Schedule 1, Part 9
Motor accident and workers compensation impairments
From 1 January 2028 a person does not meet the alternative support requirements where every impairment they qualify on is an excluded one, meaning it was caused by a motor vehicle accident or a work related injury for which a compensation law provides.
What does the provision require?
New section 25B adds a further condition to the access test. A person must meet the alternative support requirements: they must not be in a class the rules prescribe, the circumstances the rules prescribe must not apply, and at least one impairment on which they qualify must not be an excluded impairment.
An impairment is excluded where it was caused by a motor vehicle accident and a Commonwealth, State or Territory law provides compensation or other benefits for it, or where it was caused by a work related injury and a workers compensation law provides compensation or other benefits. A work related injury includes a physical or mental injury that comes out of employment or happens while the person is working, and the worsening of an injury that happened that way. The rules may prescribe when a law counts as providing, or as not providing, compensation, including by reference to whether an application could be made, or has been made, granted or refused. An impairment is also excluded where the rules declare a support to be an alternative support for it. Subsection 30(1) gains a ground to revoke participant status for a person who does not meet these requirements.
Why does it matter to an insurer or a provider?
This is the provision insurers have been waiting for. Where a motor accident or a work injury caused the impairment and a compensation scheme covers it, the NDIS is no longer the first funder for that impairment. That changes the recovery argument in both directions: an insurer cannot point to the NDIS as the proper funder of a compensable injury, and the Agency gains an explicit basis to refuse access. Because at least one qualifying impairment must not be excluded, a person with several impairments can still enter the scheme on another one, so the analysis has to be impairment by impairment.
What did the amendment change?
Access previously did not depend on whether another compensation scheme covered the impairment. The Act makes that a condition, defines excluded impairment by reference to motor accident and workers compensation laws, allows the rules to decide when a law counts, and adds a revocation ground.
Suggested evidence
These are the publisher's control suggestions, not statutory requirements. The provision's own requirement is above; an auditor or regulator decides what is sufficient.
- The cause of each impairment, with the accident or injury date
- The compensation law that applies and whether it provides compensation or benefits
- The status of any application under that law, and whether it was made, granted or refused
- The impairment by impairment analysis where more than one impairment is relied on
- Any rule that declares a support an alternative support for that impairment
What should be done before the date?
- Segment the insured portfolio by motor accident and workers compensation exposure
- Rewrite the recovery note so it does not assume the NDIS is the funder of a compensable injury
- Diarise 1 January 2028 for access decisions that are already in progress
What the text does not say
The text does not say what happens to a person who entered the scheme before 1 January 2028 on an impairment that would now be excluded, except through the revocation ground for someone who joins the scheme from that date. It leaves the detail of when a law counts to the rules.
Where this sits
section 25B, inserted by item 97 in Schedule 1, Part 9, Eligibility based on access to other services (items 95 to 101). Read the official text at https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2026A00066/latest/text. The record was read on 21 October 2026.
Not legal advice; does not certify. This page is a reading of the provision in our own words, not a reproduction of it, and not advice on your own facts.