The NDIS and children: FAQs

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What is the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)?

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is Australia’s national scheme for funding reasonable and necessary supports for children with disability or developmental delay and adults with disability. NDIS support helps people work towards individual goals and gives them choice about the support they need to live the life they want.

If your child has disability, developmental delay or developmental concerns, the NDIS helps you and your child get services and support in your community. And if your child’s disability is permanent or likely to be permanent and significant, the NDIS works with you to plan supports for your child. These supports might include therapies, equipment and so on.

The NDIS is run by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA).

For more information

If you or someone you support needs information about the NDIS in Easy English, you can use our booklets. They explain the NDIS and cover topics like NDIS plans, NDIS goals and NDIS professionals, plus inclusion and education. You can download them or print them out.

What does the NDIS fund?

The NDIS funds reasonable and necessary supports to help children with disability or developmental delay work towards their goals in a range of areas.

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What doesn’t the NDIS fund?

Generally, the NDIS doesn’t fund supports that are:

not related to your child’s developmental delay or disability
funded by mainstream services like the education or health systems
part of day-to-day living costs that aren’t related to your child’s support needs
likely to cause harm to your child or pose a risk to others.

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Support for children with disability: not funded by the NDIS

The NDIS and education systems work together to ensure that school-age children’s disability-specific needs can be met at school. For example, the NDIS might fund a specialised behaviour management plan and therapists who can work with teachers on behaviour strategies for your child.

How can my child younger than 7 years get support from the NDIS?

If your child is younger than 7 years and has a developmental delay, developmental concerns or disability, your child can get support through the NDIS early childhood approach. Your child doesn’t need a diagnosis.

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How can my child aged 7 years and older get support from the NDIS?

If your child is aged 7 years and older, your child might be able to get support from the NDIS if they have a developmental delay or disability that’s permanent or likely to be permanent. Your child must also be an Australian citizen, permanent resident or holder of a Protected Special Category Visa.

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What is an NDIS plan?

An NDIS plan outlines details about the:

supports and services in your child’s life
goals you want your child to work towards
funding that has been allocated in your child’s plan.

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What if I disagree with the support in my child’s NDIS plan?

If you don’t agree with the support in your child’s NDIS plan, you can ask for an internal review.

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NDIS access requests and plans: when you want a review

Will my child’s plan be regularly reviewed?

The NDIS arranges regular plan reviews. These usually happen every 12-24 months. At these reviews, you and your NDIS representative can check the plan is still meeting your child’s needs. You can also change your child’s goals if you need to and adjust supports as your child’s circumstances change.

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How will my child’s NDIS plan be managed?

There are 3 options for managing your child’s NDIS plan: self-managing, plan-managing and NDIA-managing. You can choose the option that suits you best.

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Can I choose the providers in my child’s NDIS plan?

You can choose the NDIS providers in your child’s plan. You can also choose when and how your child gets support. Depending on how your plan is managed, you might be able to choose any providers, or you might be able to choose only NDIS-registered providers.

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What can I do if my child’s access request is unsuccessful?

If your child’s access request is unsuccessful and you want to keep trying to access the NDIS for your child, you have 2 options:

Make a new NDIS access request.
Ask for an internal review of the NDIS access decision.

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What if my child doesn’t get access to the NDIS?

If your child doesn’t meet the access requirements for the NDIS, your child can still get community and other supports. The NDIS can also help you with referrals.

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How does the NDIS support families and carers?

The NDIS can support families and carers in several ways. For example, your child’s plan might include funding that helps you get some respite or learn strategies to support your child. It can also include funding for a support coordinator or plan management, depending on your needs.

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How is the NDIS funded?

The NDIS is jointly funded by the Australian, state and territory governments and is partially funded by money raised by an increase in the Medicare levy.