Making connections

Your NDIS partner can help you connect with mainstream and community supports.

Mainstream and community supports are outside of the NDIS and generally available to everyone. Connecting with these types of supports can help: 

  • improve your wellbeing
  • keep you connected to people, supports and places in your area
  • help you to do what is important to you.

Your NDIS partner can help you connect with these types of supports even if you are not eligible for the NDIS. 

 

Your NDIS partner can work with you to make connections to mainstream and community supports.

To do this, your NDIS partner will ask you questions about your living situation, your informal supports, your goals, and whether you already access mainstream and community services, as well as the kind of supports you are looking to get.  

You can update your mainstream and community supports when you want to. There is no limit to the number of times you can contact your NDIS partner to help you make connections.  

 

If you are aged 9 to 64 years, your NDIS partner can help you make connections to supports in your community, even if you are not eligible for the NDIS. 

An Early Connections plan is available for children under 9. 

Your NDIS partner can work with you to help find early connections and make an Early Connections plan for your child if they are:

  • younger than 6 and have developmental delays or concerns
  • younger than 9 and have a disability.

No, you do not have to have community connections before applying to the NDIS.   

When you ask us about disability supports, we will connect you with an NDIS partner – either a local area coordinator or early childhood partner, depending on your age.  

NDIS local area coordinators and early childhood partners external website can help people with disability, including NDIS participants, to find the supports they need to be more independent and do more of the things they enjoy.   

Your NDIS partner will help you connect with supports in your community even if you are not eligible for the NDIS.  We can help you make the most of community and mainstream services in your area.  

Yes, you can talk to your NDIS partner at any time to get help making connections to mainstream and community supports.

Apply to the NDIS

When we connect you with an NDIS partner, they will talk to you about: 

  • your situation
  • the NDIS eligibility requirements
  • how to apply
  • the kinds of information and evidence you need to provide
  • what to expect from the application process, including when you will know whether you are eligible for the NDIS.

Your NDIS partner will help you to gather information and evidence for your NDIS application.

Once you have your information and evidence, your NDIS partner can complete the application with you, entering all the information you provide into our computer system. 

If you are eligible for the NDIS, we will use the information and evidence you gave us in your application to develop your first plan. 

 

Your NDIS partner will talk to you about the NDIS eligibility requirements. If you want to become an NDIS participant and get NDIS supports through an NDIS plan, there are some requirements you need to meet.

You need to be:

  • younger than 65 when you apply
  • an Australian citizen or permanent resident
  • living in Australia
  • able to meet the requirements for disability, early intervention, or both
  • you may be eligible under the disability requirements if you have one or more impairments that are likely to be permanent and this substantially impacts your ability to do daily life activities.

You may be eligible under the disability requirements if you have one or more impairments that are likely to be permanent and this substantially impacts your ability to do daily life activities. 

Your impairment must also affect your social life, or your ability to work or study, and you must be likely to need NDIS supports for  life. 

Or, you may be eligible under the early intervention requirements if you have one or more impairments that are likely to be permanent and NDIS supports would help you by reducing your need for supports in the future. 

Or, you may be eligible under both disability and early intervention requirements. 

A person at the NDIA decides if you are eligible for the NDIS. We use the application you completed with your NDIS partner, plus the information and evidence you gave, to check whether you meet the eligibility requirements for the Scheme.  

We will tell you if you will be able to access the NDIS within 21 days of your application.  

If you are eligible to be an NDIS participant, the information and evidence you provided in your application will be shared with an NDIA planner, who will use it to develop your first NDIS plan that sets out your NDIS supports.  

NDIS partners

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

There are two types of NDIS partners:

  • early childhood partners provide early intervention support to children younger than 9 and their families
  • local area coordinator partners work with people between the ages of 9 and 64. 

NDIS partners can help you make connections to supports in your community, even if you are not eligible for the NDIS. NDIS partners will help you find the supports you need to be more independent and do more of the things you enjoy.

When you call our National Contact Centre on 1800 800 110 to ask about disability supports, or your eligibility for the NDIS, we’ll refer you to an NDIS partner.

