How do we decide if the social and recreation support is reasonable and necessary for you?

There are many different supports available to help you join in with social and recreation activities. We’ll work with you to find the best way to get the extra help you need because of your disability. We also know your support needs might change over time.

All NDIS funded supports must meet the NDIS funding criteria.

The questions below will help you think about whether we’ll consider funding social and recreation supports for you.

Is the social or recreation support:

• directly related to your disability?
• helping you pursue your goals?
• value for money?
• effective and beneficial for you?
• legal and safe?
• something we expect family, friends or the community to provide?
• better funded or provided by someone else?

Is the social and recreation support related to your disability?

We can only fund social and recreation supports if they are directly related to your disability.  When we say ‘directly related to your disability’, we mean that you need the extra support to take part in the activity because of the effects of your disability.

We don’t fund registration fees or standard equipment for social and recreation activities. You will need to pay these costs yourself.

Does the social and recreation support help you pursue your goals?

When we fund social and recreation supports we need to know that these supports will help you pursue the goals in your plan.

For example, you might have a goal to make new friends and start a new hobby. The support we fund will need to help you pursue that goal.

Learn more about setting goals .

Is the social and recreation support value for money?

Your social and recreation supports must be value for money, compared to other supports.  It is important to consider if:

• there are supports that might achieve the same outcome that are less costly.  For example, you might be able to share supports, rather than needing individual supports
• your social and recreation supports will increase your independence, or reduce your support needs in future 
• equipment you need could be hired or leased instead of purchased. 

Is the social and recreation support effective and beneficial for you?

We need to check that the social and recreation supports we fund will be effective and beneficial for you. We’ll look at whether the supports will help you to participate in a social and recreation activity. This might be something that you haven’t been able to do, or has been difficult to participate in because of your disability. We also look at how effective the support has been for other people with the same type of needs as you.

Is the social and recreation support legal and safe to use?

We need to make sure the social and recreation support is safe and legal. We can’t fund social and recreation supports if they’re likely to cause harm to you or others. 

For example, before funding adapted sporting equipment for you, we may ask an occupational therapist to check that the equipment is safe to use and won’t hurt you or others.

We also need to consider: