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NDIS Glossary

NDIS Glossary

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A
Access Request Form
A form used to make a request to become a participant of the NDIS.

The completion of an access request form for a child younger than 7 is usually supported by an early childhood partner, who has met with the child and their family or carer and supported the family to gather evidence of the child’s developmental delay or disability.
Access requirements
The criteria someone must meet to become a participant in the NDIS. The access requirements are:
– Age: under 65 years.
– Residency: live in Australia and be an Australian citizen or have paperwork letting you live here permanently.
– Disability: your disability is permanent (will not go away) or you need early intervention (to be treated early that will help by reducing the future needs for supports).
Approved plan
See Plan
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C
Carer
Someone who provides personal care, support and help to a person with disability and is not contracted as a paid or voluntary worker, often a family member or guardian.
Choice and control
A participant has the right to make their own decisions about what is important to them and to decide how they would like to receive their supports and who from.
Community engagement
Describes the range of ways people are involved in the wider community.
Community services
Activities and interests (not supplied by government groups), which are available to everyone in the community e.g. social, study and sporting interests.
Complain
If you’re unhappy with any part of the process, system, product or service provided by the NDIA, you can make a complaint. It can be either written or verbal and can be provided by a participant, provider, family member or carer.
D
Developmental concerns
When a child’s development is delayed, but they do not fully meet the definition of developmental delay. Refer to ‘developmental delay’ below. For children younger than 6 with developmental concerns, the early childhood partner will discuss the supports that may be available to the child and family. This support may include a program of short term early intervention called ‘early supports’ and connections to mainstream and community supports.
Developmental delay
Under the NDIS (NDIS Act 2013 s.9), developmental delay means a delay in the development of a child younger than 6 that meets all the criteria described in the Access to the NDIS Operational Guidelines – Early intervention requirements .
Disability
Total or partial loss of the person’s bodily or mental functions (The Disability Act 1992). Describes a person’s impairment of body or function, a limitation in activities or a restriction in participation when interacting with their environment.
E
Early Childhood Approach
The early childhood approach helps children younger than 6 with developmental delay or children younger than 9 with disability and their families to access the right support when they need it. 
Children younger than 6 who do not fully meet the definition of developmental delay and have developmental concerns will also be supported through the early childhood approach.
Early childhood intervention
Services and supports that children with developmental delay or disability and their families receive during the early years when the child is developing most rapidly.  
Early childhood intervention helps children develop the skills they need to take part in daily activities and achieve the best possible outcomes throughout their life. It is delivered by qualified early intervention allied health professionals, therapists or early childhood educators.
Early childhood partner(s)
Local organisations or staff working at an organisation funded by the NDIA to deliver the early childhood approach.
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.
Early connections
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 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.
Early intervention
Providing support to an adult or child as early as possible to reduce the impacts of disability or developmental delay and build skills and independence.
Early supports
A program delivered by early childhood partners to build capacity in families and children younger than 6 with developmental delays. Early supports promotes everyday learning through a goal-focused approach, addressing specific concerns about the child’s development.
Early supports plan
A plan for children younger than 6 with developmental concerns to help them build independence.
An early supports plan includes identified goals and priorities for the child, a list of who will provide support, and an outline of the strategies which will be used to support progress towards goals.
Eligibility
Whether a person can become or remain an NDIS participant or not. This is determined using the information on an access request form, the form which is used to apply for the NDIS.
F
Funded supports
Supports that the NDIS funds based on what is reasonable and necessary for a participant to pursue their goals, in addition to the support provided by family, friends, and other community and government services.
There are three types of support budgets that may be funded in an NDIS plan:
– core support
– capacity building support
– capital support.
G
Global developmental delay (GDD)
A diagnosis (as per DSM-5) for children up to 5 years of age who cannot undergo standardised testing to assess their intellectual functioning.
A diagnosis will only be made when a child doesn’t meet certain expected developmental milestones in several areas of intellectual functioning.
The diagnosis requires reassessment after a period of time. 
Global developmental delay is a condition on List D Permanent Impairment/Early Intervention, under 7 years.
A child younger than 7 with a diagnosis of global developmental delay may be eligible to become an NDIS participant.
Goals
Things an NDIS participant wants to achieve that their plan is built around.
Goals might include becoming more independent, getting or keeping a job, learning new skills, enrolling in education, becoming more active in the community, or improving relationships and making friends.
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Individual capacity building
Supporting a person to develop skills and capabilities to make their own decisions and choices and be as independent as possible in managing their own life.
Informal support
The support people receive from the people around them. This could come from family, friends and neighbours.
Typically, informal supports for a child are provided by a parent.
Information, linkages and capacity building
A grants program managed by the Department of Social Services providing funding to organisations to deliver projects in the community that benefit all Australians with disability, their carers and families.
Internal review of decision
A review conducted by the NDIA if a person is unhappy with a decision, like whether to approve someone’s plan.
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Key worker
A person who liaises with an early childhood intervention professional’s team and other services when working with a child’s family and carers to support them.
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Lived experience of disability
A person’s own experience of living with a disability or having a close relationship with someone with disability, e.g. a family member or partner.
Local area coordination
Local area coordination supports people with disability to create and work towards their goals, build capacity to make their own decisions and choices, and access the supports they need to live the life they choose.
Local area coordination also supports communities and multiple levels of government to create a more inclusive society and deliver improved outcomes for all people with disability.
Local area coordination partners
Local organisations funded by the NDIA to deliver local area coordination services to people with disability aged between 9 and 64.
Local area coordinators (LAC)
A local area coordination partner staff member delivering local area coordination services.
