Integrity and Safeguarding Bill to strengthen regulatory powers
The Australian Parliament will consider new legislation to increase safeguarding of NDIS participants and improve the integrity of the scheme.
The National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Integrity and Safeguarding) Bill 2025 proposes a range of new powers for the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission to take stronger regulatory action.
Key measures include:
- stronger penalty framework with increased civil penalties and new criminal offences
- anti-promotion orders to restrict predatory marketing that exploits participants and damages the scheme
- expansion of banning powers to include auditors and consultants
- stronger information gathering powers for the NDIS Commission to more effectively investigate providers.
The NDIS Commission undertook extensive consultation on these proposed changes late last year and received strong support for the measures.
NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commissioner Louise Glanville has welcomed the proposed measures.
“These reforms – which are aligned with recommendations of the NDIS Review and the Disability Royal Commission – will empower the NDIS Commission to take stronger regulatory action,” Ms Glanville said.
“The ability to ban auditors and consultants is critical to remove unscrupulous operators from the scheme.
“Increases to the maximum civil penalty for harming a participant will bring the NDIS into line with Work Health and Safety legislation, ensuring the life of a person with disability is not valued less than the life of a worker.
“Anti-promotion powers will mean we can crackdown on predatory marketing that exploits NDIS participants and undermines the integrity of the scheme.
“These changes will support us to be a more formidable regulator with a clear focus on protecting human rights and the sustainability of the NDIS.”
The Bill is scheduled for further consideration when Parliament next sits in 2026.
For more information and to read the Bill, visit the Australian Parliament website.