Most of the time, you can choose how much information you want to give us. But if you don’t give us information we need, or let us get information about you from others, it might mean:
- we can’t decide if you can become a participant
- we can’t make other decisions, or it will take longer to make decisions
- we can’t approve your plan
- we can't confirm your identity to support you
- we don’t have enough information to decide if your supports meet the NDIS funding criteria
- we can’t do NDIS related matters with you, if you are a provider or community partner, for example.
When do participants need to give us information?
If you’re a participant, or applying to the NDIS, sometimes the law says you must give us some types of information.
You must give us this information if we have reason to believe you have it, and we ask you to provide it.
The information we need includes:
- how you are using your supports
- if you’re using your funding according to your plan
- if you shouldn’t have received NDIS funding, because you or someone else gave us wrong or misleading information
- if you get any other disability or early intervention supports outside the NDIS
- if you get supports or funding through a statutory compensation scheme, or a care or support scheme. A statutory scheme is set up by government through legislation. For example, there may be a statutory compensation scheme in your state or territory for workers’ compensation or transport accidents
- if you have changed your legal name.
If we ask for this information, we’ll write to you to let you know:
- what information you need to give us
- how you can give it to us
- when you need to give it to us – we’ll tell you at least 14 days before.
Sometimes another law may apply, which means you don’t have to give us the information we ask for.
If you think this may be the case, you should let us know. Or you can ask a person who supports you, such as your support coordinator, or a family member. You can also ask a professional, such as a lawyer, if you’d like to. They’ll be able to tell you if you need to give us this information.
There are times you might need to give us information without us asking. This includes a change in your circumstances that might affect:
- your eligibility to the NDIS, or
- your plan.
You’ll need to tell us as soon as the change has happened or is likely to happen.
You can tell us about these changes using the change of circumstances form . You can tell us on the NDIS website, by phone, or by visiting your local NDIA office.
You’ll also need to tell us as soon as you change your legal name. You can update your pronouns and information about your gender as well, if you would like. This is so we can give you a respectful and affirming experience.
- You can tell us this information using the Form: Update your name, pronouns, and information about your gender. You can tell us on the NDIS website, by phone, or visit your local NDIA office.
Learn more about Updating your name, pronouns and information about your gender.
What if you owe us money?
In rare situations, you might owe us money.
This happens if you’ve received or used funding you weren’t supposed to. For example, you might owe us money if:
- we accidentally paid you due to a mistake or a computer error
- you used your funding incorrectly – learn more about using your plan
- you or someone else gave us wrong information, which means we shouldn’t have paid the funding.
We may also be owed money if a payment is made after a participant dies. For example, payments to a bank account may have continued after the death of a participant, such as periodic transport payments or other funding.
Or a service provider was not notified of the death in time to cancel service bookings and continued to claim payment. Learn more in what to do when someone dies on the NDIS website.
If you owe us money, you might need to:
- give us information about your financial situation, like a bank statement
- tell us within 14 days if you move house or change your postal address
We might need someone else to give us information about your financial situation. We might also need them to give us information that could help us contact you. For example, if you changed your address or phone number.
If we ask you for this information, we’ll write to you to let you know:
- what information you need to give us
- how you can give it to us
- when you need to give it to us – we’ll tell you at least 14 days before
- what could happen if you don’t give us the information.
We might also need to meet with you, your child representative or nominee to ask questions about your financial situation. If so, we’ll let you know in writing when and where you need to meet us. This will be at least 14 days after we write to you.
It can be against the law not to give us this information if we ask, unless there is a certain reason not to give it to us. For example, you might have a reasonable excuse if this information might make you look guilty of a crime.
The law says there are penalties if you don’t respond when we ask you for this information, unless a legal exception applies.