M
myplace portal
A secure website for participants, their nominee or third-party decision maker to view their NDIS plan, request payments and manage services with providers.
N
NDIS Planner
An NDIA employee who works with participants to create an NDIS plan that will support them to pursue their goals.
NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission
The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (NDIS Commission) is an independent Commonwealth agency established to improve the quality and safety of NDIS supports and services.
For information about the NDIS Commission and what they do, please visit the NDIS Commission website.
NDIS plan
A unique document that details a participant’s goals and the supports they will receive from the NDIS.
It also outlines the community and other government supports participants can access to help pursue their goals.
National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA)
The Australian Government organisation administering the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)
A national program for people with disability, administered by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA).
The NDIS provides funding to eligible Australians with disability to gain more time with family and friends, greater independence, access to new skills, jobs, or volunteering in their community, and an improved quality of life.
Natural settings/environments
Places where children learn and develop everyday abilities and skills, including the home, community and early childhood education centres.
Nominee
A person appointed to act or make decisions on behalf of a participant.
Nominees or third-party decision-makers can be appointed by both participants and courts.
They may include a child representative, correspondence nominee, plan nominee, court-appointed decision-maker or participant-appointed decision-maker.
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P
Paediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory Computer Adaptive Test (PEDI-CAT)
A functional capacity assessment for children and youth.
PEDI-CAT can be used alongside other assessments and information to understand how a child’s developmental delay or disability affects their ability to participate in daily activities compared to children of a similar age.
Participants
People who apply and meet the access criteria for the NDIS.
Participation in the community and workforce
The opportunity for NDIS participants to meet like-minded people and join in social, community and workforce activities.
There are many supports, programs and activities available to help participants pursue their social and community participation goals.
Partners
Community-based organisations funded by the NDIA to help deliver the NDIS in some parts of Australia.
Early childhood partners work with children younger than 9 who have a disability and children younger than 6 where there are concerns about their development.
Local area coordination partners work with people between the ages of 9 and 64.
Partners support people to apply to the NDIS.
Partners can also provide support to people with disability, young children, their families and carers regardless of whether they are NDIS participants or not.
Permanent and significant disability
Disability that is likely to be lifelong and has a substantial impact on a person’s ability to complete everyday activities.
An impairment or impairments that are episodic or fluctuating may be taken to be permanent for the purpose of assessing eligibility to become an NDIS participant.
Person with disability
A person with long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments who may face challenges in fully participating in society due to various barriers, impacting their equal participation with others.
Plan nominee
A person appointed to help in the development, preparation, review or replacement of a participant’s plan.
Plan reassessment
A discussion towards the end of a participant’s plan, initiated by either the participant or the NDIA.
The talk outlines what has worked for the participant in their current plan and what they may need in future.
Plan variation
A change made by the NDIA to a participant’s plan without undertaking a full plan reassessment.
This may be to correct a minor or technical error, to change the reassessment date of the plan, or to reflect a different provider or manner of support provision.
Price limits
The maximum price that a registered provider can charge a participant for their NDIS funded disability support or service.
Pricing arrangements
The rules around when and how a provider can claim for supports and services from a participant’s NDIS funds.
Provider
An individual or organisation that delivers supports or products to participants.
Participants can use both NDIS-registered and unregistered providers.
Provider finder
An online tool where individuals can browse a list of NDIS-registered providers nearby to them.
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R
Reasonable and necessary
The criteria all supports must meet to be funded or provided by the NDIS in a participant’s plan. ‘Reasonable’ means something fair, and ‘necessary’ means something a person needs.
The NDIS funds reasonable and necessary supports and services that relate to a person’s disability to help them pursue their goals and meet their needs.
Reassessment date
A date specified in a participant’s plan by which the NDIA must reassess the plan with the participant.
The plan may be reassessed earlier at the request of either the participant or the NDIA.
Registered provider
A person or organisation that is registered with the NDIS Commission to provide supports in accordance with section 73E of the NDIS Act.
To register, providers must meet the NDIS requirements for qualifications, approvals, experience, capacity and quality standards to provide a product or service.
Providers must also be registered to deliver certain kinds of supports (e.g. implementing regulated restrictive practices in a behaviour support plan).
Reviewable decision
A decision of the CEO which can be reviewed under section 99 of the NDIS Act.
Examples of these decisions include revoking a person’s status as a participant, deciding not to review a participant’s plan or refusing to approve someone as a registered provider.
Section 100 of the NDIS Act sets out how the Agency must respond to a request for a review.
S
Self-management funding
Participants receive all or part of their NDIS funding.
They manage their payments for supports and pay their providers directly.
Service agreement
An agreement between a participant and their provider that outlines what both parties have agreed to.
Service agreements help make sure the participant and provider have the same expectations of what supports will be delivered and how they will be delivered.
Short Term Accommodation (STA)
An arrangement to provide funding for support and accommodation for a short time away from a participant’s usual home.
Short Term Accommodation covers the cost of a participant’s care in another place for up to 14 days at a time, and may include a short stay with other people, or by themselves.
It is often funded when a participant’s usual carers aren’t available, or for the participant to try new things.
Support coordinator
A type of provider that helps participants understand and use the NDIS-funded supports in their plan.
They also help participants build their skills so they can use their plans more independently and connect with community supports and services.
Supports and services
Resources and products available to a participant to help them complete everyday tasks, work or participate in the community, and pursue their goals.
T
Typical Support Package (TSP)
An indication of the supports usually included in a participant’s plan based on their situation and disability support needs.
The Typical Support Package serves as a benchmark for the NDIS’s financial management and support planning.
U
V
Vehicle modifications
Changes or equipment installations which enable a person with disability to gain access to and, in some cases, operate a vehicle.
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