What the 2026–27 Federal Budget Means for Healthcare and the NDIS

The 2026–27 Federal Budget, handed down by Treasurer Jim Chalmers, represents one of the most significant healthcare investment packages in recent Australian history. With record funding for public hospitals, a major restructure of the NDIS, landmark investments in aged care, and expanded Medicare services, the Budget touches virtually every corner of Australia’s health and care landscape.

Here’s what it means for workers, organisations and individuals across the healthcare and disability sectors.

Record Investment in Health

The Government will provide $220.3 billion over five years to states and territories for public hospital services, delivered through a renewed National Health Reform Agreement (NHRA) running from 2026 to 2031. This represents a record level of hospital funding, including $24.4 billion in additional NHRA funding through a higher funding cap.

For 2026–27 specifically, the Australian Government will provide states and territories with $37.4 billion under the National Health Reform Agreement, up from $32.2 billion in the prior year. Combined with a record $25 billion in additional hospital investment, this positions Australia’s public hospital system with more Commonwealth backing than at any previous point.

There is also a dedicated new schedule for First Nations health reform, backed by $200 million over five years to states and territories (matched by state and territory funding), specifically focused on improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health outcomes through the public hospital system.

For healthcare organisations and workers, these numbers translate into expanded demand for services and staff, particularly in emergency, acute and specialist care settings.

Bulk Billing, UCCs and Digital Health

Medicare Urgent Care Clinics (UCCs) receive one of the Budget’s most significant long-term commitments. The Government is providing $1.8 billion over five years (plus ongoing funding) to secure the future of all 137 Medicare UCCs across Australia, with all clinics planned to be operational by 30 June 2026.

These clinics have already seen close to 3 million presentations since being established, with women making up 55 per cent of patients. Making UCCs a permanent feature of the healthcare system creates enduring demand for primary care nursing, allied health and GP professionals in community settings.

Bulk billing remains a central priority. The $7.9 billion bulk billing package announced in the 2025–26 Budget continues to roll out, with a target of nine in ten GP services being bulk billed by 2030, equivalent to an additional 18 million bulk-billed services each year. In the first three months of the Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program, the bulk billing rate for standard GP consultations reached 81.4 per cent, a 4.3 percentage point increase year on year.

The Government is also funding a record of up to six fully bulk-billed general practices in the Central Coast, Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and Hunter regions. Areas historically underserved by bulk billing at a cost of $25.3 million over three years.

Digital health receives $745.1 million over four years, including $598.3 million over two years to sustain and improve My Health Record, and $146.8 million to establish enhanced Medicare integrity capabilities to reduce fraud and non-compliance in the Medicare Benefits Schedule and PBS.

Home Care Reforms and Residential Supply

Aged care is one of the standout investment areas in this Budget, with reforms spanning both home care and residential settings.

Support at Home Program

The Government is investing $1.4 billion over four years to improve affordability and access to home care. The most significant change is a $1.0 billion commitment to make personal care services — including showering, dressing and continence care; fully funded by the Government for all care recipients in the Support at Home program. Previously, these costs were partially contributed to by recipients. This change removes a financial barrier for many older Australians who need daily personal care.

An additional $389.8 million is allocated to implement program refinements, including improvements to assessments, hardship applications, the end-of-life care pathway, and bringing forward the release of additional Support at Home program places in 2026–27.

Combined with earlier investments, total Government investment in the Support at Home program now stands at $5.7 billion. Given that two thirds of aged care users are women, and women make up approximately 70 per cent of primary carers for older people and 86 per cent of aged care workers, these reforms have a particularly strong gendered dimension.

Residential Aged Care: New Beds and Dementia Support

The Budget introduces $606.5 million over four years (and an additional $3 billion from 2030–31 to 2035–36) to stimulate growth in residential aged care bed supply and protect equity of access for supported residents. Key elements include:

• Capital subsidies for providers building or significantly expanding aged care homes: $30.00 per supported resident per day for newly constructed homes (payable up to 25 years), and $15.00 per day for significantly expanded homes (payable up to 15 years)
• $224.3 million for dementia care, including expansion of the Hospital to Aged Care Dementia Support program from 11 to 20 national locations, and up to 20 additional Specialist Dementia Care Program units
• $33.8 million to allow greater flexibility in how room prices are set

To fund this residential expansion, the Government will redirect savings from removing the age-based uplift of the Private Health Insurance Rebate from 1 April 2027, a change projected to save $3.0 billion over four years.

