstream has days, not weeks.
- 2 December: support delivered. The clock starts.
- Late February: the invoice finally arrives with the plan manager.
- Early March: the 90 days run out.
If that invoice is missing an NDIS number, a line item or a date, there may be no time left to send it back and get it fixed. A provider who batches invoices quarterly, or sends them when the admin pile gets high enough, is now a genuine risk to their own payment.
What about supports delivered before 1 December?
This is the question nobody can fully answer yet, and we would rather tell you that than guess.
Some guides online say the 90-day limit only applies to supports delivered from 1 December onwards. The Act does not say that. The change is a single line replacing "2 years" with "90 days", and unlike other parts of the same law, it has no application rule saying which supports it covers. The law does give the Minister power to make transitional rules, and that could settle the question. As at mid October, we have not found one, and the NDIA's guidance does not address it.
When the two-year limit started in 2024, the NDIA allowed a 12-month grace period. Nobody has promised the same this time.
So the safe position is simple. If a support was delivered before December, get it claimed before 1 December. If there is a provider who still has not invoiced you for something from winter, now is the time to chase it.
Funding periods and the 90-day rule
There is a less obvious interaction in the NDIA's own guidance. If you run out of money in one funding period, you can claim a support from that period once the next period opens. That has been a handy pressure valve for anyone whose spending is lumpy.
From 1 December, the NDIA says that only works if the claim is still made within 90 days of the support. So a support from late in one period can still be claimed early in the next, as long as you are inside 90 days. What you can no longer do is park a claim for months. If you are close to the limit in a funding period, talk to your plan manager before deciding what to hold back.
What happens to a claim that misses the window
Under the Act, a claim made after the 90 days is not payable unless the NDIA accepts it under the exceptional circumstances provision. Two things are worth knowing about that provision.
- Neither the Act nor the NDIA guidance defines exceptional circumstances. Treat it as a safety net for genuinely unusual situations, not a plan.
- The claim still has to be made within a reasonable period once those circumstances end. Exceptional circumstances do not reopen the window indefinitely.
The NDIA says that if it rejects a claim, it will tell you why. If a provider's claim is refused as too late, what happens next is a matter between you and the provider under your service agreement. Talk to your plan manager before agreeing to pay anything privately.
What to do now
If you are plan-managed
- Ask your providers to invoice promptly. Monthly at the latest, and ideally straight after the support. The 90 days is theirs to lose before it is anyone else's.
- Chase anything outstanding from before December and get it to your plan manager before 1 December.
- Check new service agreements. On 13 October the NDIA released new service agreement resources, and the agreement is a good place to set an invoicing timeframe.
If you self-manage
- Claim as you go. Weekly or fortnightly, not when you get round to it.
- Keep your receipts and invoices with the claim. The new law puts record-keeping obligations on participants who make claims, and an older claim is more likely to be asked for evidence.
- Clear your backlog before 1 December. Anything from before December that has not been claimed is exactly the uncertain group above.
If you are a provider
- Invoice within days of delivery, not weeks. Every day you wait is a day off your own deadline.
- Get the invoice right the first time. Participant name and NDIS number, service date, line item, hours and rate. A returned invoice eats time you may not have.
- Send everything outstanding now. If you have unbilled work from earlier in the year, send it before December.
Our providers page sets out exactly what a compliant invoice needs, with the current 2026-27 price limits.
How we handle it at Dedicated Plan Management
For plan-managed participants, most of the 90-day risk sits before an invoice reaches us. Once it does, we check it against your plan and the NDIS Pricing Schedule and lodge the claim with the NDIA as soon as it is compliant. We do not hold invoices back to batch them.
Where an invoice arrives late, or has a problem the provider needs to fix, we chase it. The date that matters is the support date, not the day the invoice reached us. And because we track your spending by funding period, we can tell you early if holding something back to a later period would push it past 90 days.
Plan management is fully funded by the NDIS from its own budget line, so it costs you nothing. If you are not plan-managed yet, our guide to adding plan management to your plan explains how. If you would like a plan manager who is on top of the new timeframes, switching is a records change, not a plan change, and we handle it.
Frequently asked questions
When does the NDIS 90-day claiming rule start?
1 December 2026. From that date, claims must be made within 90 days of the day the support is provided, down from two years. Since 15 October 2026, claims made more than 90 days after a support can already be held for up to 28 days for extra checks.
Does the 90 days start from the invoice date?
No. The NDIS Act counts the period from the day the support is provided. A late invoice uses up the same 90 days.
Does the 90-day rule apply to plan-managed participants?
Yes. It applies to every claim, whether it is made by a plan manager, a self-managing participant, or a provider claiming for an NDIA-managed participant.
What about supports I received before 1 December 2026?
The Act does not include a rule saying older supports keep the two-year window, and neither the Minister nor the NDIA has said so yet. The safest course is to make sure everything delivered before December is claimed before 1 December.
Can a claim ever be paid after 90 days?
Only if the NDIA accepts that exceptional circumstances justified the delay and the claim was made within a reasonable period once they ended. Exceptional circumstances are not defined, so do not rely on this.
Can I still claim from an earlier funding period?
Yes, if there is enough funding in your current period. From 1 December the claim must still be made within 90 days of the support, so you cannot hold a claim back for longer than that.
Want a plan manager who claims on time?
We are happy to talk through how the new rule affects your providers and your plan. Sign up online in a few minutes, or call us on 1300 010 170.
About this article
This article is based on section 45A of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 and Schedule 2, Part 5 and Schedule 5 of the NDIS Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Act 2026 (Federal Register of Legislation); the NDIA's Our Guideline: Your plan (1 October 2026), its notices Increasing integrity checks on older claims (5 October 2026) and Claim time limit starts soon (11 September 2025); and the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing's About the changes to the NDIS. The treatment of supports delivered before 1 December 2026 was not settled at the time of writing, and we will update this article if transitional rules or NDIA guidance are published. This is general information, not advice about your plan.
Last updated 16 October 2026.