NDIS partners can help people who:

  • have a disability and are aged 9 to 64 with community connections
  • have a developmental delay or developmental concern and are younger than 6 with early connections
  • have a disability and are younger than 9 with early connections.

Local area coordinators are a type of NDIS partner who helps people aged 9 and over with disability, including NDIS participants.

An early childhood partner is a type of NDIS partner who helps children younger than 9 with disability, and developmental delays and concerns, including NDIS participants.

When you call our National Contact Centre on 1800 800 110 to ask about disability supports, or your eligibility for the NDIS, we will refer you to an NDIS partner.

You can also directly connect with an NDIS partner near you.

If you are aged 65 or older, we will provide you information on your local aged care services.

If you are in a remote or very remote area, have complex support needs, are a young person in residential aged care, or are in a hospital or justice setting, we will connect you with a person at the NDIA.

If you are in a remote or very remote area, have complex support needs, are a young person in residential aged care, or are in a hospital or justice setting, a person at the NDIA will help you:

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.  

Usually, if you are in a remote area, have complex support needs, are a young person in residential aged care, or are in a hospital or justice setting, your my NDIS contact is a person at the NDIA. 

National roll out of our new computer system and improved processes

We started gradually introducing our new computer system and improved processes across Australia on 30 October 2023.

We are taking a careful approach to introducing the new system to make sure everything goes smoothly. 

We expect the roll out to take up to 18 months.

There is nothing for participants and their families to do right now – we will provide you with further support as you prepare for your next plan reassessment.

If you are a new participant, we will use the information and evidence you gave your NDIS partner in your application to help develop your first plan.

If you are an existing participant, we will use your current plan as a starting point for your next plan. Your my NDIS contact will check-in with you before your plan reaches its reassessment date to help you prepare.

The Participant Service Guarantee sets timeframes for key NDIS processes. We must make decisions about access, plan approvals, plan reassessments and nominee changes within these timeframes. 

Once we have talked to you, and you have provided the information and evidence we need to develop your next plan, your new plan will be approved within 56 days.

We determine eligibility for the NDIS based on a person’s impairments, not their disability or diagnosis. This does not change with the introduction of our new computer system or improved ways of working.

Our old computer system recorded all of a participant’s conditions and disabilities; however, the system limited us to recording one disability as the person’s ‘primary’ disability.

We know the recording of one condition as the primary disability, separate from other conditions, does not reflect reality.

While our new computer system currently records a participant’s primary disability, it has been designed so that we can remove this requirement in the future.

We expect this change to be made once we have implemented supporting processes and reporting that remove the need to identify a primary disability.

Check-ins

Our Legislation says we can’t develop a new plan for you, or change the one you have, without talking to you about it, or working with you to understand your situation and support needs.

Check-ins are the way we:

  • support you to make the most of your NDIS plan, total budget amount and NDIS supports 
  • hear from you about your situation, goals and how your plan is working for you
  • work with you if you ask for a change to your plan
  • work with you if your plan is close to ending and we need to develop your next plan.

Having a check-in doesn’t mean your plan needs to change. This is a good outcome because it means you have the right NDIS supports in place to pursue your goals. 

Your check-in will be with your my NDIS contact.

If your plan is longer than one year, your check-in will generally happen once every 12 months.

If your plan is one year long, we will check-in with you about 4 months before your plan reaches its reassessment date to talk about your next plan.

If you have changes in your life that mean you need more, less, or different NDIS supports, you do not have to wait for your next check-in to ask for changes to your plan.

You can let us know at any time. 

We will ask you about the changes you want to make, and why you would like to change your NDIS plan. We will talk to you about how you might be able to use the flexibility in your current plan to meet your needs.

We’ll explain the ways we can change your plan, ask you some questions to help us decide the type of change your plan needs, and the kinds of information and evidence we need to change your plan.

We will work directly with you each time your plan needs to be changed.

Your NDIS plan

When your NDIS plan is developed in our new computer system, you will notice some differences in how your funding is displayed. 