Regulatory Strengthening

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission receives $120.3 million in 2026–27 to continue delivering its regulatory functions under the Aged Care Act 2024, alongside $33.7 million to improve the Commission’s ICT governance and cyber security capability. The Commission is also moving to a revised cost recovery model, extending Stage 1 recovery arrangements to 30 June 2029.

For aged care providers and operators, this Budget signals both a significant growth opportunity and continued regulatory scrutiny. For aged care workers, the wage improvements delivered through successive Fair Work Commission decisions, including the 15 per cent aged care award wage increase, continue to be backed by government funding totalling $17.7 billion committed since 2022.

The NDIS

The National Disability Insurance Scheme receives the Budget’s most complex and structurally significant package, a $1.7 billion investment to support participants and improve scheme sustainability, against a projected reduction in NDIS expenditure growth of $37.8 billion over four years relative to the NDIS Actuary’s updated projections.

This is not a cut to the NDIS. Payments will continue to grow each year. However, the Government is implementing a broad package of reforms to bring the scheme back to its original purpose of supporting people with permanent and significant disability.

What’s Changing

• New Enrolment and Digital Payment System ($358.5 million)
  A new digital payment system will be developed and implemented to improve payment integrity and reduce fraud and non-compliant payments. This is one of the largest single investment items in the NDIS package.
• Mandatory Registration of High-Risk Providers ($182.6 million over four years)
  From a date to be determined, high-risk NDIS providers will be required to register with the NDIS Commission. This is a significant policy shift, as currently, unregistered providers can deliver many types of support. The expansion of mandatory registration will affect a broad range of businesses currently operating outside the registration framework. Cost recovery from expanded registration will partially offset this investment.
• Framework Planning Roll-Out ($270.1 million in 2026–27)
  The Government will invest in preparing for the roll-out and implementation of the new framework planning from 1 April 2027. This new planning approach will replace current planning processes and is expected to produce more consistent, needs-based plans for participants.
• Fraud Fusion Taskforce – Ongoing ($280.1 million)
  The cross-agency Fraud Fusion Taskforce, operating across 24 government agencies, will become a permanent ongoing function. To date, it has resulted in 28 successful prosecutions and over 200 NDIS providers and individuals being banned, suspended or deregistered.
• NDIS Commission Regulatory Capability ($41.1 million in 2026–27)
  The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission receives significant additional resourcing to strengthen its regulatory and compliance activities.
• Plan Management and Support Coordination Commissioning ($49.4 million)
  The Government will commission plan management and support coordination services for participants to reduce fraud and improve service quality. This reflects a move toward more structured, government-directed contracting in some parts of the market.
• Functional Capacity Assessments
  The Government is establishing a Technical Advisory Group ($3.3 million) to advise on the design of new functional capacity assessment tools. Importantly, the Government has confirmed that changes to assessing access based on functional capacity will not commence until 1 January 2028, giving the sector time to prepare.

Thriving Kids

Separate from NDIS reforms, the Budget introduces the Thriving Kids program, a $2.0 billion Commonwealth investment (matched by states and territories) to support children aged eight and under with developmental delay or autism with low to moderate support needs. This is a major new program sitting outside the NDIS and represents the Commonwealth’s contribution to foundational supports, an area long-discussed as needing development. Key elements include:

• $1.4 billion to states and territories to deliver Thriving Kids services
• $126.1 million to support early identification through Medicare-funded three-year-old health assessments and an expanded Comprehensive Health Assessment Program
• $120.9 million for national information and advice to parents and families, including a national phone line and autism advice helpline
• $60.8 million for workforce development and training, including dedicated First Nations workforce funding

The Thriving Kids program, combined with the $3 billion provisioned for broader Foundational Supports (to be matched by states and territories), represents a new layer of support for Australians with disability who may not meet NDIS access criteria or who have lower-level needs.

What This Means for NDIS Providers and Workers

The Budget signals a substantial tightening of compliance requirements in the NDIS market. Mandatory provider registration for high-risk categories, the ongoing Fraud Fusion Taskforce, and enhanced digital payment controls will place greater administrative demands on providers. Organisations that have operated as unregistered providers in high-risk support categories will need to consider their registration pathways.

For support workers, the expanded workforce development record funding within Thriving Kids creates new opportunities, particularly for those working with children and young people. The ongoing investment in the NDIS Commission’s regulatory functions also reinforces the value of working through reputable, compliant providers.

Mental Health

Mental health receives $277.5 million in 2026–27 to extend the National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement to 30 June 2027, maintaining continuity of existing programs while a longer-term framework is developed.

