NDIS record-keeping requirements 2026: what you must keep, and for how long

From 27 August 2026, keeping records of your NDIS supports stopped being good practice and became a legal requirement. Who has to keep what, and for how long, depends on whether you're a participant, a nominee, a plan manager or a provider - and the rules are different again for how long you have to actually claim a support once it's been delivered. This is the plain-English breakdown, with links to the official sources.

Who has to keep records, and for how long

Per the NDIA and reporting from RotaWiz, the retention periods are:

There's one important exception: if a participant was under 18 when a support was delivered, records for that support need to be kept until they turn 25 - not just 3 (or 5, or 7) years from the support date - whichever is longer. A provider supporting a 10-year-old, for example, is looking at 15 years of retention for those records, not 7.

For providers specifically, the NDIA's guidance notes the 7-year rule covers incident records, reportable incident records, complaint records and worker screening records specifically, under section 73Q of the NDIS Act. If you cease to be a registered provider, you still need to hold onto those records for 3 years from the day you stopped.

What actually counts as a record

According to guidance summarised by Self Manager Hub, for self-managed participants that means invoices, receipts, employment and payroll records (if you employ your own support workers), service agreements, and any other evidence connected with a claim. At minimum, a record needs to show: who the participant is and their NDIS number, when the support was delivered, how much it cost and how many hours or units, and what type of support it was (ideally with the support item number). The records need to be good enough to show a claim was correct and the support was actually provided - if you can't produce them, the NDIA can seek repayment of the funding, even if the support genuinely happened.

The other change: a 90-day claim deadline

Separately, from 1 December 2026, the window to actually claim a support is shrinking dramatically - from 2 years down to 90 days from the date the support was delivered. This lands hardest on self-managed participants, who are responsible for submitting their own claims through the myplace portal, but it also affects plan managers claiming on a participant's behalf. Miss the window and the claim may not be payable at all, regardless of how good your records are.

Combined with the record-keeping rules, this means the moment a support is delivered now starts two clocks at once: how long you must keep evidence of it, and how little time you have left to actually get paid for it.

Why this is landing on self-managed participants hardest

Self-management already means more admin - juggling invoices from multiple providers (often a mix of registered and unregistered, since that flexibility is a big part of why people choose to self-manage), claiming, paying, and carrying the full compliance risk if something's wrong. These reforms add real time pressure and a real record-keeping duty on top of that, and unlike plan-managed participants (whose plan manager checks and holds records) or agency-managed participants (where the NDIA pays providers directly), the responsibility sits entirely with the person - or their nominee.

Plan-managed and agency-managed participants aren't legally required to keep their own copies of these records - but keeping one anyway is cheap insurance. If your plan manager's records don't match yours, or something changes with your plan, having your own copy means you're covered.

What to actually do about it

In practice: file every invoice and receipt as soon as it arrives, note the support date, amount, hours and support item on each one, and don't let claims sit for more than a couple of weeks before submitting them through the myplace portal. If you're self-managed and juggling several providers, that adds up to a lot of small admin tasks that are easy to let slip - which is exactly the gap Juste's record-keeping tools are built to close: records that file themselves from a photo or a provider's invoice, a claim reminder before the 90-day window closes, and an audit-ready export if the NDIA ever asks.

This article is general information, is dated 2 September 2026, and reflects reporting available at that time. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the NDIA. Reforms are rolling out in stages and some details may change - for advice about your own plan, speak to your planner, plan manager or an independent advocate, and verify current requirements at ndis.gov.au.