NDIS Statistics in Australia 2026
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has become the single biggest source of savings in Australia’s federal budget, with the May 12, 2026 Budget confirming reforms designed to cut projected scheme spending growth by $37.8 billion between 2026-27 and 2029-30. As of March 31, 2026, the NDIS supported 774,456 Australians with approved plans — a net increase of 13,014 participants in a single quarter — even as total scheme expenses for the nine months to March reached $38 billion, running slightly above projections. The scheme now stands at a genuine turning point: still growing in raw participant numbers, but under unprecedented federal pressure to slow its cost trajectory from double-digit annual growth toward a sustainable long-term target.
This report compiles the key verified statistics on the NDIS in Australia in 2026, covering participant numbers, disability type breakdowns, scheme spending and the May 2026 federal budget reforms, the new Thriving Kids program, and the provider and workforce ecosystem supporting the scheme. Sources include the NDIS Quarterly Report to Disability Ministers, the Office of the Scheme Actuary, the 2026-27 Federal Budget papers, and the NDIS Data Research portal. Because several 2026 reform measures remain in the legislative and implementation pipeline, this article distinguishes clearly between confirmed current data and reforms still being rolled out.
Interesting Facts About the NDIS in Australia 2026
| Fact Category | Key Data Point |
|---|---|
| Total active participants (March 31, 2026) | 774,456 |
| Quarterly participant increase (Dec 2025–Mar 2026) | +13,014 (+1.7%) |
| New participants entering in Q3 2025-26 alone | ~18,500 |
| Share of new entrants this financial year who are under 15 | 67% |
| Total scheme expenses, 9 months to March 2026 | $38 billion |
| Annual scheme expense growth (current) | 11.3%, down from 11.8% the year before |
| Total NDIS spending, full year 2025-26 | $53.8 billion |
| Projected NDIS spending, 2029-30 | $56.2 billion |
| Confirmed federal budget savings target (2026-27 to 2029-30) | $37.8 billion |
| Plan budget growth rate (this quarter vs. a year ago) | 5.9%, down from 11% |
| National Cabinet growth stabilisation target (by July 1, 2026) | 8% per year |
| Active NDIS providers/suppliers | 27,700+, employing roughly 270,000 workers |
Source: NDIS Quarterly Report to Disability Ministers, Q3 2025-26; 2026-27 Federal Budget Papers; Office of the Scheme Actuary; Insight PBS analysis of the Q3 report, June 2026
The numbers above capture a scheme in the middle of a genuine structural transition. Participant numbers continue climbing steadily — adding 13,014 people in just the December-to-March quarter alone — yet the rate of cost growth is decelerating markedly, with plan budget growth nearly halving from 11% to 5.9% year-on-year, a trend the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) has specifically attributed to firmer control over how individual plan budgets grow at both reassessment and during the life of a plan. This combination — rising participant numbers alongside slowing per-participant cost growth — is precisely the outcome the National Cabinet’s 8% annual growth target was designed to achieve ahead of its July 1, 2026 deadline.
What stands out most is the age profile of new entrants: fully 67% of the roughly 59,000 people who joined the scheme this financial year were under 15, reinforcing why the federal government’s most significant structural reform — the new Thriving Kids program — specifically targets young children as the primary lever for controlling future scheme growth, rather than focusing reform efforts on adult participants who represent a smaller share of new entrants.