Within this, specific funded activities include:

• $78 million for Medicare Mental Health Centres, with more than 57 per cent of clients accessing these centres have been women
• $4.9 million to extend universal perinatal mental health screening across public antenatal and postnatal care settings
• $4.4 million to extend supports for people with eating disorders and their families
• The Medicare Mental Health Check-In service, launched in January 2026, provides free telehealth counselling for Australians from home, extending access to those who may face barriers attending services in person.
• Mental health workforce development continues as a priority, with the Government having already committed $83.9 million to expand training places and internship opportunities for psychologists, psychiatrists, GPs and peer workers under the National Mental Health Workforce Strategy.

For healthcare professionals working in mental health settings, including nurses, allied health workers and support staff, these investments point to sustained and growing demand across community and clinical mental health services.

Women’s Health

The 2025–26 Budget’s $792.9 million women’s health package is already delivering results, and the 2026–27 Budget builds on this foundation.

Key measures include:

• Endometriosis and Pelvic Pain Clinics
  The 33-clinic network receives ongoing funding, with clinics now expanding their scope to include perimenopause and menopause care from July 2026.
• Contraceptive Access
  The LARC (long-acting reversible contraceptive) access program is extended to include participating midwives, with $2.7 million for new MBS items. There has already been a 19.4 percentage-point increase in bulk-billing rates for LARC insertions since fee increases were introduced.
• Pharmacy Trial
  From January 2027, a trial will allow approximately 250,000 female concession card holders aged 18 to 55 to access subsidised contraceptives and antibiotics for uncomplicated UTIs through pharmacies, without a GP visit.
• Ministerial Expert Panel on Women’s Health
  A new expert panel is established to focus on conditions and systemic challenges where women experience poorer health outcomes, with particular emphasis on cardiovascular health.

These measures create demand for additional midwives, nurses, pharmacists and allied health professionals trained in women’s health, an area where Healthcare Australia has significant workforce capability.

What This Budget Means for Healthcare Workers

Across every area of the Budget, sustained investment in health and care services points to ongoing strong demand for qualified healthcare workers in Australia. Key workforce themes include:

• Aged care
  Capital subsidies for new beds, combined with the Support at Home program expansion, will require more personal care workers, registered nurses, allied health professionals and care managers across both home and residential settings.
• NDIS
  The Thriving Kids program, workforce development funding and expanded foundational supports represent new employment pathways for disability support workers, early childhood educators and allied health professionals working with children.
• Primary care
  The permanent funding of Medicare UCCs, the bulk-billing expansion, and the rollout of new bulk-billing general practices create demand for GP-adjacent nursing and allied health roles in community settings.
• Mental health
  Extended programs and new telehealth services sustain demand for psychologists, mental health nurses, social workers and peer support workers.
• Hospital sector
  The record NHRA investment, combined with the additional $25 billion in public hospital funding, means hospitals across the country will continue to need qualified nursing and allied health staff in significant numbers.

Healthcare Australia is proud to support the Australian healthcare system by connecting qualified workers with the organisations that need them, from aged care to hospitals, NDIS providers to primary care clinics. If you’re a healthcare professional looking for your next opportunity, or an organisation looking to build your workforce, we’d love to work with you. Visit https://healthcareaustralia.com.au/find-a-job/ to learn more.

Key Numbers at a Glance

Looking Ahead

This Budget reflects a sustained commitment to rebuilding and strengthening Australia’s healthcare infrastructure, both the physical systems that deliver care and the workforce that makes them function. For healthcare organisations, it represents a period of significant opportunity alongside increased regulatory expectations, particularly in the NDIS.

For healthcare workers, it signals continued strong employment prospects across virtually every discipline, from nursing and allied health to disability support and mental health care.

As always, Healthcare Australia is here to help both healthcare clinicians and organisations navigate this evolving landscape. Whether you need flexible staffing solutions, workforce planning advice or help recruiting specialist clinical staff, our team is ready to support you.

Find out how Healthcare Australia can support you, or your workforce needs at healthcareaustralia.com.au

Sources: Australian Federal Budget 2026–27, Budget Paper No. 1 (Budget Strategy and Outlook); Budget Paper No. 2 (Budget Measures); Budget Paper No. 3 (Federal Financial Relations); Budget Paper No. 4 (Agency Resourcing); Women’s Budget Statement 2026–27. All figures are Australian Government estimates and subject to legislative passage.