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NDIS Glossary

The NDIS can be really confusing, especially for people who haven’t had an NDIS plan yet. Once you break through the NDIS jargon and technical terms you will start to understand your plan, how to use your allocated budget and can unlock the potential of your plan to achieve your goals. Of course, your plan manager can also help you with this.

Access Request Form

The NDIS Access Request Form is an official NDIS document used to apply for participation in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). If a child under the age of 7 is seeking access to the NDIS, it is often recommended that an early childhood partner, who has met with the child and their family or caregiver, assists with the completion of the form and helps gather any necessary evidence of the child's developmental delays or disabilities.

Choice & Control

As an NDIS participant, you have the right to make your own decisions about what is important to you and how you would like to receive your supports. This means that you have the power to choose who you receive supports from and how those supports are provided to you. It is your right to have control over your own life and to be able to make choices that are meaningful and relevant to you. You should never feel like you have to accept support from someone or in a way that does not align with your own values and preferences. The NDIS is designed to empower you to make your own decisions and to live the life you want. You have the right to be involved in the planning and decision-making process, and you should always feel comfortable voicing your opinions and desires. Remember, you are in control of your own journey and the NDIS is here to support you in achieving your goals and reaching your full potential.

NDIA

National Disability Insurance Agency, the government department that delivers the NDIS

Informal Supports

The supports that NDIS participants receive can come from a variety of sources, including family, friends, and neighbors. These types of supports are often referred to as "informal supports," as they are provided by individuals who are not formally trained or employed in the disability support industry. Informal supports can be incredibly valuable, as they are often provided by people who are already familiar and connected to the participant. This can make it easier for the participant to feel comfortable and supported, as they are receiving assistance from people they know and trust. It is important to recognize the role that informal supports can play in an NDIS participant's life, as they can often provide a sense of belonging, connection, and support that is essential to an individual's overall well-being.

NDIS

National Disability Insurance Scheme

LAC

Local Area Coordinators work for the NDIA to generate and authorise your plan.

Agency, Self or Plan Managed

Types of ways you can choose to manage your NDIS funding. Here is more detail about each type of money management.

AAT

Administrative Appeal Tribunal is where participants can go to appeal a decision made by the NDIA.

Funded Supports

Funded Supports are goods and services that the NDIS will pay for through your NDIS plan. 

Informal Supports

An informal support is one that you receive from your family or a friend and or from other mainstream supports such as the education, mental health or health system. These are not paid for by the NDIS. For example, the NDIS in most circumstances won’t pay your grandmother to care for you or pay for medicine that should be paid for by the health system.

Registered Provider / Unregistered Provider

Registered providers have gone through the NDIS registration process and can be used by all NDIS participants. 

Unregistered providers are those who have not gone through the NDIS registration process but can still be used by participants whose plans are self or plan managed. 

Reasonable and Necessary Supports

NDIS pays for supports that are ‘reasonable and necessary’ which means that they need to meet the NDIS’s criteria and be related to your disability and not an everyday expense.

Price Guide

The NDIS price guide contains line item price limits that providers can charge NDIS participants and tells you what services you may be able to claim under support budget categories.

Budget Support Category

In your plan you will have different budget support categories to claim different services from. There are three types of budget support categories: core supports, capital supports and capacity building supports. Within these three types of supports there are 15 budget support categories.

Line Item

A line item has a unique code, name/description of service and a unit/price. Your provider will pick a line item that reflects the service they are delivering to you. For example, if you’re using a cleaner they will claim using the House Cleaning and Other Household Activities line item.

Core supports

The core budget is funding to support all your assistance with day-to-day tasks that relate to your plan and life goals.

Capital supports

Capital supports is a budget that funds products and technology to reduce the impact your disability.

Improved Life Choices

This is the support category that your plan manager is paid from. The NDIS will add this budget on top of your care needs to pay your plan manager, meaning plan management is free for any NDIS participant.

NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission

The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (NDIS Commission) is a new independent Commonwealth agency established to improve the quality and safety of NDIS supports and services. For information about the NDIS Commission and what they do, please visit the NDIS Commission website

National Access Team (NAT)

NDIA staff members who work in locations around Australia to review NDIS access applications and decisions relating to a participant’s eligibility for the NDIS.

Nominee

A person who can make NDIS decisions for a participant aged 18 or older. A nominee can do things on behalf of the participant when working with the NDIS.

Participant

A person who meets the NDIS access requirements.

Participant Statement

Information setting out a participant’s living arrangements, relationships, supports, description of day to day life as well as their goals.

Person with disability

A person who has any or all of the following: impairments, activity limitations (difficulties in carrying out usual age-appropriate activities), and participation restrictions (problems a person may have taking part in community, social and family life).

Plan

A written agreement worked out with the participant, stating their goals and needs, and the reasonable and necessary supports the NDIS will fund for them. Each participant has their own individual plan.

Privacy Act 1988

The NDIA Privacy Notice explains:

  • What kind of personal information the NDIA needs to collect about prospective and existing participants
  • The people the NDIA may need to collect information from
  • Why the NDIA needs the information, and
  • What the NDIS usually does with this information.

Provider

Someone who has products or services to help participants pursue the goals in their plan. Participants can choose their providers and change providers at any time, this is also known as choice and control.

Reasonable and necessary

Reasonable means something fair and necessary means something you must have. The NDIS funds reasonable and necessary supports relating to a person’s disability to help them live an ordinary life and pursue their goals.

Registered provider

A disability support provider that has met the NDIS requirements for qualifications, approvals, experience, capacity and quality standards to provide a product or service. See ‘Provider’.

Sector

The organisations and companies providing disability support services and the peak bodies that represent them.

Self-management (funding)

Participants receive all or part of their NDIS funding and they manage their payments for supports and pay their providers directly.

Self-management

The amount of help a participant needs doing daily tasks, making decisions and handling problems and money.

Service agreement

A contract between the participant and the service provider they have chosen to deliver the supports in their participant plan.

Service provider

See ‘Provider’.

Supplier

Someone who provides items to support participants, e.g. equipment.

Supports

Things to help a person undertake daily life activities and enable them to participate in the community and pursue their goals.

Transdisciplinary

similar to multidisciplinary, but one professional is chosen as the lead participant provider. A full team are involved in working with the participant, however, the lead provider is responsible for coordination and progress reporting for the participant.

Workforce

refers to people working in the disability support sector.