NDIS Participant Growth Trend 2026
NDIS ACTIVE PARTICIPANTS — RECENT QUARTERLY GROWTH
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Feb 2026 ██████████████████████████░░ 761,442
Mar 31 2026 ████████████████████████████ 774,456 (+13,014 / +1.7%)
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Government target: reduce total participants by 160,000 (from 760,000 baseline) by 2030
| Metric | Data Point |
|---|---|
| Participants, February 2026 | 761,442 |
| Participants, March 31, 2026 | 774,456 |
| Net quarterly increase | +13,014 (+1.7%) |
| New participants entering, Q3 2025-26 | ~18,500 |
| Total new entrants, financial year to date | ~59,000 |
| Share of new entrants under 15 years old | 67% |
| Government’s 2030 participant reduction target | -160,000, from a 760,000 baseline |
| NDIS participation rate, peak (age 6) | ~11.5% of that age cohort |
| NDIS participation rate, lowest point (ages 35-40) | ~1.4% |
| NDIS participation rate, rising again by age 65 | ~2.6% |
Source: NDIS Quarterly Report to Disability Ministers, Q3 2025-26; Wikipedia “2026 Australian federal budget”; Insight PBS, June 2026
The participation rate curve — peaking at roughly 11.5% of all 6-year-olds before declining steadily through adulthood to a low of 1.4% among 35-to-40-year-olds, then rising again to 2.6% by age 65 — reflects the underlying prevalence patterns of the disability types the scheme primarily serves: developmental conditions diagnosed in early childhood, followed by a comparative trough during prime working-age years, before age-related and acquired disabilities become more common again later in life. This curve shape has remained a consistent structural feature of the scheme since its 2013 launch, even as absolute participant numbers have grown substantially.
The government’s explicit target of reducing total participants by 160,000 from a 760,000 baseline by 2030 — announced as part of the broader NDIS reform package — represents one of the most consequential numerical commitments in the scheme’s history, and would represent slowing growth substantially rather than an absolute cut to today’s participant base, given the scheme already exceeds 774,000 participants. This reduction is intended to be achieved primarily by diverting young children with developmental delay or lower-support-needs autism into the new Thriving Kids program rather than the NDIS itself, a mechanism explored in detail later in this report.
The May 2026 Federal Budget and NDIS Reforms
NDIS SPENDING PROJECTIONS — FEDERAL BUDGET, MAY 2026
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2025-26 ███████████████████████████████████ $53.8 billion
2026-27 ███████████████████████████████████ $56.5 billion (revised up from $55.4B)
2029-30 ███████████████████████████████████ $56.2 billion
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Confirmed savings vs. prior Actuary projections: $37.8 billion (2026-27 to 2029-30)
| Budget Metric | Data Point |
|---|---|
| Budget delivery date | Tuesday, May 12, 2026 |
| Total NDIS spending, current year (2025-26) | $53.8 billion |
| Projected spending, 2026-27 | $56.5 billion — revised up from the previously expected $55.4 billion |
| Projected spending, 2029-30 | $56.2 billion |
| Confirmed 4-year savings vs. Actuary projections | $37.8 billion |
| NDIA operational budget, 2026-27 | $2.8 billion, dropping to $1.6 billion by 2027-28 |
| NDIA staff positions to be cut | 669, in the next financial year |
| NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission staff increase | +191 employees |
| Legal Aid/appeals advocacy funding boost | $7.3 million, for Administrative Review Tribunal support |
| Technical Advisory Group funding (functional assessment tool) | $3.3 million, 2026-27 |
Source: 2026-27 Federal Budget Papers; Queenslanders with Disability Network Budget Special Update, May 2026; Plan Hero, May 2026
The May 2026 Budget’s confirmation that projected NDIS spending was revised upward to $56.5 billion for 2026-27, higher than the $55.4 billion previously forecast, illustrates a genuine tension at the heart of this reform package: even as the government implements structural changes explicitly designed to slow cost growth, near-term spending projections have continued climbing due to the sheer momentum of participant numbers and existing plan commitments already locked in. The government has been careful to characterize the $37.8 billion in confirmed savings as a reduction in projected future growth rather than a cut to current spending — total scheme spending is not falling in absolute dollar terms at any point through 2029-30, but is projected to grow more slowly than it otherwise would have.
The NDIA’s own operational budget contraction, falling from $2.8 billion to $1.6 billion between 2026-27 and 2027-28 alongside 669 staff position cuts, sits in notable contrast to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission’s addition of 191 employees over the same period — a divergence that reflects the government’s stated shift toward greater compliance and regulatory focus even as it reduces the scheme’s core administrative footprint. The additional $7.3 million for Legal Aid and NDIS appeals advocacy acknowledges that tighter eligibility and functional assessment processes are likely to generate more disputed decisions requiring the Administrative Review Tribunal, a direct and honest budgetary admission that the reforms will create friction for some participants navigating access and plan decisions. For broader context on how the NDIS fits within Australia’s overall social security and welfare spending landscape, our Australia Welfare Statistics report documents that the NDIS ranks as the second-highest welfare expenditure category nationally, behind only the Support for Seniors program.
