Australians living with disabilities who receive services from providers outside the National Disability Insurance Scheme have been promised better support and protection from harm.
Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth introduced legislation on Thursday to protect the rights and safety of those living with disability who are seeking support services.
Ms Rishworth said the reforms would "support people to participate in society, ensure safe and quality services and protect their rights".
She said the new laws would replace existing measures that had not kept up with modern disability policy.
"The Disability Services Act, now more than three decades old, is outdated and too restrictive to accommodate the changing landscape of disability policy," she told parliament.
"This includes a shift towards creating a more inclusive society and the nature of services and supports required to complement the NDIS."
The new laws follow disturbing revelations of abuse from within disability service providers heard at the disability royal commission.
About one in every six Australians, or 4.4 million people, live with disability and many receive support from services separate from the NDIS.
Ms Rishworth said the laws would mean the federal government could fund more disability services outside of those in the NDIS.
"The NDIS only provide services to a small cohort of people living with disability," she told reporters.
"We need to make sure that the high quality, the safeguarding and importantly, the inclusion, is embedded not just in the NDIS, as it was envisaged, but outside the NDIS as well."
While the minister said the laws were outdated, attempts to reform them previously had been put to the back of the queue.
"There is a sense that the NDIS is the only thing that the commonwealth funds when it comes to disability supports," she said
"But there are a range of things that the government does fund when it comes to disability support."
Disability services providers outside the NDIS will be held to a code of conduct and required to obtain a certificate of compliance to ensure the rights and safety of their clients.
Organisations found to have breached the code could have their arrangements with the federal government revoked.
Additionally, anyone living with a disability, or their carers and families, will also be able to complain about any services they receive.
National Ethnic Disability Alliance director Neha Prakash welcomed the broadening of the funding for support services.
"We're hopeful that the new bill will improve the quality of supporting services that are going to be available, as well as safeguard and protect the rights of people with disability," she said.
The bill comes on the eve of the closing ceremony for the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability.
It is aimed at ensuring the government can respond effectively to the final recommendations when they are delivered at the end of September.
The reforms were created in consultation with those people living with disabilities and their relatives, alongside service providers and government agencies.
The proposed laws will also make funding easier for a wider range of non-NDIS services and supports, and allow them to receive money from sources other than grants.
