Understanding the NDIS

What the NDIS is

The National Disability Insurance Scheme funds supports for Australians with a permanent and significant disability. It is an insurance model rather than a welfare payment: the funding follows the person, and it is meant to build capacity over a lifetime rather than only to cover immediate costs.

Money is not paid to you as income. It sits in a plan as budgets you draw against by purchasing supports, either directly or through a plan manager.

Who runs it

• The NDIA — the National Disability Insurance Agency decides access, builds plans and holds the funding.
• The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission — registers and audits providers, and handles complaints about them.
• Providers — organisations like Famycare that deliver the supports in your plan.

The words you will keep hearing

• Participant — a person whose access to the scheme has been approved.
• Plan — the document setting out your goals and the budgets funded to pursue them.
• Reasonable and necessary — the test every funded support must meet. Broadly: it relates to your disability, represents value for money, is likely to be effective, and is not something another system (health, education, housing) should be providing.
• Core, Capacity Building, Capital — the three budget types. See understanding your plan.
• Registered provider — a provider audited against the NDIS Practice Standards. Famycare is one.
• Support coordinator — someone funded to help you understand your plan and connect with providers.

What it does not fund

The scheme does not fund day-to-day living costs unrelated to your disability, supports that duplicate what the health or education system provides, or anything likely to cause harm. Rent, groceries and general medical treatment sit outside it.

Where to go next

If you are working out whether you can access the scheme, start with funding eligibility. If you already have a plan and want to know how to use it, read understanding your plan.