Thriving Kids: The NDIS’s Major Structural Reform
| Thriving Kids Metric | Data Point |
|---|---|
| Total program funding | $4 billion ($2 billion Commonwealth, matched by states) |
| Target population | Children aged 8 and under with developmental delay or low-to-moderate support-needs autism |
| Establishment date | October 2026 (planned) |
| Funding rollout to states begins | 2026-27 |
| Full national rollout completion | January 1, 2028 |
| Delivery mechanism | State-based systems, not the NDIS itself |
| Foundational Supports (related program) | $3 billion over 5 years, matched by states and territories |
| Program services | Early identification, parent support, workforce training, national phone line |
| Protection for children already in the NDIS | Continue accessing the scheme, subject to usual reassessments |
| Children with permanent, significant disability | Remain eligible for the NDIS regardless of Thriving Kids’ introduction |
Source: Dedicated Plan Management, “Federal Budget 2026 and the NDIS,” May 2026; Wikipedia “Thriving Kids”; Insight PBS, June 2026
Thriving Kids represents the single most significant structural change to how Australia supports children with developmental delay and autism since the NDIS itself launched in 2013. Rather than channeling every young child with these conditions through the NDIS — an individualized, plan-based funding model — the new program will deliver early identification, parent support, and workforce training through state-run systems, explicitly targeting children with lower support needs who the government has determined do not require the NDIS’s full individualized funding model. Crucially, the reform’s design includes an important protection: children with permanent and significant disability remain eligible for the NDIS regardless of age, and children already enrolled before the January 2028 full rollout will continue accessing the scheme subject to standard reassessment processes.
The program’s $4 billion total funding, split evenly between direct Commonwealth contribution and matched state funding, reflects the scale of ambition behind this diversion strategy, and its phased timeline — funding beginning in 2026-27, full national rollout not completing until January 1, 2028 — gives states a genuine multi-year runway to build out the community-based service infrastructure needed to actually deliver these services outside the NDIS framework. Disability advocacy groups, including the Queenslanders with Disability Network, have indicated they will continue monitoring implementation closely, particularly around how the transition affects families whose children currently rely on NDIS-funded supports that may not have a direct state-system equivalent.
NDIS Participants by Disability Type 2026
NDIS PARTICIPANTS BY PRIMARY DISABILITY TYPE
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Autism ████████████████████████████████████ 35% (214,880 people)
Intellectual Disability ███████████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 15% (89,075 people)
Developmental Delay ███████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 11% (67,558 people)
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Among participants aged 18 or under: Autism 54% | Developmental delay 21%
| Disability Type | Share of Participants | Key Demographics |
|---|---|---|
| Autism | 35% (214,880 people) | 78% aged 18 or under; 70% male |
| Intellectual disability | 15% (89,075 people) | 20% of adults (18+) in Supported Independent Living |
| Developmental delay | 11% (67,558 people) | 85% under age 7; 70% male |
| Autism payments (12 months to June 2023) | $6.73 billion | Largest single disability-type spending category |
| Intellectual disability payments (same period) | $8.54 billion | Highest total spending despite smaller participant share |
| Participants with Supported Independent Living (SIL) support | 31,368, up from 26,950 since June 2022 | +4,418 net increase |
Source: NDIS Participant Dashboard updates; Office of the Scheme Actuary Quarterly Report
Autism remains the single most common primary disability among NDIS participants, accounting for 35% of the entire participant base, with a strong skew toward children — 78% of autistic participants are 18 or under — and toward males, at 70% of this group. Among the youngest participants specifically, aged 18 and under, autism and developmental delay together account for 75% of all primary disability types (54% and 21% respectively), a concentration that directly explains why the government’s Thriving Kids reform specifically targets these two conditions as its primary reform lever.
