Every person living with a disability has different needs. Your NDIS funding is there to provide you with the supports you need for your disability and help you work towards your goals.  

The Australian Government made laws about what we can fund under the NDIS.  

All supports need to meet the criteria in these laws before we can fund them in your plan. We call these the NDIS funding criteria.  

You’ll find information about the NDIS funding criteria and how we decide if a support meet the NDIA funding criteria in the reasonable and necessary guideline.

What we can fund in your plan

We often get asked about the kinds of supports we can include and fund in NDIS plans.  

Sometimes it can be hard to understand why the NDIS has decided not to fund your requested support. Or you might think that decisions for you are different to someone else with the same or similar disability.

When we make a reasonable and necessary decision about supports in your plan, it is based on many different things. This includes your disability support needs, your living arrangements and support you get from your family, friends, and carers.

Here are some of the common supports or activities people ask us about. This isn’t a complete list of supports that can or cannot be funded by the NDIS. Instead, it focuses on the items you’ve told us you want to understand more, or items that often result in requests for a plan reassessment. 

Social and community participation 

If you need extra help to participate in social and recreation activities because of your disability, we may be able to fund this.

Work and study can be an important part of life for many people. There is support available for you to work or study that can help you if you need extra support because of your disability.

Assistance animals including dog guides

Assistance animals, including dog guides, are animals specially trained to help you do things you can’t do because of your disability.  

We look at whether the assistance animal is a disability-related support that will help you with your disability support needs and meets our funding criteria.

Assistive technology

Equipment, technology, and devices helps to make your life easier and help you do things you can’t do because of your disability.  

It can help you do something more easily or safely and improve your daily life.  

Read more in our assistive technology guideline.

You may need changes made to a vehicle so you can drive it or travel in it because of your disability.  

The vehicle would need to be yours or one you can use regularly.  

Read more about vehicle modifications and driving supports.

Home and living supports

You might be living with disability and have very high support needs. This could mean you need to live in a specially designed house. We call this specialist disability accommodation.

Supported independent living is one type of support to help you live as independently as possible in your home. It includes help or supervision with daily tasks, like personal care or cooking meals while building your skills.

We fund medium term accommodation so you have somewhere to live if you can't move into your long-term home because your disability supports aren't ready. To be eligible, you must have a home you’ll move into, and you need somewhere else to live in the medium-term.

Individualised living options

An individualised living option helps you use your funded supports to live the way that suits you. It can include things like personal care, help to build your skills, or support with household tasks like shopping or cooking.

If you’re younger than 65 and living in residential aged care, you might be eligible for the NDIS.  

We explain what we can fund, and how we can support you to move out of residential aged care if you want to.  

Read more in our younger people in residential aged care guideline.

Home modifications are changes to your home that help you manage your disability and make daily tasks easier. They can be minor or more complex changes and help you safely access or move around your home.

Disability-related health supports are health supports that relate directly to the functional impact of your disability. If you need help to manage a health condition because of your disability, we may fund disability-related health supports to help you manage that condition.

The Australian health system may provide continence supports. We can only fund these supports if they are related to your disability.

Diabetes is a health condition which people usually manage with help from their doctor and the health system. We can only fund diabetes supports if they’re related to your disability.

The Australian health system provides treatment for dysphagia for everyone. We can only fund dysphagia supports if they’re related to your disability.

The Australian health system provides treatment for epilepsy for everyone. We can only fund epilepsy supports if they’re related to your disability.

Your disability may mean you have trouble preparing food for yourself, eating enough, or understanding the nutrition you need. We may fund nutrition supports to help with this.

The Australian health system may provide podiatry and foot care supports. We can only fund these supports if they’re related to your disability.

The Australian health system provides treatment of wounds, including wound management to everyone. We can only fund wound and pressure care supports if they are related to your disability.