NDIS supports refer to services, equipment, and items eligible for funding under the NDIS. These fall into 37 distinct categories, designed to address the diverse needs of participants and enhance their independence and quality of life.
Accommodation assistance or tenancy assistance
Supports that build capacity, guide, prompt, or assist a participant to do activities for finding or keeping appropriate accommodation.
This includes:
- supports that help a participant apply for a rental tenancy or to take part in tenancy obligations in line with their tenancy agreement
- medium term accommodation where a participant cannot move into long term accommodation due to that accommodation or other supports not being ready and current accommodation is not suitable.
Assistance animals
Support provided by an eligible assistance animal.
This includes:
- assessment, matching and provision of an eligible assistance animal
- dietary needs
- grooming
- veterinary services including flea and worm treatments, medication, and vaccinations
- yearly reviews to maintain accreditation
Assistance in coordinating or managing life stages, transitions and supports
Supports provided on a short-term basis that provide assistance to manage life transitions.
This includes:
- transition from or to new educational settings or employment settings
- transition to new living arrangements
- support before and immediately following hospital discharge where there has been a change to a disability participant’s support needs prior to hospitalisation
- transition out of a mental health setting
- transition out of a custodial setting.
Assistance to access and maintain employment or higher education
Supports that build a participant’s capacity to successfully prepare for, find or keep employment in the open labour market (including self-employment and micro-enterprise) or the supported labour market.
This includes:
- employment preparation complementary to that delivered while at school and when leaving school
- assistance for a participant to transition to employment
- further education and training.
Assistance with daily life tasks in a group or shared living arrangement
Supports that provide assistance with or supervision of daily living tasks to participants in a shared living environment.
This includes:
- supports provided on a temporary or ongoing basis
- supports for short term accommodation and respite
- supports provided to participants living in residential aged care facilities.
Assistance with travel or transport arrangements
Supports that provide transport assistance to participants that cannot travel or use public transport independently.
This includes:
- transport for the purposes of participants undertaking community-based activities
- transport for the purposes of participants attending school or other educational facilities
- provider travel costs
- costs associated with the use of taxis or private transport
- in-kind specialist school support
- travel training to build a participant’s confidence and skills to use public transport safely and independently.
Assistive equipment for recreation
The provision of assistive products used in sports or other recreational activities.
This includes:
- personal recreation equipment modification and sporting equipment modification
- services to assess and prescribe, deliver, adjust and train a participant in successful use of an assistive product
- maintenance, spare parts and consumable items specific to an assistive product.
Assistive products for household tasks
The provision of assistive products that support a participant to carry out domestic and everyday actions and tasks within a participant’s home.
This includes:
- assistive products for the preparation of food and drink
- assistive products to facilitate house cleaning, gardening or laundry
- additional costs to upgrade or modify standard household items to household items that include accessibility features that address a participant’s support needs
- services to assess and prescribe, deliver, adjust and train a participant in the successful use of an assistive product
- maintenance, spare parts and consumable items specific to an assistive product.
Assistive products for personal care and safety
Provision of assistive products for self-care activities and participation in self-care.
This includes:
- modified foods including for the purposes of percutaneous endoscopic gastronomy (PEG) feeding
- products to facilitate washing and drying the participant’s body, caring for the participant’s body and body parts, dressing and protecting the participant’s body
- modified or adaptive clothing
- modified or adaptive products to manage menstruation including applicators and period underwear
- products to manage incontinence
- furniture and other products that are adapted or specifically made to be placed in or added to a participant’s home (including indoor and outdoor areas) to help with movement, positioning and other safety needs, including entry and exit of the environment
- services to assess and prescribe, deliver, adjust and train a participant in the successful use of an assistive product
- maintenance, spare parts and consumable items specific to an assistive product
- visual and tactile alerting systems.
Communication and information equipment
The provision of assistive products to support communication and information management.
This includes:
- products that help a participant to receive, send, produce and/or process information in different forms
- products that facilitate a participant communicating by language, signs and symbols, receiving and producing messages, having conversations and using communication devices and techniques
- services to assess and prescribe, deliver, adjust and train a participant in the successful use of an assistive product
- maintenance, spare parts and consumable items specific to an assistive product.
Community nursing care
Supports that provide disability-related nursing care for participants with high care needs (not including high intensity daily personal activities), requiring a high level of clinical skill.
This includes:
- catheter care
- skin integrity checks
- tracheostomy care
- medication management
- intramuscular injections
- training of support workers to respond to a participant’s complex needs.
Customised prosthetics (includes Orthotics)
Assistive products externally applied to replace, wholly or in part an absent or deficient body segment which assists participant control and functioning of their neuromuscular skeletal systems. This includes:
- design, manufacture and fit of customised functional prosthetics and orthotics
- assessment and specification (prescription) of a product by a professionally qualified prosthetist, orthotist, pedorthotist, podiatrist, or occupational therapist trained in provision of that product
- osseo-integrated, external products
- services to train a participant in successful use of an assistive product
- maintenance, spare parts and consumable items specific to an assistive product.
Daily personal activities
Supports that provide supervision or assistance with personal daily living tasks to help a participant to live as independently as possible in their own home and in the community.
This includes:
- assistance with eating and drinking, dressing and toileting
- maintaining personal hygiene, including showering, bathing, hair washing and drying, fingernail and toenail cutting and cleaning
- moving and positioning
- in-kind personal care in school.
Development of daily care and life skills
Supports that provide training and development activities for participants or carers to increase ability to live as independently as possible (including as part of psychosocial recovery supports).
This includes increasing the participant’s ability to independently undertake the following activities:
- shopping
- meal preparation
- managing finances
- managing a participant’s own personal care
- travel and use public transport
- engage in social activities
- improve relationship and social skills.