The gap between intellectual disability’s 15% participant share but $8.54 billion in payments — exceeding even autism’s larger 35% share at $6.73 billion — highlights an important nuance in scheme economics: average per-participant costs vary substantially by disability type, driven significantly by the 20% of adult intellectual disability participants accessing Supported Independent Living, a high-cost support category that has grown by 4,418 participants since June 2022 to reach 31,368 nationally, consistently exceeding the NDIA’s own internal growth expectations for this specific support type.
NDIS Provider and Workforce Statistics 2026
| Provider/Workforce Metric | Data Point |
|---|---|
| Active NDIS suppliers/providers | 27,700+ |
| Total providers listed in databases nationwide | 32,000+ |
| Estimated NDIS workforce | ~270,000 workers |
| Occupational categories represented | 20 distinct occupations |
| NDIS provider industry revenue growth (annualised, 5 years to 2025-26) | 9.3% |
| August 2024 reform savings target (separate from 2026 reforms) | $14 billion over 4 years |
| 2025-26 Budget provider integrity funding | $175.4 million over 4 years |
| Support Coordinators registration requirement | Mandatory NDIS registration from July 2025 |
| Requirement effective from October 1, 2026 | Budget adjustments for social/civic/community participation supports |
| Plan-managed participant share (approximate) | 40%+ choose plan management over self- or agency-managed options |
Source: VCCG “State NDIS Provider Market 2025 Industry Report”; IBISWorld NDIS Providers Industry Report, July 2025; RotaWiz “NDIS Plan Management 2026” guide
The NDIS provider ecosystem, spanning 27,700 to 32,000 registered suppliers depending on which database is consulted, has been described by industry analysts as “one of Australia’s most fragmented service industries,” employing an estimated 270,000 workers across 20 distinct occupational categories — a workforce scale comparable to entire mid-sized industry sectors elsewhere in the Australian economy. Despite the reform-driven slowdown in overall scheme cost growth, provider industry revenue has still grown at an annualised 9.3% over the five years to 2025-26, though IBISWorld’s analysis specifically notes that growth slowed in 2025-26 itself as the Foundational Supports changes began redirecting some participants and associated revenue outside the core NDIS provider industry entirely.
The mandatory NDIS registration requirement for all Support Coordinators, effective from July 2025, reflects the government’s parallel emphasis on provider quality and compliance running alongside its cost-control reforms — a dual-track approach visible throughout the broader 2026 reform package, where funding cuts to core scheme growth are paired with increased investment in oversight, exemplified by the $175.4 million in provider integrity funding confirmed in the 2025-26 Budget and the NDIS Commission’s staffing increase discussed earlier in this report.
NDIS Participant Outcomes and Wellbeing 2026
| Outcomes Metric | Data Point |
|---|---|
| Participants 15+ (in scheme 2+ years) reporting greater choice and control | 80% |
| Growth in community/social activity participation (15+, since joining) | +23% (relative terms) |
| Paid employment rate, ages 15-24 (2+ years in scheme) | More than doubled — to 23% |
| Families/carers reporting paid employment | +6 percentage points — to 52% |
| CALD participants | Tracked separately from First Nations-identifying participants |
| First Nations participants living remote/very remote | Compared against 2% of the general Australian population in those areas |
| NDIS Closing the Gap statement | Released around National Close the Gap Day, March 19, 2026 |
Source: NDIS Quarterly Report published March 2025; NDIS Quarterly Report Q3 2025-26
Despite the intense budgetary and structural focus on cost containment, the scheme’s own outcomes tracking continues to show meaningful, measurable improvements in participants’ lives: 80% of participants aged 15 and older who have been in the scheme for two or more years report having greater choice and control, while paid employment among 15-to-24-year-old participants more than doubled to 23% over the same comparison period — figures the NDIA highlights as evidence the scheme is achieving its foundational purpose even as its cost trajectory undergoes significant reform. The 6-percentage-point increase in paid employment among families and carers, reaching 52%, further suggests the scheme’s benefits extend beyond participants themselves to the broader household units supporting them.
