If you or someone you love relies on the NDIS or Support at Home, you've probably seen the date 1 October 2026 floating around and wondered what it actually means for your plan or your budget.
Two separate changes are landing on the same day, and they affect two different systems - but if you're a family juggling both an NDIS plan and aged care (which more Australians are than you'd think), it can feel like a lot to take in at once.
So let's break down what's changing, who it affects, and what you can do about it.
The short version
- NDIS: funding for social, civic and community participation supports is being reduced, as part of a wider reset to bring this category's spending back towards 2023 levels. Core daily living and personal care supports are not affected.
- Support at Home: personal care — showering, dressing, continence support and similar — is moving into a fully government-funded category, meaning the co-payments some Members were paying for these supports go away.
One change makes a part of the NDIS smaller. The other makes a part of aged care more affordable, here's the detail on both:
Part one: the NDIS community participation reset
What's actually changing
From 1 October 2026, the NDIS is adjusting how much funding sits in two specific budget categories:
- Social, civic and community participation supports - the funding that pays for things like joining a social group, getting out to community activities, or being supported to build friendships and stay connected - is being reduced by around 50 percent.
- Capacity building daily activity supports are being reduced by around 10 percent.
The government's stated goal is to bring average spending in these categories back towards where it sat in 2023, before a period of rapid growth in this part of the scheme. Overall, average participant spending in this category is expected to fall from around $31,000 to around $26,000 a year.
What isn't changing
This is the part that gets lost in the headlines, so it's worth saying clearly: core daily living and personal care supports are not part of this reset. Personal care assistance, help with daily living, home modifications, and specialist disability accommodation funding all continue as they are.
This change is specifically about the community participation and capacity-building categories - not your whole plan.
It won't hit every plan on the same day
Even though 1 October 2026 is the date the new settings start, the reset doesn't mean every participant wakes up on that day with a smaller budget. The change phases in gradually, over roughly 12 months, as individual plans come up for their normal review or renewal. If your next plan review isn't until mid-2027, this change won't touch your current funding until then.
The government has also announced a $200 million Inclusive Communities Fund, intended to support group-based community activities as an alternative way for participants to stay connected as individual funding in this category shrinks.
What this means for you
If community participation and capacity-building supports are a meaningful part of your (or your child's) plan, it's worth:
- Checking when your next plan review is due, since that's when any change will actually apply to you.
- Thinking ahead about which activities matter most, so you can prioritise if your budget in this category does shrink.
- Looking into group-based options, which tend to stretch further per dollar than 1:1 support and may be supported by the new Inclusive Communities Fund.
- Talking to your support coordinator or plan manager before your review, not after.
Part two: the Support at Home personal care change
What's actually changing
Under Support at Home, personal care — services like showering, dressing, continence support and toileting assistance, help with eating and personal hygiene, and medication support — is being reclassified. It's moving out of the "independence" support category and into "clinical supports."
Why does that matter? Because clinical supports don't attract a co-payment. Previously, personal care sat in the independence category, where Members could be asked to contribute somewhere between 5 and 50 percent of the provider's fee, depending on their means. From 1 October 2026, that co-payment is removed for personal care specifically.
What isn't changing
Not every Support at Home service becomes free. Everyday living and independence supports — things like cleaning, gardening, transport and general social support — keep their existing, means-tested contribution arrangements. This change is specific to personal care.
It's also specific to Support at Home. If you're receiving services through the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) rather than a Support at Home package, this particular change doesn't apply to you.
Why the change is happening
This one's a genuinely welcome shift. Aged care providers and advocates had been raising concerns that some older Australians were skipping or cutting back on essential personal care — the kind of support that keeps someone safe, clean and comfortable at home — simply because of the cost. Reclassifying it as a clinical support removes that barrier.
What this means for you
If you or a family member has personal care listed in a Support at Home support plan, this change applies automatically from 1 October 2026 — there's no new assessment or paperwork required on your end, as long as you already have personal care approved and funding available in your plan.
If personal care isn't currently in your plan but you think it should be, this is a good moment to raise it with your Support at Home provider or aged care assessor.
Two changes, one honest takeaway
It's easy to read "funding cut" and "fully funded" in the same breath and feel whiplash. The truth is more measured than either headline: the NDIS is tightening one specific, non-essential category while protecting core care, and aged care is loosening the purse strings on one of the most essential supports there is. Neither change happens overnight, and neither should catch you off guard if you know what's coming.
If you're supporting someone through either system — or both — the best next step is the same one it always is: know your plan review date, ask questions before decisions are made for you, and don't wait until a change lands to start planning for it.
We're here to help either way
At Like Family, we connect Members with Social Carers who feel less like a service and more like family - for social support, community participation, and personal care alike. If you're trying to work out what these changes mean for your specific plan, or you just want support that makes the everyday easier while the rules shift around you, our Customer Care team is a message away.
Find the right Social Carer for you →
Frequently asked questions
Does the NDIS community participation reset affect my current plan straight away? No. Changes apply when your plan is next reviewed or renewed, not automatically on 1 October 2026. The rollout is staged over around 12 months.
Will I lose all my community participation funding? No. Funding in this category is being reduced by around 50 percent on average, not removed. Everyone's plan is different, so the actual impact depends on your individual circumstances and next review.
Does the Support at Home personal care change apply to people receiving Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) support?No, this specific change applies to Support at Home participants. CHSP arrangements are separate.
Do I need to do anything to get the new, no-co-payment personal care rate? If personal care is already approved in your Support at Home plan, the change should apply automatically from 1 October 2026. If it isn't in your plan yet, speak with your provider or assessor about adding it.
This article is general information based on government announcements current as at August 2026. Rules and figures may be refined before and after 1 October 2026 - always confirm your individual situation with the NDIA, your plan manager, or My Aged Care.