Disability-related health supports
Health supports that relate to the functional impact of a participant’s disability.
This includes:
- supports, services and assistive products to manage dysphagia, diabetes, continence, wound and pressure care, respiration, nutrition, podiatry and foot care, and seizures
- supports for people with complex communication access needs or behaviours when accessing health or mental health services, including hospitals and
in-patient facilities - specialist allied health services and supports that facilitate enhanced functioning and community re-integration of people with recently acquired severe conditions including newly acquired spinal cord and severe acquired brain injury
- training support workers, family and friends to perform roles where appropriate.
Early intervention supports for early childhood
Supports that are evidence-based early childhood intervention supports for children 0-9 years (including children aged 0-6 with developmental delay) and their families to achieve better long-term outcomes for the child.
This includes:
- therapy provided by allied health professionals including speech pathologists and occupational therapists
- a key worker for a child’s family.
Exercise physiology and personal well-being activities
Supports that maintain or increase physical mobility or well-being through personal training or exercise physiology to address the functional impact of the participant’s disability.
This includes:
- accessing services from an appropriately qualified professional
- assessment and development of a personalised exercise program which aims to increase or maintain a participant’s functional capacity
- maintenance of muscle strength, range of motion, balance and mobility.
Group and centre based activities
Supports for participants to access and participate in community, social, cultural and recreational activities that are provided in a group setting, either in the community or in a centre.
Hearing equipment
The provision of hearing equipment directly related to a participant’s permanent hearing impairment that is not provided through the Hearing Services Program for the participant.
High intensity daily personal activities
Supports that assist a participant with complex needs to undertake high intensity daily personal activities.
These supports must be provided by a worker with additional qualifications and experience relevant to the participant’s complex or psychosocial needs.
This includes:
- a suitably qualified worker undertaking the activities
- a suitably qualified worker supervising the participant or another person in the participant’s support network undertaking the activities.
Home modification design and construction
Supports that design, change or modify a participant’s home to help the participant live as independently as possible and to live safely at home.
This includes:
- installing equipment or changing a building’s structure, fixture or fittings
- internal and external building modifications to remedy damage arising exclusively from disability-related behaviours or use of NDIS funded assistive technology or equipment
- regulatory certification requirements for works.
Household tasks
Supports that provide assistance with essential household tasks that a participant is not able to do themselves because of their disability.
This includes:
- meal preparation and delivery
- house or yard maintenance
- cleaning and laundry.
Innovative community participation
Supports that are tailored for individual participants with extraordinary support needs to assist them to participate in the community. Extraordinary support needs arise due to a participant’s specific situational and personal circumstances.
Interpreting and translation
Supports that assist a participant with independent communication in personal, social, cultural or community activities where translation and interpretation is needed as a result of their disability.
Management of funding for supports
Supports provided by a registered plan management provider to manage the funding of supports under a participant’s plan.
Participation in community, social and civic activities
Supports that assist a participant to take part in community, social, cultural and civic activities.
This includes:
- supporting participants during relevant activities
- working with participants to develop their ability to partake in these activities.
Personal mobility equipment
The provision of personal mobility equipment that supports or replaces a participant’s capacity to move indoors and outdoors and to transfer from one place to another.
This includes:
- assistive products for walking
- wheelchairs and motorised mobility devices
- transfer devices and hoists
- services to train a participant in successful use of equipment provided
- maintenance, spare parts and consumable items specific to equipment provided.
Specialist positive behaviour support
Supports that are provided by professionals with specialist skills in positive behaviour support.
This includes:
- assessment, development and delivery of a comprehensive plan that aims to reduce and manage behaviours of concern
- training and ongoing monitoring of staff in implementation of a behaviour support plan
- training and capacity building for a participant’s informal supports in the use of positive behaviour support
- development and delivery of interim or transitional plans.
Specialist disability accommodation (SDA)
The provision of specialist disability accommodation which is accommodation for a participant who requires specialist housing solutions, including to assist with the delivery of supports that cater for the person’s extreme functional impairment or very high support needs.
Specialised driver training
Supports that provide driver training with a specialised vehicle driving instructor. Supports that provide training on the use of adapted equipment or vehicle modifications.
Specialised hearing services
Specialist audiological services provided by an allied health professional for participants with complex needs.
This includes:
- assessing hearing impairment
- prescription of audiological aids and equipment.
Specialised supported employment
Supports that provide a participant with assistance to prepare for, find and retain a job in the participant’s employment setting of choice.
Support coordination
Supports that assist participants to connect with informal community and funded supports (including as part of psychosocial recovery supports).
This includes:
- building a participant’s capacity to connect with supports
- assisting participants to understand and utilise their plan
- connecting with providers and mainstream services
- addressing barriers and reducing complexity in the support environment.
Therapeutic supports
Supports that provide evidence-based therapy to help participants improve or maintain their functional capacity in areas such as language and communication, personal care, mobility and movement, interpersonal interactions, functioning (including psychosocial functioning) and community living.
This includes an assessment by health professionals for support planning and review as required.
Vehicle modifications
The provision of assistive products that can be added to vehicles or modifications made to vehicles that help a participant to operate, enter, exit or ride in the vehicle safely.
This includes:
- passenger and wheelchair hoists
- modified controls
- modified restraints and modified car seats
- certification costs for registration and additional vehicle insurance premium costs as a direct result of the modification
- services to assess and prescribe, deliver, adjust and train a participant in successful use of an assistive product or modification
- maintenance, spare parts and consumable items specific to an assistive product or modification.
This support does not include the purchase of a vehicle.
Vision equipment
The provision of products for navigation, orientation, braille, magnifiers and note taking equipment.