The NDIA’s dedicated Closing the Gap statement, co-designed with the Independent Advisory Council and its First Nations Reference Group and released around National Close the Gap Day in March 2026, reflects continued institutional attention to First Nations participant outcomes specifically, an area where the scheme has historically faced particular delivery challenges given that a disproportionate share of First Nations participants live in remote or very remote areas — regions housing only 2% of Australia’s general population but requiring specialized, often more costly, service delivery models to reach effectively. For broader context on how disability prevalence and support needs are tracked among younger Australians specifically, comparable US autism prevalence data in our Autism Statistics in the U.S report shows 1 in 31 American children now identified with autism spectrum disorder, offering useful international context for the disability-type concentration patterns documented throughout this NDIS report.
NDIS Historical Context and Scheme Scale 2026
| Historical/Scale Metric | Data Point |
|---|---|
| NDIS formally established | July 1, 2013 |
| NDIA employees (2019, historical) | 3,495 |
| NDIS annual budget (2022-23, historical) | $35.8 billion |
| Growth rate, 2021-22 (historical peak) | 22% |
| Total scheme expenses reported (mid-2025 quarterly snapshot) | $46.3 billion annually, 739,000+ participants |
| Estimated total economic benefit of the NDIS (Per Capita think tank) | ~$50 billion per year |
| Of which, direct spending | ~$30 billion |
| Of which, additional flow-on economic activity | ~$20 billion |
| “Securing the NDIS for Future Generations” reform bill introduced | May 2026 |
| NDIA annual plan-managed growth target | 8% |
Source: Wikipedia “National Disability Insurance Scheme”; VCCG NDIS Market Report 2025; RotaWiz NDIS Plan Management Guide, June 2026
Tracing the scheme’s trajectory from its July 2013 establishment, when it operated with just 3,495 NDIA employees and a fraction of its current budget, to today’s $53.8 billion annual spending supporting 774,456 participants, illustrates just how dramatically the NDIS has scaled over little more than a decade. The peak growth rate of 22% recorded in 2021-22 — a level widely acknowledged as fiscally unsustainable over the long term — provides essential context for understanding why the current reform push toward an 8% annual growth target represents such a significant policy shift rather than an incremental adjustment.
Independent economic analysis from the progressive think tank Per Capita, estimating the scheme’s total annual economic benefit at approximately $50 billion — combining roughly $30 billion in direct spending with an additional $20 billion in flow-on economic activity — offers a counterpoint to purely cost-focused budget framing, suggesting the NDIS functions as a meaningful economic contributor in addition to its core disability support role. The “Securing the NDIS for Future Generations” reform bill, introduced to Parliament in May 2026, now carries the legislative weight to formalize many of the structural changes discussed throughout this report, with its passage and implementation representing the next major milestone to watch in the scheme’s ongoing evolution.
Data Reliability Notes for NDIS Statistics in Australia 2026
| Category | Status as of Mid-2026 |
|---|---|
| Most current confirmed participant count | 774,456, as at March 31, 2026 (Q3 2025-26 Quarterly Report) |
| Thriving Kids program | Planned establishment October 2026; full rollout not until January 2028 |
| “Securing the NDIS for Future Generations” Bill | Introduced to Parliament May 2026; not yet confirmed as passed law |
| Full 2026-27 financial year scheme expense totals | Not yet available; year in progress |
Source: Cross-referenced NDIS Quarterly Report, Federal Budget papers, and independent policy analysis, current as of mid-2026
Because the NDIS reform package announced in the May 2026 Budget includes multiple measures still in active legislative and implementation stages — including the Thriving Kids program’s phased rollout through January 2028 and the “Securing the NDIS for Future Generations” bill’s parliamentary passage — readers should treat forward-looking spending, savings, and participant projections in this report as the government’s current confirmed plan rather than fully realized outcomes. The most reliable and current confirmed figures remain the quarterly participant and expense data, with the March 31, 2026 Quarterly Report representing the most recent complete official dataset available at the time this report was compiled.
Disclaimer: The data research report we present here is based on information found from various sources. We are not liable for any financial loss, errors, or damages of any kind that may result from the use of the information herein. We acknowledge that though we try to report accurately, we cannot verify the absolute facts of everything that has been represented.
