You must have funding in your plan for an assistance animal before you buy one or enter into a service agreement for a future assistance animal. We can’t include funding for an assistance animal if you have already bought it.
For example, you might already have an assistance animal before you joined the NDIS, or you bought one before your plan was approved.
If you already have an assistance animal, we might be able to fund its ongoing maintenance costs. But first we’ll need to decide if your animal meets the NDIS funding criteria, including our definition of an assistance animal. If it does, we’ll include funding in your plan for ongoing maintenance costs.
The section on What happens once you have an assistance animal has more information about maintenance costs. It also explains how we’ll include this funding in your plan.
If we decide the animal doesn’t meet the NDIS funding criteria, then we won’t fund maintenance costs. You can’t use other funding in your plan for the maintenance costs of your animal. This is because you must use the funding in your plan for the supports specified in your plan.