New fraud and integrity offences under the NDIS bill: what providers and nominees need to know

A large part of what the government moved in the Senate on 18 August 2026 - before the NDIS reform bill received Royal Assent two days later - is squarely about fraud and integrity. If you're a provider, an independent support worker, or a nominee acting for a participant, this is the part of the final Act most likely to affect you directly. Here's the full list, straight from the Department of Health's own fact sheet.

Kickbacks and inducements are banned

Providers can no longer offer or give an inducement or kickback where it would be likely to encourage someone to engage, keep using, or increase their use of that provider's services. An inducement is any reward, benefit or offer meant to influence someone's decision; a kickback is a payment, gift or benefit given for favourable treatment or a referral. Break the rule and you're facing a fine, up to 2 years' imprisonment, or both. There's a carve-out for genuine pricing practices and small merchandise like hats or tote bags - but alcohol, tobacco, cash and cash-like products, and electronic devices are banned as inducements in every case.

Providers can't hide behind document immunity

NDIS providers and their employees can't refuse to hand over information to a court, tribunal or other authority - that kind of immunity from producing documents now only applies to NDIA and NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission officers themselves (with narrow exceptions where disclosure is needed for Royal Commission, anti-corruption or crime commission investigations). It also means agencies like the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission or National Anti-Corruption Commission can use their existing powers to gather information on serious and organised crime operating within the NDIS.

New offences, and what they carry

Several new fraud-related offences have been added directly into the NDIS Act:

• Providing false or misleading information to the NDIA (for access, planning, claiming or administration) or the NDIS Commission - up to 12 months' imprisonment or 120 penalty units for an individual, up to 5 years or 1,000 penalty units for a serious provider breach.
• Obtaining NDIS funds by deception - the same penalty tiers as above, rising to up to 5 years or 1,000 penalty units for an individual using deception such as impersonation, and up to 10 years or 2,000 penalty units for a serious provider breach involving impersonation. Parallel civil penalties can also apply, and money obtained this way can be required to be repaid.
• Intentionally destroying records to defraud the NDIS or disrupt an audit, review, investigation or compliance activity - up to 2 years' imprisonment or 240 penalty units. This is the one that ties directly back to the record-keeping obligations we've covered elsewhere - deliberately getting rid of evidence is now its own, separate crime, not just a compliance gap.
• Abuse of position as a participant's nominee - a nominee who misuses their position for personal gain or to cause a participant harm faces a penalty of 120 penalty units.

Stronger whistleblower protections

To bring the scheme's whistleblower regime in line with best practice (and the Corporations Act 2001), disclosures made when seeking legal, medical, psychological or workplace support are now protected, individuals only need to show a "reasonable possibility" they qualify for whistleblower protection in civil or criminal proceedings, and the burden of proof is reversed in civil penalty proceedings where someone has experienced unfair treatment for a protected disclosure. The changes also spell out what counts as "detriment" to a whistleblower - job loss, injury, changed duties, discrimination, harassment, psychological harm, or damage to property, reputation or finances - and make clear the NDIS regime doesn't override state and territory whistleblowing protections.

Faster action against unsafe providers

Senior NDIS Commission staff (Executive Level 2) can now make, vary or revoke banning orders (which stop unsafe providers or workers from delivering NDIS supports) and anti-promotion orders (which stop misleading, predatory or unethical marketing), without every decision needing to go further up the chain. The intent is faster action against poor provider behaviour before it causes harm.

What to actually do about it

None of this should change how a provider or nominee acting in good faith operates day to day - it's aimed at deliberate fraud and abuse, not honest mistakes. The practical takeaway is that the cost of getting caught has gone up substantially, standards of proof for civil breaches are now easier to meet (see our dedicated post on that change), and keeping a genuine, complete record of what actually happened is now protection against both an honest paperwork gap and a serious allegation. This is general information, not legal advice - for anything specific to your situation, the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission or a lawyer familiar with the sector is the right call.

This article is general information dated 14 September 2026, not legal advice, and reflects the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing's own fact sheet. Juste is operated by Leah Justyce Art Gallery ABN 73 658 665 321. Penalty unit dollar values change periodically - confirm the current rate and full detail at health.gov.au and ndis.gov.au.