Finding out your NDIS provider is leaving can feel like the rug's been pulled out. Whether they gave you plenty of notice or very little, the same questions tend to come up fast: What happens to my supports? What about my funding? And how do I find someone new?

This guide walks through the NDIS provider exit process step by step — what your rights are, what to do with your service bookings, and how to get back on track without a gap in your care.

Why Providers Exit (and Why It Doesn't Affect Your Funding)

Providers leave for a lot of reasons. It's rarely personal.

Common causes include business closure, loss of NDIS registration, workforce shortages, financial pressure, or simply a decision to stop offering a particular service or to pull back from a region. Some exits are planned months in advance. Others happen with very little warning.

Here's the important thing: a provider exiting does not affect your NDIS plan or your funding. Your plan stays in place. Your approved supports stay in place. What changes is who delivers them — and that's something you can fix.

Service agreement: A written contract between you and a provider that sets out what supports will be delivered, at what price, and under what terms — including how either party can end the arrangement.

What Your Service Agreement Actually Says About This

Your service agreement is the first place to look. Most participants have never read the termination section — or don't know it exists — but it'll tell you exactly what notice the provider is required to give you.

For registered providers, the NDIS Terms of Business set a minimum: they must give you at least 14 days' written notice before withdrawing from a service agreement. Many agreements set longer periods — 28 days is common. Whatever the agreement says, get it in writing. A verbal conversation isn't enough.

Look for these specifics in your agreement:

• How many days' notice is required from each side
• Whether the notice has to be written (it should be)
• What happens to scheduled supports during the notice period
• Whether there are any exceptions for urgent or safety-related exits

What if there's no written agreement?

It happens more than it should. If you don't have a written service agreement — or you can't find one — contact your provider directly and ask them to confirm the exit in writing, including the end date. If you're on an NDIA-managed plan, also call the NDIS on 1800 800 110 to let them know what's happening.

What if the provider gives little or no notice?

This is where things can get serious. If a registered provider exits without giving you proper notice — or disappears without communication — you can lodge a complaint with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission at 1800 035 544. They oversee registered providers and can investigate conduct that puts participants at risk.

What Happens to Your NDIS Funding?

Your funding doesn't disappear — but it can get stuck if you don't take action.

How this works depends on how your plan is managed:

Plan management type	What happens to service bookings	What you need to do
NDIA-managed	A live service booking locks funding for that provider; a new provider can't claim until it's closed	Ask the exiting provider to close the booking in the myplace portal — or do it yourself
Plan-managed	Your plan manager handles invoices; bookings don't lock funds the same way	Notify your plan manager the relationship is ending so they stop processing that provider's invoices
Self-managed	You control your own payments	Stop paying the provider from the end date and reconcile any outstanding invoices

Q: Will I lose the funding that was booked under the old provider?

A: No. Once a service booking is closed, those funds return to your plan and a new provider can access them. You won't lose money — but you do need to close the booking first, or the funds stay locked.

Make sure any outstanding invoices are reconciled before the exit date. Unresolved billing can delay a new provider from getting started.

The Transition Checklist — What to Do Before They Go

The window between a provider's exit notice and their last day is the most useful time you have. Don't let it go to waste.

Before the exit date, ask your provider for:

• Written confirmation of the exit date and the reason
• A handover summary — your goals, routines, preferences, and any progress notes
• Copies of any reports, assessments, or care plans they hold for you
• Confirmation that all invoices have been submitted and reconciled
• Closure of any service bookings in the myplace portal (for NDIA-managed plans)

At the same time:

• Notify your support coordinator or LAC — they can help manage the transition and start the search for a replacement
• Check whether any critical daily supports will have a gap, and flag this urgently
• Contact your plan manager (if you have one) to update them

The goal is to get a clean handover before the provider is gone. Once they've closed their systems or moved on, getting records back becomes much harder.

A support coordinator working in metropolitan Melbourne described a situation that comes up regularly: a participant's therapy provider gives 14 days' notice mid-plan year. On the surface, the timing feels manageable — but the outgoing provider hasn't submitted three months of invoices, which are now sitting unreconciled and locking a chunk of the participant's capacity building budget. By the time the coordinator untangles it, the participant has missed six weeks of sessions with their replacement therapist. The fix wasn't complicated. It just needed someone to check the billing before the provider's last day.

What If It's Urgent — or a Safeguarding Risk?

Most provider exits are inconvenient. Some are urgent.

If you rely on a provider for daily in-home supports, personal care, or supported independent living — and they're exiting with little notice — treat it as a priority, not something to sort out next week.

Call the NDIS on 1800 800 110 and explain that you have a critical support gap due to a provider exit. They can help arrange interim supports or fast-track a plan implementation conversation.

If a registered provider's conduct is putting you at risk — exits without notice, failure to communicate, or behaviour that feels wrong — contact the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission on 1800 035 544. You can also contact a disability advocacy service if you need independent support.

A note on SIL exits: Supported independent living arrangements have specific rules around unplanned exits. If you're in SIL and your provider is exiting, contact the NDIS as soon as possible — the process is different and the stakes are higher.

How to Find a Replacement Provider

Once the immediate situation is stable, the focus shifts to finding someone new.

Start with a search. SupportSearch lists 20,000+ verified NDIS providers — registered and unregistered — searchable by suburb and service type. The NDIS Provider Finder lists registered providers only.

Other options worth trying:

• Your support coordinator or LAC — this is genuinely their job, and a good one will already have shortlists for common service types in your area
• Word of mouth — disability Facebook groups and local community forums often surface providers that don't show up in directories
• SupportSearch Community Q&A — you can ask questions and get responses from verified NDIS providers directly

A note on regional areas: Provider availability drops significantly outside major cities. If you're searching in a rural or remote area, try searching the nearest large town rather than your exact suburb — you'll usually see more results, including providers who travel.

Before you commit to someone new, it's worth doing your homework. Our guide How to Find a Good NDIS Provider (Start Here Before You Search) covers the questions to ask, what good answers look like, and the red flags to watch for during the process.

A family in regional Queensland had their son's behaviour support provider close operations with three weeks' notice. The provider was one of only two in their area offering that specific service. Their support coordinator used SupportSearch to identify a provider 90 minutes away who offered telehealth sessions as a bridge while they waited for a local option to become available. It wasn't a perfect fix — but it meant the support didn't stop entirely.

Where to Start Your Search

If your provider has exited and you need to find someone new, search SupportSearch by location and service type to see verified NDIS providers near you. You can also use the SupportSearch Tools page to check NDIS pricing rates before you sign anything with a new provider.