Picture a claiming week that closes cleanly. Every shift delivered this week is approved and lodged, and nothing sits in a spreadsheet getting older. No claim drifts towards day 90, and your cash flow keeps pace with payroll because the money is already on its way back.
That steady rhythm matters more from 15 October 2026. The NDIA now does extra checks on claims submitted more than 90 days after a support is delivered, and may hold them for up to 28 days. Claims submitted within 90 days go through as usual.
This article gives you a weekly claiming routine that keeps every claim inside 90 days, so the claim run keeps its own steady beat alongside the pay run.
What changed on 15 October
The NDIA published the change on 5 October 2026 in a news item titled Increasing integrity checks on older claims. The key points, as the NDIA states them:
- From 15 October 2026, the NDIA will do extra checks on claims submitted more than 90 days after a support is delivered.
- Those claims may be held for up to 28 days.
- Claims submitted within 90 days will continue through the usual claiming process.
The NDIA's Guide to getting paid says the same thing in its own words: extra checks on claims made more than 90 days after the support is delivered, and the review can take up to 28 days.
Two details matter. First, the 90 days is counted from when the support is delivered, not from the invoice date or the end of a pay period. Second, the NDIA says claims "may be held", so a hold is possible, not automatic.
Where the system is heading (announced, not in force)
For context only: the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing says the NDIS amendment Bill passed on 19 August 2026 and received Royal Assent on 20 August 2026. Its page, Securing the NDIS for future generations (last updated 27 August 2026), announces an uplift to the claims and payments system from July 2026, rolled out by the end of 2030. That is an announced programme of work, not a rule in force today. We have not found a claim time limit on that page, so this article does not state one.
What it means for your cash flow
This section is our reading of the NDIA's announcement, not a statement from the NDIA.
If a claim goes in on day 95 and is held for the full 28 days, the money could arrive around day 123 after the support was delivered. For a provider that paid the support worker within a fortnight of the shift, that is months of carrying the cost. Three things follow.
- Payroll. Your staff are paid on the usual cycle whether or not the claim has cleared. Every held claim is wages you have already funded.
- Fixed costs. Rent, insurance, software and vehicle costs do not wait either. A cluster of older claims held at once can squeeze a month that would otherwise be comfortable.
- The quiet risk. The most dangerous late claim is the one nobody has noticed. A shift that was delivered, never invoiced and never lodged does not show up as a held payment. It just does not show up. The longer it sits, the more likely it falls into the older-claims category, and the harder it is to put together the evidence of delivery.
None of this means every older claim will be delayed. The safe assumption has changed: stay inside 90 days and your claims go through the usual process.
Where late claims actually come from
Late claims are rarely a decision. They are a leak somewhere between the shift and the claim. Here are five common causes, each with a fix.
1. The shift was delivered but the timesheet was never approved
Nothing downstream can start until the hours are approved. A pile of unapproved timesheets is a pile of unclaimed income.
Fix: set a weekly approval deadline, and review unapproved timesheets on the same day each week so nothing ages quietly.
2. Service booking or plan dates are wrong
A claim for a support delivered outside the dates on the booking or plan will not go through cleanly, and the problem is often found only when the claim is attempted, weeks after the shift.
Fix: check booking and plan dates when you create or change a service agreement, and again when a plan is reassessed or replaced, not at claim time.
3. Support item mismatch after a price change
A Department of Health media release, republished by the NDIA on 24 September 2026, said the 2026-27 price limits were effective immediately. When prices or support items change, an old rate or item code left in your invoicing setup produces claims that do not match.
Fix: review your support items and rates whenever the price limits change, and spot check the first invoices after the change.
4. Cancellations and no-shows are not recorded
Short notice cancellations and no-shows are easy to lose because no one worked the shift. If the cancellation is not recorded promptly, the paperwork to support a claim, where one applies, gets harder to reconstruct.
Fix: record every cancellation and no-show on the day, with the time of notice, in the same place you record delivered shifts.
5. Nobody owns the claim run
When claiming is "everyone's job" at the end of the month, it becomes no one's job in a busy week.
Fix: name one person who owns the weekly claim run and one backup. Put the run in their calendar.
The same evidence trail helps beyond billing. Our guide on preparing for an NDIS audit without chasing evidence across multiple systems covers the compliance side.
A claiming cadence that stays inside 90 days
The simplest defence against the new checks is a short weekly routine, run on the same day every week. This is a suggested routine, not an NDIA requirement.