Many areas of your new plan will look the same, like your “about me” statement and your goals. There will be more space for you to add extra detail if you choose. 

You will still have stated and flexible NDIS supports, but your new plan will be built by NDIS support categories. 

Because we will list funding component amounts at the NDIS support category level and as a whole dollar figure rather than as a line-by-line cost, you will have more flexibility over how you use your total budget amount. 

For example, you will see your NDIS core support as a funding component amount, to use flexibly across your assistance with daily living, social, community participation and consumables supports. 

There are 4 types of NDIS support categories that may be funded in your NDIS plan. 

Core supports

Help you with everyday activities, your current disability-related needs and to work towards your goals.

Capacity building supports

Help build your independence and skills to help you pursue your goals.

Capital supports

Including specialist disability accommodation, higher-cost pieces of assistive technology, equipment and home or vehicle modifications, and funding for one-off purchases you may need.

Recurring supports

Funding for transport if you are eligible for this NDIS support. If you are not eligible for transport funding, there won't be any money in this NDIS support category in your plan. 

Your NDIS plan will also include stated and flexible NDIS supports that will be listed under each NDIS support category. 

Because your plan has been developed by NDIS support categories and not line-by-line NDIS support items, you will have more flexibility over how you use your total budget amount.   

Your capacity building funding component amount may still include stated NDIS supports You can only purchase the individual NDIS stated supports approved in your plan

When you apply to the NDIS or have a plan reassessment, we will collect information and evidence from you to develop your NDIS plan.

If you are a new participant, we will use the information and evidence you gave your NDIS partner in your application to help develop your first plan.

If you are an existing participant, your NDIA planner will use your previous plan as the starting point to develop your next NDIS plan.

When developing your plan, your NDIA planner will consider what NDIS supports will assist you pursue your goals, increase your independence, and help you work, study, and join social activities. NDIS supports are the services, items and equipment the NDIS can fund.  

Once your plan has been developed, you’ll be invited to a plan meeting with the NDIA planner who approves your plan.  Your 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 to make sure the NDIS supports in your plan fit together, and are related to your disability. They will also explain how they made decisions about the NDIS supports in your plan. 

Once your plan has been developed, you’ll be invited to a plan meeting with the NDIA planner who approves your plan.

You can talk to your planner about how your plan was developed and the decisions they’ve made about your NDIS supports.

You will see your new plan at your plan meeting. Your NDIA planner will show you the NDIS plan and funding component amounts they have developed for you, based on your previous plan and the information and evidence you provided. 

At your plan meeting, you can talk with your planner about your living situation, goals, and day-to-day supports. Your planner will check they have a good understanding of your situation and to make sure the supports in your plan fit together.

Your planner will also explain the decisions they’ve made when developing your plan.

If the NDIS supports in your plan fit your situation and are right to help you pursue your goals, your NDIA planner will approve your plan in the meeting. 

If the NDIS supports in your plan do not fit your situation, your NDIA planner will work with you on the best way to make changes to your plan. 

If your plan is longer than a year, each year of your plan will have the same total bydget amount. 

This gives you an annual amount to manage and regularly spend on the services and NDIS supports you need to pursue your goals. 

Your total budget amounts will be indexed each July, as happens now. 

If you don’t spend all of your funds in a funding period, they will rollover into your next funding period within the same plan. 

Any unspent funds won’t rollover to your next plan, as this is a new plan that we need to ensure meets your disability support needs. 

Developing your next NDIS plan

Plan reassessment is the new term replacing plan review. 

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.

We do a plan reassessment when: 

  • you tell us about a significant change in your situation, and your plan no longer meets your needs
  • we receive information that your situation has changed, and your plan no longer meets your needs
  • the changes to your plan that you’ve asked for are likely to reduce other NDIS supports in your plan. For example, when we approve assistive technology, and this reduces the support hours you need
  • Your plan is close to its reassessment date.

If you have a plan reassessment for changes to your plan, your my NDIS contact will help you prepare. If your plan is approaching its reassessment date, your my NDIS contact will be in touch before your plan ends to start the plan reassessment process.  

