What types of supports can’t be funded or provided under the NDIS?

are not legal
are income replacement
are likely to cause harm to you, or pose a risk to other people
are not related to your disability
relate to a ‘day-to-day living cost’, such as groceries, rent or utilities, that are not attributable to your disability support needs. These are costs that are not caused by or as a result of your disability support needs.
duplicate other supports provided by the NDIS under alternative funding.

We can’t fund a support if it does not comply with the law. This includes both:

an Australian government law: a law that applies to all of Australia
a State or Territory government law: a law that only applies in your state or territory.

For example, we won’t be able to fund supports involving:

a restrictive practice where it’s not authorised in your state or territory
assistive technology or home modifications that don’t meet Australian laws, such as State and Territory Acts and Regulations, the National Construction Code, and relevant Australian Standards
supports for illegal activities, such as support for criminal behaviour or illegal drugs.

While this is one of the NDIS funding criteria, we’re not responsible for ensuring your supports are legal. We’re not responsible to ensure that all supports in your plan comply with all the relevant legal and administrative requirements.

This is your responsibility and your provider’s responsibility.

For example, if a support is likely to require the use of a restrictive practice, the provider must be registered with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission . It’s the provider’s responsibility to ensure they are registered and comply with the conditions of their registration. This includes complying with all laws and seeking the necessary authorisations.

We’re not responsible for ensuring the provider is registered and complies with their conditions of registration. You can contact the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission if you’re concerned about a provider’s compliance with legal obligations.

We don’t fund income support or income replacement. This means NDIS funding can’t replace or add to money you’d usually earn from working, or income payments you get from Centrelink.

For more information and resources on income support, check out income support payments such as the Disability Support Pension.

If you are interested in getting help to find a job, check out Disability Employment Services or NDIS-funded Work and study supports.

We can’t fund any supports that are likely to either:

cause harm to you
be a risk to other people.

We need to consider this for all supports, such as support workers, therapies or equipment. It also means we won’t fund supports that involve a regulated restricted practice , such as restraint, unless it follows the requirements of the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission .

To help us decide if the support is likely to cause harm, we may need information from a professional. For example, you may need high cost assistive technology, like a powered wheelchair. If so, we would need a report from an occupational therapist to show that it’ll be safe for you to use.

Of course everything we do in life comes with some risk. We all make our own choices about how much risk we want to take in our lives. You should also be able to choose how much risk you want to take in your life.

So we try to balance this when we decide what we can and can’t fund. We can’t fund things that are likely to cause harm. But we will try and balance this with enabling you to make your own choices wherever possible.

While this is one of the NDIS funding criteria, you also have some responsibilities. It’s still your responsibility and your provider’s responsibility to ensure the supports we fund are:

used correctly
safe for you
safe for other people.

You and your provider will also need to manage any risks of harm that arise. For more information, contact the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission .

We can’t fund supports related to day-to-day living costs that everyone has to pay, and aren’t caused by or result from your disability support needs. This means we don’t fund things like:

rent
groceries
utilities such as electricity, water, gas and internet bills
the general cost of owning a home, like renovations, mortgage repayments, repairs and maintenance.

In some situations, we can fund supports related to your day-to-day living costs. We can do this if the costs are attributable to, or caused by, your disability support needs. This means we may fund supports that relate to day-to-day living costs where either:

you have additional living costs that are solely and directly as a result of your disability support needs
the living costs are connected to another support that is funded or provided in your plan, and you wouldn’t incur that cost if it wasn’t in your plan.

Example

Nigel has a goal to do his grocery shopping on his own. He needs a shopping basket to attach to his wheelchair to help him carry the items in the supermarket.

Shopping bags and baskets are things we all pay for, whether or not we have a disability. But Nigel only needs this specialised basket for his wheelchair because of his disability support needs.

If it meets the other NDIS funding criteria, we may fund the shopping basket attachment in his plan.

We can’t fund a support if it duplicates other supports delivered under alternative funding through the NDIS.

For example, if we’re providing support through your early childhood partner or local area coordinator, we usually won’t fund Support Coordination in your plan.

This is because your early childhood partner or local area coordinator is already funded to provide similar supports. If we funded the same Support Coordination, we would be duplicating a support we’re already providing you as general supports.

However if you need extra support, we may be able to fund additional Support Coordination in your plan. We may do this if it’s above the amount of support your early childhood partner or local area coordinator are able to provide.

Your early childhood partner or local area coordinator will work together with the Support Coordinator to help you connect with supports in your community.

What types of supports can’t be funded or provided under the NDIS?

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