To help people with disability, participants, carers and families to learn about the terms we use in our new computer system, we have developed the below terms and descriptions.

A

Applicant

An applicant is a person who has applied to access the NDIS, but has not yet heard whether they meet the eligibility criteria to become an NDIS participant.

Once a person has had their NDIS application approved, we stop calling them an applicant and begin referring to them as a participant.

C

Check-in

A check-in is a conversation between a participant and their my NDIS contact. We schedule a check-in to ask: 

  • How you are going with your goals. 
  • If your plan and funding is working well for you. 
  • If your situation has changed. 

If your NDIS plan is longer than one year, your check-in will usually be once every 12 months. 

If your NDIS plan is one year long, your check-in will usually happen about 4 months before your plan reaches its reassessment date. 

Community Connections

The NDIS can provide support to all people with disability, even if you aren’t an NDIS participant.

If you are between 9 and 64, we can connect you to information and supports available in your community. Also known as mainstream and community supports, these services are outside of the NDIS and generally available to everyone.   

Community connections can help you take part in your community and do the things that are important to you. They do not give you any funded NDIS supports.

D

Document Verification Service

The Document Verification Service (DVS) is a national secure online system. Australian, State and Territory government agencies, including the NDIS, use the DVS to make sure identity documents are real.

We use the DVS to check identity documents given to you by Australian, State and Territory agencies.  

Some examples of documents that can be verified are passports, licenses, utility bills and certifications. We’ll ask for your consent before we use the DVS.  

E

Early childhood partner

Early childhood partners are local organisations funded by the NDIA to deliver the early childhood approach. 

Our early childhood partners have teams of professionals with experience and clinical expertise in working with young children with developmental delay or disability and their families.

The term 'early childhood partner' may refer to either the partner organisation, or the staff working within the organisation. 

Early connections

Early connections are services provided by early childhood partners for children younger than 6 with developmental delay or children younger than 9 with disability and their families. 

Early connections may include a combination of services such as connecting children and families to community and other government services, practical information relevant to a child’s development, early supports and assistance to apply to the NDIS.  

Early supports may be available to children younger than 6 with developmental concerns. 

L

Local area coordinator

Local area coordinators are organisations funded by the NDIA to deliver local area coordination services to people with disability aged between 9 and 64. 

M

Mainstream and community supports

Mainstream supports are the supports from other government funded services like health, mental health and education. 

Community supports are supports you can get through community organisations like peer-to-peer and community-based groups, religious groups and services from local councils.

My NDIS contact

When you contact us to find out about disability supports, or become an NDIS participant, we provide you with a dedicated contact person. 

We call this person a my NDIS contact. Your my NDIS contact can be a local area coordinator, an early childhood partner or a person at the NDIA. 

My NDIS participant portal

We built the my NDIS participant portal to work with our new computer system. 

Participants with plans in our new computer system should use the my NDIS participant portal to: 

  • View their budget.  
  • See their plan information and personal details.  
  • Make and manage claims (for self-managing participants).  
  • See all claims against their budget.  
  • See messages from the NDIA.  

If you have a plan in our new computer system, you can access the my NDIS participant portal through myGov. 

Until your plan moves to our new computer system, you should continue to use the myplace portal to see and use your plan. 

My NDIS provider portal

The new my NDIS provider portal is separate to the myplace provider portal. It is for NDIS providers. 

We built the my NDIS provider portal to work with our new computer system.  

When the participants providers work with have an NDIS plan in our new computer system, providers can use the my NDIS provider portal to see:  

  • Participant and NDIS plan details (with consent). 
  • Notifications for activities providers need to complete. 
  • Requests for service (support coordinators and psychosocial recovery coaches only). 
  • Whether they have been recorded as a my provider (for NDIA-managed supports, specialist disability accommodation, home and living supports, plan management and/or behaviour supports only). 

All existing providers who access the myplace provider portal will be able to access the my NDIS provider portal using their PRODA account. 

To access the my NDIS provider portal, unregistered support coordinators and recovery coaches need to create a PRODA account. 

Myplace portal

There are two myplace portals – one for participants and one for providers. 

Myplace participant portal 

Participants with plans in our old computer system should use the myplace participant portal to see their plan and pay for their supports.  

Once you have a plan in our new computer system, you can start using the my NDIS participant portal to use your plan. 

Participants can log into either portal through myGov.

Myplace provider portal 

The myplace provider portal is for providers to make claims and raise enquiries about claims and payments. 

Providers should continue to use the myplace provider portal for all financial transactions with the NDIA. 

My provider

NDIS plans developed in our new computer system won’t have service bookings. Instead, you can tell us who the providers you regularly work with are, and we record them on your plan. We call the providers recorded on a participant’s plan my providers.  

Participants need to tell us who their my providers are when they have: 

  • NDIA-managed supports. 
  • Specialist disability accommodation, home and living supports and behaviour supports. 
  • A plan manager. Your plan manager needs to be recorded as a my provider. 

When you record my providers for your plan, we don’t have to check with you before we pay them.  

We used to call my providers 'participant-endorsed providers'. We changed this name because we heard from participants and providers in the Tasmania test that we needed to use more plain English in our language and descriptions. 