Our Legislation says we can’t issue you with a plan or change your plan, without talking to you about it, or working with you to understand your situation and support needs.

If you have a plan reassessment for changes to your plan, your my NDIS contact will help you prepare. 

Your my NDIS contact will check-in with you before your plan reaches its reassessment date. The way we reassess your plan depends on your situation and NDIS support needs. 

Your my NDIS contact will talk to you about the ways we can reassess your plan, which can include developing a new plan that is like your current plan. 

If you need more, less or different NDIS supports in your next plan, your my NDIS contact can help with explaining: 

  • the kinds of information and evidence you’ll need for a change to your plan
  • how to go about gathering this information and evidence
  • the plan reassessment process.

My providers

Your new NDIS plan won’t have service bookings. Instead, you can tell us who the providers are you regularly work with, and we record them on your plan.

We call the providers recorded on your plan ‘my providers’.

You can update or change your my providers at any time. When you record a provider on your plan, you are letting us know they can make claims against your NDIS plan when they deliver a NDIS support to you, and we do not 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 that we needed to use more plain English in our language and descriptions. 

Participants will need to record their my providers for their NDIS plan when:

  • some or all of their plan has NDIA-managed funding.
  • they have specialist disability accommodation, home and living supports and/or behaviour supports in their plan.
  • they have a plan manager. Only the plan manager needs to be recorded as a ‘my provider’. All other providers don’t need to be recorded.

You can change or tell us about your my providers at your plan meeting, your plan implementation meeting, or at any other time by talking to your my NDIS contact or by calling the National Contact Centre on 1800 800 110.

Providers cannot record themselves on your plan. We will only record a provider on your plan if you, or your nominee, tell us to.

When you record a my provider, you are letting us know they can make claims against your plan when they deliver a NDIS support to you, and we do not have to check with you before we pay them.  

If we get a claim from a provider that is not recorded in your plan, we will check with you before we pay them.  

We will SMS you or your nominee every time a provider who isn’t recorded in your plan makes a claim, to make sure it is for a NDIS support you agreed to.  

You can now also accept or dispute the claim in your my NDIS participant portal. 
 
You can still check claims we SMS you about by calling the National Contact Centre on 1800 800 110. 

You can check the claim in your my NDIS participant portal or by calling us on 1800 800 110 within 6 days from when you received the SMS. We will let you know what the claim is and who made it. 

You can also accept or dispute the claim in your my NDIS participant portal.  

If a provider claims specialist disability accommodation and behaviour support services and they are not listed as a my provider for your plan, we will automatically reject the claim. If this happens, we will not send you an SMS because only my providers listed on your plan can provide you with these types of NDIS supports. 

Self-managing participants do not have to record providers in their plan if they don’t want to, because they pay their NDIS supports themselves. 

Self-managing participants with specialist disability accommodation and behaviour supports in their plan must record the providers who deliver these NDIS supports as my providers. 

Self-managing participants need to keep any invoices, receipts, pay slips and bank statements for 5 years as evidence they have responsibly self-managed their NDIS support funds and payment requests. 

You only need to record my providers for the parts of your plan that are NDIA-managed. 

The providers who help you with NDIA-managed parts of your plan, or specialist disability accommodation, home and living and/or behavioural supports, must be registered providers. 

Support coordination funding is included in NDIS plans as a time limited NDIS support that may reduce over time as participants become more comfortable and confident using their NDIS plan. 

If you think you would benefit from having a support coordinator help you with your plan, you can talk to your my NDIS contact at your check-in, or your NDIA planner at your plan meeting, about including funding for this service in your plan.

Yes. If you have plan management funding for some or all of the NDIS supports in your plan, you choose the plan manager you want to work with to manage those NDIS supports. 

When you tell us who your plan manager is, we record them in your plan as one of your my providers. Your plan manager needs to be recorded as a my provider for your plan management fees to be paid to them.

If you already have a plan manager, are choosing a plan manager for the first time, or are changing the one you have, you can let us know and we will record this provider as your plan manager and a my provider in your plan.

