Just Announced - PLAN PERIODS - Now in Effect - Section 33
- deana999
- May 20
- 2 min read
NDIS Changes from 19 May: What You Need to Know
From Monday 19 May 2025, the NDIS is changing how new participant plans are structured. This is because of updates to the law (Section 33 of the NDIS Act), and it affects how funding is made available to participants.
These changes apply to all new plans and plan reassessments created in the NDIS PACE system from 19 May onward.
🧾 What’s Actually Changing?
Before: Participants usually had access to the full funding in their plan right from the start.
Now: Funding will be split into smaller parts called “funding periods”. This means you won’t get all the money at once — it will be released gradually over time (e.g. every 3 months or 6 months).
⚠️ Important: This does not reduce the total amount of your plan funding. It just controls how much you can use at a time.
📖 Why the Change?
The government says this is to:
Help participants manage their budgets better
Prevent misuse of large chunks of funding too quickly
Make it easier to monitor and plan spending
Help providers deliver supports more reliably
These changes were designed with input from people with disability, advocacy groups, and carers — but there’s still not much public info, and many people (including providers) are still figuring it out.
💻 PACE System Updates
The PACE system (used to manage NDIS plans) was offline over the weekend to add new tools so that these funding periods can now be shown in new plans.
Once back online:
Participants, Support Coordinators, and Plan Managers (if given consent) will be able to see the funding periods inside a plan.
🧩 New Terms to Know
Funding Amounts: The total dollar value of your plan.
Funding Components: Different parts of your plan (like Core Supports, Capacity Building, or Capital).
Funding Periods: The new part. These set how much of your plan budget you can access and when. For example, you might only be allowed to use 3 months of funding at a time in a 2-year plan.
👥 Who Is Affected?
✅ These changes will apply to:
Anyone getting a new plan starting 19 May or later
Anyone going through a plan reassessment (also called a plan review)
❌ These changes will NOT affect:
People whose plans are just being extended (rolled over)
People on current plans — until they go through a plan review
You can access more information on Section 33 from the link below
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