Latest Compliance Updates

WorkSafe Victoria issued a new Electric Shocks from Damaged Electrical Leads on Hospital Equipment safety alert on 23 July 2026 following multiple incidents where workers received electric shocks while handling electrical leads and plugs connected to mobile electrically powered equipment.

The incidents occurred in hospital and healthcare environments, but the underlying risk is also relevant to aged care, supported accommodation, SIL, SDA and home-based support settings where electrical equipment is regularly moved, repositioned, plugged in or unplugged. WorkSafe’s broader Electrical Safety guidance identifies frequently moved portable electrical equipment, plugs, sockets, electrical connections and cables as common sources of electrical hazards.

Providers should identify frequently moved electrical equipment, including relevant provider-owned and participant or resident-owned assistive technology, and incorporate it into their WHS, asset management and maintenance systems.

Inspection frequencies should reflect how equipment is actually used, the environment in which it operates, previous damage or failures and manufacturer requirements. Higher-risk equipment should also be supported by appropriate pre-use visual checks and clear reporting, isolation, maintenance and return-to-service processes.

Any identified gaps should be recorded through the organisation’s WHS, risk or continuous improvement systems.

From 1 July 2026, all NDIS providers who deliver Supported Independent Living (SIL) supports must be registered with the NDIS Quality and Safeguard Commission (NDIS Commission) under the new 0138 registration group; Assistance with supported independent living.

The NDIS Commission has created new SIL Practice Standards which all SIL providers must comply with from 1 July 2026.

• The NDIS Commission has introduced transitional arrangements to SIL providers who are currently registered as well as those who are yet to register.
• Providers who are currently registered for SIL under the 0115 registration group must continue to comply to remain registered.
  • The NDIS Commission will update the relevant registration certificates to include the new 0138 registration group.
  • Providers must implement the new SIL Practice Standards as part of their services from 1 July 2026.
  • Providers will be audited against this registration group at their first audit after 1 July 2026.
• Providers who deliver SIL services as an unregistered provider, must apply for registration before 1 October 2026 against the new 0138 registration group.
  • Applying before this date allows providers to continue operating SIL services throughout the application process.
  • Failure to meet these timeframes may be considered a serious offence and may breach the NDIS Act resulting in fines, imprisonment or both.
• There are four new SIL Practice Standards, they are:
  1. SIL Practice Standards: Supported Decision-Making Standard
  2. SIL Practice Standards: Safeguarding Standard
  3. SIL Practice Standards: Practice Governance Standard
  4. SIL Practice Standards: Agreements about tenancy, housing and support arrangements

In order to make these changes work for your business, you must consider the following:

• Policy updates and/or development to provide an overview of how you will:
  • Communicate information in the language, mode of communication and terms understood by the participant
  • How the participants right to the dignity of risk in decision making is supported, including making informed decisions about accessing services inside and outside the home
  • Demonstrate compliance under the NDIS Code of Conduct
  • Outline the responsibilities of relevant workers in relation to identifying, assessing and responding to risks such as bullying and conflict in the SIL home environment
  • Review cycles of safeguarding approaches
  • Outline the planning, delivery and evaluation of training and supervision of relevant workers, including processes in place to train trauma-informed practices, active support and supported decision-making
  • Governance oversight and steps which will be taken in line with emergency planning in a shared living environment
  • What the businesses risk appetite is in relation to providing both tenancy and SIL services. If the decision is to provide both, then the clear processes in place to keep the two agreements separate and not congruent on the other
  • Support participants to provide feedback and complaints processes specific to SIL services without fear of retribution
• Refresher or new training of staff to familiarise with the new expectations, enhanced protections, and updated operational responsibilities. Training should include, but not limited to:
  • How to support the participants ability to make decisions and understand the impact of their decisions
  • The skills and ability to identify, assess and respond to harm, as well as in de-escalation, trauma informed practices, active support, supported decision-making and positive behaviour support
  • Emergency planning processes in a shared living environment.
• Notify participants and their decision-makers (if applicable) about the changes and steps being taken to ensure continuity of supports. Provide clear information on what these changes entail for your business.
• Ensure all the required documentation is in place, and where required updated, for example Service Agreement, Tenancy Agreement (if applicable), Care Plans, Emergency and Disaster Management Plans comply with the new SIL Practice Standards.

The accompanying Governance Policy and Procedure, SIL Policy and Procedure, and Inclusion, Diversity and Culturally Safe Care Policy and Procedure templates provide the detail needed to implement each of the four new SIL Practice Standards. In summary:

Supported Decision-Making
Set out how participants’ dignity of risk and informed decision-making are supported, including decisions about accessing services inside and outside the home, and how information is communicated in the language, mode and terms each participant understands.

Safeguarding
Set out workers’ responsibilities for identifying, assessing and responding to risks such as bullying and conflict in the SIL home environment, the review cycle for safeguarding approaches, and the planning, delivery and evaluation of worker training and supervision, including trauma-informed practice, active support and supported decision-making.