- Approve timesheets within the week. Every shift delivered this week is approved by the end of this week, so hours are never more than a few days old when they reach billing.
- Build invoices from delivered shifts. Draft claims from what was actually delivered and approved, not from memory or a re-typed spreadsheet. See roster to invoice without double entry for why re-keying is where errors creep in.
- Check an aged-unclaimed list every Monday. List every delivered support that has not yet been claimed, sorted by age, with flags at 30, 60 and 75 days since delivery.
- Lodge weekly. Submit the week's claims through the myplace provider portal or by bulk payment request, on a fixed day, rather than saving them up.
- Reconcile remittances. Match what was paid against what was claimed, and chase short payments and rejections straight away, while the shift is fresh.
- Escalate anything over 60 days. Anything still unclaimed at day 60 goes to the owner or finance lead with a reason and a date it will be lodged.
| Days since support delivered | Action | Who |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 7 | Timesheet approved, invoice drafted from the delivered shift | Team leader or manager, then billing officer |
| 8 to 14 | Claim lodged in the weekly run | Claim run owner |
| 30 | Flag on the aged-unclaimed list, find out why it is still open | Billing officer |
| 60 | Escalate with a reason and a lodgement date | Finance lead or owner |
| 75 | Final flag, lodge this week whatever it takes | Owner or finance lead |
| Over 90 | Lodge anyway, expect extra checks, keep evidence ready | Claim run owner and finance lead |
The only date the NDIA has set is the 90-day line. The earlier flags are there to leave you margin.
If a claim is already over 90 days
- Lodge it anyway. The NDIA's announcement describes extra checks and a possible hold, not a blanket refusal. We have not seen a cut-off date on the pages cited in this article, so confirm any specific deadline with the NDIA.
- Expect up to 28 days. Plan your cash flow as if the claim will be held for the full period, and treat an earlier payment as a bonus.
- Keep evidence of delivery ready. Approved timesheets, shift notes, the service booking and the service agreement, and any record of cancellations.
- Find out why it was late. Use the five causes above to work out which leak let it through, and fix that one first.
How BondiByte helps
BondiByte is NDIS provider software, and it covers the steps between the shift and the claim.
- Invoices drafted from completed shifts. BondiByte drafts invoices from completed shifts on your published roster, using the billing lines on each client's active service agreement. Your team reviews each draft before it goes out, so nothing waits on someone retyping hours into a separate sheet.
- Timesheet approval with a trail. The approval record shows who approved and when. Authorised roles can unapprove a timesheet with a written reason when a correction is needed, and both events stay on record.
- Timesheets from the phone. Support workers see their shifts, clock on and off where that is enabled, and submit timesheets from the Staff App. Coordinators build the roster and approve timesheets in BondiByte.
BondiByte prepares claim-ready data. You review it and lodge through your usual NDIS claiming process. BondiByte does not lodge claims with the NDIA, and it does not promise that any claim will be accepted or paid.
Start a 28-day free trial on Starter, Foundation or Growth, no card needed. Every plan includes the full toolset.
Frequently asked questions
Does the 90-day rule apply to every claim?
No. According to the NDIA's news item of 5 October 2026, the extra checks apply from 15 October 2026 to claims submitted more than 90 days after a support is delivered. Claims within 90 days continue through the usual claiming process.
How long can an older claim be held?
Up to 28 days. That figure appears both in the NDIA's news item and in its Guide to getting paid. Plan cash flow on the full period.
Is there a new claim time limit under the amended NDIS legislation?
We have not found one on the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing page, Securing the NDIS for future generations (last updated 27 August 2026). That page announces a claims and payments system uplift from July 2026, rolled out by the end of 2030. If someone quotes you a specific deadline, ask for the source.
Does a held claim mean it will be rejected?
Not on the information we have. The NDIA says older claims may be held while extra checks are done. The pages we read do not say what happens at the end of the check, so keep your evidence of delivery organised and confirm anything specific with the NDIA.
Does BondiByte lodge claims for me?
No. BondiByte drafts invoices from completed shifts on your published roster and keeps the timesheet approval trail. You review the claim-ready data and lodge it through your usual NDIS claiming process.
Sources
- Increasing integrity checks on older claims, NDIA, 5 October 2026.
- Guide to getting paid, NDIA, undated page, checked 17 October 2026.
- Securing the NDIS for future generations, Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, last updated 27 August 2026.
- New price limits set for NDIS supports, Department of Health media release republished by the NDIA, 24 September 2026.
Checked on 17 October 2026. Rules change, so confirm with the NDIA before relying on this.