N

NDIA planner

Your NDIA planner is the person at the NDIA who develops your plan, makes decisions about it and approves it. 

They look at your last plan, the information and evidence you’ve given us and talk with you about your living situation, goals and day-to-day supports. 

Your NDIA planner makes sure the supports in your plan fit together and work as a reasonable and necessary package of supports. 

O

Our new computer system

Our old computer system was slow and hard to change. We built a new computer system to help our staff and partners in their work and deliver better outcomes for participants. 

Our staff and partners named our new computer system. They called it PACE. Applicants, participants and providers may sometimes hear our new computer system referred to by its name. 

When we develop your next plan, we will tell you which computer system it is in – our old system or our new one.  

When you know which computer system your plan is in, you can tell your providers and know which participant portal to use (myplace or my NDIS participant portal). 

P

PACE

PACE is the name of our new computer system.  

Our staff and partners named it. Applicants, participants and providers may sometimes hear our new computer system referred to by its name, or as ‘our new computer system’. 

Partners or NDIS partners

NDIS partners are community-based organisations the NDIA funds and works with to help deliver the Scheme in some parts of Australia.  

Partners, or NDIS partners, is the name we use when referring to early childhood partners and local area coordinators.  

Plan implementation meeting

A plan implementation meeting can happen after your plan is approved, or you need extra support to use your plan. 

A plan implementation meeting is a chance to talk to your my NDIS contact about how to use your funding, arrange your supports and work towards building your skills and independence.  

If you have asked for changes to your NDIS plan, and these changes have not been approved, we will offer you a plan implementation meeting to talk about how you can use your plan flexibly.  

Plan meeting

A plan meeting is when you meet with your NDIA planner to talk through your next plan.  

Your NDIA planner will talk to you about your living situation, goals and day-to-day supports. Your planner will check they have a good understanding of your situation. 

Your NDIA planner will explain how they developed your plan and how they made reasonable and necessary decisions about the supports in your plan. 

Your NDIA planner can approve your plan at your meeting. 

Plan management type

We’ll talk about how you want to manage your funding at your plan meeting. There are 3 ways to manage your plan. We call these plan management types. 

  • NDIA-managed 

Sometimes also called Agency-managed, this means you have asked the NDIA to pay for supports from your plan, on your behalf.  

You must use NDIS-registered providers for NDIA-managed supports. You need to tell us who your my providers are. 

  • Plan-managed 

If you have a plan manager, this means you have funding in your plan to pay for someone to manage your plan. Your plan manager pays for your supports from your plan, on your behalf. 

You need to tell us who your plan manager is, so we can record them as a my provider on your plan. 

  • Self-managed 

If your funding is self-managed, you are responsible for paying your providers. You will need to keep a record of the supports you buy, like a receipt or an invoice. You will use the my NDIS participant portal or NDIS app to make payment claims. 

Plan reassessment

If your plan is coming to an end, or you need a significant change to your current plan, you may need a new plan. We call this process to develop a new plan a plan reassessment. 

When we do a plan reassessment, we’ll consider your plan as a whole. You’ll meet with an NDIS planner to create your new plan. Your old plan will end, and we replace your plan with a new one. This means you will receive a new plan with new funding. 

We’ll do a plan reassessment when:  

  • Your situation changes and your plan no longer meets your needs. 
  • The plan reassessment date in your plan is coming up and your disability support needs have changed. 

Plan variation

A plan variation is a small change to your current plan. When we do a plan variation, we only make changes to the part of your plan we vary. Your current plan keeps going. 

Small changes we can make include: 

  • Your goals. 
  • The information about you, including your contact details. 
  • Your plan reassessment date. 
  • The way you manage your funding. 
  • Providing funding for short-term supports when your situation changes suddenly. 

PRODA

PRODA stands for provider digital access. It is an online identity verification and authentication system. It lets providers securely access government online services.

NDIS providers need a PRODA account to access the my NDIS provider portal or myplace portal to view participant information and to make payment claims.

R

Recurring supports

Recurring supports is a new support category that may be funded in your NDIS plan. It is only for participants who receive transport funding. Participants who are not eligible for transport funding will have a zero-dollar amount against this support category in their plan.  

Request for service

If you have support coordination or recovery coach services in your plan, we can check with the provider you choose to see if they can work with you. We call this a request for service. 

We use our new computer system to send a request for service when you: 

  • Are choosing a support coordinator or recovery coach for the first time. 
  • Want to change the provider you have. 
  • Have a new plan and want to keep working with the same provider. 

After your provider accepts the request for service, they will be recorded as a my provider on your plan. 

S

Support categories

Your NDIS funding is made up of support categories. Each support category has information about the types of supports you can buy with your funding. We group support categories into 4 different budgets: 

  • Core supports. 
  • Capacity building supports. 
  • Capital supports. 
  • Recurring supports. 

Because your plan is based on your individual needs, you might not have funding for all support categories. You must use your funding in the way it is described in your plan and buy supports that meet the NDIS funding criteria. This means they must be directly related to your disability, effective and beneficial, and value for money.