Answer
Who counts as an NDIS provider after the 2026 amendment?
From 27 August 2026 an NDIS provider is a person or entity that receives NDIS funding or NDIS amounts, other than a participant, or that provides disability supports outside the NDIS in a class the rules prescribe. The rules may also exclude a class of entity.
What changed in the definition?
The old definition sat in section 9 and used two limbs: funding under the arrangements in Chapter 2, and a prescribed class of providers. The Act moves the definition to section 10C, keeps both limbs, and leaves the prescribed class and the exclusion to the National Disability Insurance Scheme rules. The effect is that the statutory question is now about what an entity receives and what it provides, not about whether it is registered.
Does an insurer become an NDIS provider?
Only if it falls inside one of the limbs. An insurer that pays a claim does not receive NDIS funding or NDIS amounts, so the first limb does not catch it. The second limb could catch an entity that provides disability supports outside the NDIS if a rule prescribes that class. The Act does not answer the question for insurers as a group, and any answer has to be checked against the rules in force at the time.
Why does the definition matter more than registration?
Registration is one consequence of being a provider, not the test. The record retention duty in section 45B, the inducement prohibition in section 73VA, the fraud offences in sections 59A to 59AF and the civil penalty provisions all attach to the section 10C definition. An unregistered entity that receives NDIS amounts is still caught by those provisions.
What should a risk team do first?
Ask the insured what it receives and what it provides, not only whether it is registered. Where the answer depends on a prescribed class, record the rule and its date. A policy that defines the insured activity by registration status alone will not match the statutory definition.
The duties behind this answer
Not legal advice; does not certify. Read the provision at https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2026A00066/latest/text. Last updated .