You can tell us who your plan manager is when we meet with you for your plan meeting or plan implementation meeting, or by getting in touch with your my NDIS contact, local area coordinator or our National Contact Centre on 1800 800 110.

Providers and your NDIS plan

Once you have chosen the providers you want to work with, we recommend having a written service agreement.

A service agreement is an agreement between you and your provider that makes it clear what you have both agreed to. For example, what NDIS supports have been agreed and how they will be delivered. 

A service agreement is covered by Australian Consumer Law.

Service bookings are not the same as service agreements.

Service bookings are used in our existing computer system to set aside funding for an NDIS registered provider for the NDIS supports they will deliver. 

NDIS plans in our new computer system won’t have service bookings. Instead, we’ll know who the providers you chose to work with are, because you will have recorded them as my providers in your plan.

Service agreements are between you and your provider. They make it clear what NDIS supports have been agreed and how they will be delivered. 

If you want your providers to see your information and/or parts of your plan, you need to tell us.

You can tell us at your plan meeting, plan implementation meeting, or by getting in touch with your my NDIS contact or calling the National Contact Centre on 1800 800 110.

You can give your consent for different providers to see different parts of your plan.

You can update or change your consent at any time. We will keep a record of everyone you have given consent to see your plan.

Providers will only have access to the information in your plan that you have given consent for them to see.

We will explain what parts of your plan a provider will be able to see before you give consent.

When you give consent for providers to see your plan, different providers will see different information.

General providers will see:

  • your personal details
  • your goals
  • your nominee’s details if you have one.

Plan managers will see:

  • your preferred name
  • your NDIS number
  • your date of birth
  • your goals, total budget amount and NDIS supports 
  • your plan length
  • your nominee’s details (if you have one) and their relationship to you
  • the parts of your plan and funding components they manage 
  • if you need an interpreter.

Support coordinators and psychosocial recovery coaches see:

  • your preferred name
  • your NDIS number
  • your date of birth
  • your “about me” statement
  • your goals, total budget amount and NDIS supports, informal, community and mainstream supports 
  • your plan length
  • your nominee’s details (if you have one) and their relationship to you
  • the parts of your plan and funding components they manage
  • if you need an interpreter.

Your my providers will see:

  • your preferred name
  • your NDIS number
  • your date of birth
  • your goals
  • your nominee’s details (if you have one) and their relationship to you
  • if you need an interpreter.

The my NDIS participant portal

Yes, the my NDIS participant portal is a more accessible and user-friendly way to:

  • view your funding component amounts 
  • view your total budget amount 
  • make and manage claims (for self-managing participants)
  • see all claims against your NDIS plan 
  • see messages from the NDIA.

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

You can find information, tools and resources on how to use the my NDIS portal and app on our website.

Your my NDIS contact can also help you learn how to use the my NDIS portal and app.

You can talk to your my NDIS contact or call the National Contact Centre on 1800 800 110.

Yes. In the my NDIS participant portal and app you will be able to see: 

  • your total funding amount 
  • funding component amounts for each of your NDIS support categories, including stated and flexible NDIS supports 
  • your claim details
  • your available funds.

If you are a self-managing participant, you can use the my NDIS participant portal or app to make payment claims.

The way you make claims in the my NDIS participant portal won’t change. You still need to provide the same information, like the:

  • date the NDIS support was delivered
  • provider’s details including their ABN, if you have this information
  • cost of the NDIS support
  • NDIS support category you are using to pay for the NDIS support. 

You will be asked to enter the payee’s Australian Business Number (ABN). If the payee does not have an ABN, you can select the checkbox “Payee does not have the ABN” to continue. You can also search for the ABN by using the ABN lookup tool.

 You can upload an invoice or receipt before submitting your claim.

You can save favourite claims to make claiming for regular NDIS supports even faster. When you save a favourite claim, the portal saves the: 

  • payee's name
  • payee’s ABN (if available)
  • claim description and NDIS support category.

The timeframes for payment of claims don’t change with our new computer system. If all claim details are correct, payment will usually occur within 2 business days.