Practice Governance
Set out governance oversight and emergency planning arrangements for shared living environments, in line with the NDIS Code of Conduct.

Agreements about Tenancy, Housing and Support Arrangements
Set out how Service Agreements and, where applicable, Tenancy Agreements should be structured. If your organisation provides both tenancy and SIL services to the same participant, this also covers the clear processes required to keep the two agreements separate, to support your assessment of risk appetite in providing both.

Workforce Training and Supervision
Set out the planning, delivery and evaluation of worker training and supervision against the new standards, including refresher training on participants’ rights and enhanced protections. Training should cover, at minimum: supporting participants’ ability to make decisions and understand the impact of their choices; identifying, assessing and responding to harm, including de-escalation, trauma-informed practice, active support, supported decision-making and positive behaviour support; and emergency planning in a shared living environment.

Participant and Stakeholder Communication
Notify participants and their decision-makers (if applicable) of the changes and the steps being taken to ensure continuity of supports, with clear information on what the changes mean for them.

Documentation
Ensure all required documentation is in place and, where necessary, updated, for example Service Agreements, Tenancy Agreements, Care Plans, and Emergency and Disaster Management Plans, so each complies with the new SIL Practice Standards. Feedback and complaints processes specific to SIL services should also be in place, allowing participants to raise concerns without fear of retribution.

The NDIA has completed its Annual Pricing Review and released the NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026–27. The Pricing Schedule applies from 1 July 2026 and now reflects the outcomes of that review, including changes to disability support worker supports, Short Term Accommodation, therapy supports, nursing supports, Psychosocial Recovery Coaching, Support Coordination and Plan Management. The NDIA confirms this in The NDIA Has Released The Annual Pricing Review Report.

The NDIA has also changed the name and structure of the main pricing document. The 2026–27 document is now called the NDIS Pricing Schedule, replacing the previous NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits terminology. Providers can use the Pricing Schedule to inform their prices, but must discuss proposed changes to existing service agreements with participants and obtain participant agreement before applying those changes.

Support Coordination and Plan Management providers should review workforce costs, administration time, technology costs and service delivery models. Providers should not assume an annual uplift.

Where providers offer Support Coordination or Plan Management alongside direct supports, conflict of interest processes should remain clear, documented and participant-centred.

Social, Community and Civic Participation Supports

Providers delivering Social, Community and Civic Participation supports should prepare for a further change from 1 January 2027.

The Annual Pricing Review includes a recommendation that prices for unregistered providers delivering these supports, including high intensity supports, be reduced by 10% from 1 January 2027, with indexation ceased. Prices and indexation for registered providers would be maintained.

Providers should identify whether they deliver these supports, whether they are registered or unregistered for the relevant supports, and whether pricing, registration strategy, service agreements or participant communications may need to change before 1 January 2027.

Removed, Replaced or New Support Items

The 2026–27 Pricing Schedule includes changed, new and restructured support items. Some items from the 2025–26 pricing documents may not appear in the same way in the 2026–27 schedule.

This does not always mean a support has been discontinued. Some items may have been renamed, restructured, replaced, consolidated or moved into a different claiming approach.

Providers should not rely on prior-year item numbers. Billing teams should check item number, description, unit and price before claiming. Where an item is no longer available as a direct match, providers should check the 2026–27 Pricing Schedule and NDIA guidance before selecting a replacement item.

Broader Pricing Reform and Future Changes

The Pricing Schedule has been released in the context of broader NDIS pricing reform.

The NDIA states that the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 was introduced on 14 May 2026 and proposes to give the Minister for the NDIS power to make pricing determinations. This context is outlined in The NDIA Has Released The Annual Pricing Review Report.

Providers should monitor further NDIA pricing updates and consider pricing reform as part of financial and strategic planning, especially in areas where price limits remain unchanged or have reduced.

Providers should complete a structured pricing implementation review before applying 2026–27 prices.

Create a pricing implementation register comparing your current 2025–26 claimed items with the 2026–27 Pricing Schedule. For each item, record whether the item has increased, reduced, stayed the same, changed unit, changed description, been replaced, or is no longer available in the same way.

Don’t rely only on percentage increases. Some items have changed unit, some have changed structure, and some may not have a direct 2026–27 equivalent. Providers should check the current item number, description, unit of measure, claim type and price limit before claiming.

Review participant service agreements before charging changed prices. Where prices are proposed to change, communicate the change clearly to participants and obtain their agreement before applying the new price.

Update billing, finance, rostering, payroll and practice management systems. This is especially important for STA providers, therapy providers, providers delivering disability support worker supports, Psychosocial Recovery Coaching providers, Support Coordination providers and Plan Management providers.

Train staff who quote, roster, deliver, document or claim supports. Staff should understand the support items relevant to their role and know when to escalate uncertainty before a claim is submitted.

The Do Checklist accompanying this update provides practical implementation steps to help providers review and apply the pricing changes.