What is a Section 48 NDIS plan reassessment?

If you've heard your support coordinator or LAC mention "a Section 48", they're talking about a specific kind of NDIS plan change — one that can re-do your whole plan rather than just tweak it. Here's what it means.

What "Section 48" actually means

The NDIS is governed by the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013. Different sections of the Act handle different things — and Section 48 is the one that covers a full plan reassessment.

A reassessment isn't a small change. It's the NDIA going back through your circumstances and goals from the ground up and writing you a new plan based on the current picture.

Reassessments happen for two reasons:

1. A scheduled reassessment at the end of your existing plan (every 1-3 years, depending on plan length), or
2. An unscheduled reassessment triggered either by you or by the NDIA when something significant has changed

Since reforms that came into effect on 3 October 2024, the NDIS distinguishes more clearly between:

• Plan variations (Section 47A) — smaller changes that don't redo the whole plan. Rules under s 47A took effect on 3 October 2024.
• Plan reassessments (Section 48) — bigger changes that involve building a new plan. Detailed rules under s 48 took effect on 4 March 2025.

If your situation calls for a small tweak — replacing a piece of equipment, adjusting a single funding category — that's usually a variation. If you need a wholesale rethink of supports, it's a reassessment.

There's also a hard cap built into the new rules: a plan can't be in effect for more than 5 years without a reassessment. Even if nothing's changed, you'll be reassessed at least every 5 years.

When the NDIA initiates a reassessment

The NDIA can start a Section 48 reassessment without you asking, in a few situations:

• Routine end-of-plan check-in — most participants have a scheduled reassessment built into their plan from the start. You'll get contacted before your plan expires.
• Plan utilisation looks unusual — for example, if a year of plan funding has barely been touched or has been entirely exhausted in three months, the NDIA may want to look again at whether the plan still fits.
• Concerns about provider conduct or safeguards — if there's an investigation into your supports or a NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission notification, a reassessment may be triggered to make sure your plan reflects reality.
• A major change of circumstances that the NDIA becomes aware of (a hospital admission, a change of carer, a move interstate).

When the NDIA initiates, they'll write to you. You should get reasonable notice — usually weeks rather than days — and the chance to gather your own evidence.

When you can request a reassessment

You can ask for a Section 48 reassessment any time your situation has substantially changed. Common triggers:

• A new or worsening diagnosis that significantly changes your support needs
• Losing your primary informal carer (a parent, partner, or family member who was doing a lot of unpaid support)
• A major life transition — leaving home, finishing school, starting work, having a baby, moving from a regional to metro area or vice versa
• A hospital admission and discharge with new support needs
• Your current plan being clearly inadequate or excessive for the supports you actually need

The process to request one:

1. Phone the NDIS on 1800 800 110 or contact your Local Area Coordinator (LAC), Early Childhood Partner, or support coordinator.
2. Explain what's changed and why your current plan no longer fits.
3. Submit any new evidence — medical reports, functional assessments, letters from people who know your day-to-day.
4. The NDIA decides whether a reassessment is warranted. They might instead offer a plan variation (smaller, faster), redirect you to use existing flexibility in your current plan, or schedule a reassessment.

Worth knowing: the NDIA can decline to do a reassessment if they don't think your circumstances meet the threshold. If you disagree with that decision, you can escalate (see below).

Reassessment vs plan variation

Quick comparison:

	Plan variation (s 47A)	Plan reassessment (s 48)
Scope	Small change — single funding category, replace equipment, fix a clear error	Whole plan re-done from scratch
Trigger	Minor change of need, plan correction	Major change of circumstance, end of plan, NDIA concern
Timeline	Usually 2-4 weeks	Usually 8-12 weeks, sometimes longer
New goals?	No	Yes, all goals can be revisited
New supports?	Limited	Anything within reasonable and necessary
Plan length resets?	No	Yes — new plan, new dates

If you're not sure which one applies to your situation, the NDIS contact centre or your LAC can usually point you in the right direction. Some changes go faster as variations; others genuinely need a reassessment.

What happens during a reassessment

The process usually looks like this:

1. Request received (yours or the NDIA's)
2. Planning conversation booked — usually a phone call or meeting with an NDIS planner, your LAC, or an Early Childhood Partner
3. Evidence gathered — you submit recent reports, your support coordinator may write a summary, and you might be asked for new assessments
4. Plan drafted by the NDIA, considering the new evidence and your goals
5. Plan approved — you'll receive the new plan and an explanation document
6. Plan starts on a date noted in the document (usually the day after approval, or a date you've agreed)

The whole process from request to approved plan typically takes 8-12 weeks. Complex cases involving major new evidence, new diagnoses, or specialist housing/AT can take longer.

If you disagree with the new plan, you can ask for an internal review under Section 100. You have three months from the decision to lodge an internal review request. If internal review doesn't resolve it, the next step is the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART), which replaced the AAT from October 2024.

What to do to prepare

If you're heading into a reassessment — yours, or one the NDIA has initiated — a few things help:

• Review your current plan. Pull out the funding categories, the goals, and what's been used. Note what's worked and what hasn't.
• Gather updated evidence. A current functional assessment, a recent OT or psychology report, a letter from your GP if relevant. Reassessments rely on what you can put in front of the planner.
• Think about your goals. Reassessments revisit your NDIS goals. Have a clear sense of what you want to work towards in the next plan period, in your own words.
• Talk to your support coordinator if you have one. They'll have done dozens of these and can help frame your request and gather the evidence.
• Consider getting an advocate. Free disability advocacy through DANA can help you prepare and represent your interests if the reassessment feels stressful or contested.
• Don't go in with assumptions about what supports you'll lose. Most reassessments end up with broadly similar funding to the previous plan unless circumstances have changed substantially.

What's changing

The NDIS Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 (introduced to Parliament 14 May 2026) proposes meaningful changes to reassessments:

• Plan reassessments will be based on standardised assessments rather than the current mix of evidence types. This means a more uniform process across participants — but also potentially less room for individual circumstances and supporting reports to shape the outcome.
• Criteria for unscheduled (participant-requested) plan reassessments will be tightened. Today the test is reasonably broad ("substantial change of circumstance"); under the new framework, the bar may be higher.
• A new "framework planning" approach with a new support needs assessment process and budget method will start transitioning participants from 1 April 2027. Your reassessment after that date may use the new method, with different inputs and outputs than the current process.

If you're preparing for a reassessment now, the current rules in this guide still apply. The proposed changes are not yet law. For a fuller walkthrough of the Bill — including the transition from current plans to the new framework — see our reaction explainer: The Securing NDIS Bill 2026: what it means for your plan.

Helpful resources

• NDIS Act 2013 — full text — Sections 47A and 48 are where the rules sit
• NDIS — Changing your plan — official guidance on variations and reassessments
• NDIS — Reviewing a decision — if the new plan isn't what you needed
• Disability Advocacy Network Australia — free advocacy support

Sources & last verified

Last verified 17 May 2026 against:

• National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (Sections 47A, 48, 100)
• NDIS Variation and Reassessment of Participants' Plans Rules 2025
• NDIA — Summary of legislation changes
• Department of Health — Securing the NDIS Bill 2026
• Administrative Review Tribunal

Next review scheduled 17 August 2026.