Schedule 2, Part 4

The record retention duty and the debt that follows

From 27 August 2026 an NDIS provider must keep the records behind a claim for 7 years, a participant must keep them for 3 years, and any other claimant for 5 years, in English or readily convertible to English.

What does the provision require?

New section 45B requires an NDIS provider to keep and retain a record relating to a claim for an NDIS amount, or to the provision of a support to which the claim relates, where the record is of a kind the rules prescribe. The period is 7 years from the day the claim is made, unless the rules prescribe a shorter period. A contravention is 120 penalty units. The provider has a defence where the circumstances the rules prescribe apply.

A participant must keep the same kind of record for 3 years from the claim. Any other person who is not a provider or a participant must keep it for 5 years. Records have to be in English, or easy to reach and to convert into English. Subsection 182(4) is replaced so that the amount paid becomes a debt owed to the Agency where the person was required to keep a record, did not comply, and cannot otherwise demonstrate an entitlement to the amount. The old subsection 46(2) and (3) are repealed and section 92 is updated to refer to the new provision.

Why does it matter to an insurer or a provider?

Seven years is longer than the business records most providers keep and longer than many policy periods. The consequence is not only a penalty: the paid amount becomes a debt the Agency can recover, which is a balance sheet event the insurer may be asked to cover. For an insurer, the underwriting question is whether the insured can produce a claim file seven years after the claim, in English, and whether its own retention schedule matches.

What did the amendment change?

There was no general provider retention period for claim records in the primary legislation. The Act creates one, sets different periods for providers, participants and other claimants, ties the period to the claim date rather than the service date, adds a language requirement, and makes non compliance a debt.

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 retention schedule, with the 7 year period applied to claim files
A sample claim file retrieved for a claim made more than 5 years ago
The record of the claim date, which starts the period
The language of the records and the conversion method for any non English record
The evidence that entitlement can be demonstrated without the missing record, where a record has been lost

What should be done before the date?

Map the 7 year period against the current retention schedule and the policy period
Test retrieval on a claim file older than five years
Add the retention question to the provider questionnaire
Quantify the debt exposure for any gap in the file

What the text does not say

The text does not list the kinds of record; that is left to the rules. It does not say whether an electronic record in a system that is no longer supported counts as readily accessible. It does not give a provider a defence for a record destroyed under a lawful retention policy.

Where this sits

section 45B, inserted by item 83 in Schedule 2, Part 4, Retention of records (items 83 to 88). 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.