The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission’s Practice Standards Review (October 2025) marks one of the most significant updates to NDIS quality regulation since the scheme’s launch.
The consultation, which closed in November 2025, invited feedback on how the standards could better define, measure, and support high-quality, person-centred care. As the NDIS evolves, this review is a critical step in ensuring that the system remains safe, inclusive, and participant-led.
At Benevida, we see this as a welcome opportunity to strengthen what matters most — ensuring that every person with disability can access supports that uphold their rights, dignity, and independence.
Why the Review Matters
The NDIS Practice Standards are the foundation of quality and safety for registered providers. They guide how supports are delivered and how participants’ rights are protected.
Since their introduction in 2018, providers and participants have called for a clearer, simpler, and more flexible approach — one that balances accountability with empowerment.
The 2025 Review sought to:
- Simplify obligations while reducing duplication.
- Strengthen person-centred and rights-based approaches.
- Promote continuous improvement over compliance.
- Explore the creation of a new Quality Framework to better assess and communicate performance.
Four New Practice Domains
One of the most important proposals is replacing the current “Core Module” with four Practice Domains that better reflect how quality looks in practice:
- Individual Rights – Protecting dignity, autonomy, and freedom from harm.
- Provider Leadership – Ensuring strong governance, workforce capability, and culture.
- Safe Support Practice – Balancing safety with the right to choice and risk.
- Effective and Impactful Supports – Embedding reflection, feedback, and improvement.
These domains would use reflective questions and outcome statements, encouraging providers to think critically about how they deliver services — not just how they document them.
Toward a Stronger Quality Framework
The Review also explored introducing a Quality Framework to unify how quality is measured and reported across the NDIS.
This framework could include:
- Guiding principles such as participant-led, inclusive, and transparent practice.
- A mix of assessment methods including self-reflection, targeted reviews, and quality audits.
- Clear evidence categories and transparent performance ratings.
Such an approach would move the sector toward a more collaborative and data-informed model — one that highlights what works well while supporting improvement where it’s needed most.
Better Guidance and Resources
Providers and workers often ask for more practical tools to help turn standards into action. The Review acknowledges this, proposing:
- Case studies showing good practice in real settings.
- Self-reflection tools to support continuous learning.
- A central knowledge repository to share templates, research, and training resources.
These resources will make it easier for providers to meet expectations and for participants to understand what quality support looks like in everyday life.
Our Perspective
At Benevida, we believe genuine quality is built through relationships, reflection, and accountability — not just compliance.
We support reforms that simplify processes while raising the bar for care. We’ll continue to align our own practices with emerging standards, ensuring our team remains committed to:
- Safe, inclusive, and culturally aware supports.
- Empowering participants to shape their services.
- Continuous learning and improvement at every level.
As the NDIS Commission reviews sector feedback and prepares the next phase of reform in 2026, Benevida will continue to share updates and insights to help our community stay informed and ready for change.
Looking Ahead
The NDIS Practice Standards Review represents more than policy reform — it’s an opportunity to renew our collective commitment to the values of dignity, safety, and inclusion.
Together, we can help shape a stronger, safer, and more person-centred NDIS for the future.