The NDIS, without the jargon.
Who’s eligible, how to apply, what a plan actually contains and who looks after the money. Written for people starting from scratch — and every fact on this page links back to the NDIS page it came from, so you never have to take our word for it.
You don’t have to become a Focus participant to ask. If your question is really one for the NDIA, we’ll tell you that and give you the number.
On this page
- What the NDIS is
- Am I eligible?
- How to apply
- What's in a plan
- Who manages the money
- Where we fit in
- Jargon buster
The NDIA’s own line is 1800 800 110, open to anyone.
The short version
What the NDIS actually is.
The National Disability Insurance Scheme funds the supports an Australian with a permanent and significant disability needs to live an ordinary life — the same things people without disability have.
It is run by the National Disability Insurance Agency (the NDIA). The NDIA decides who is eligible, and it builds each participant an individual plan with funding attached. That funding buys NDIS supports — services, items and equipment defined in the NDIS Act and its rules, published as two lists of what is and isn’t covered.
You then choose who delivers those supports. That’s where providers like us come in — at the end of the process, not the start.
What counts as an NDIS supportStep one
Am I eligible?
Four things decide it. You need to meet the age and residence requirements, and then either the disability requirements or the early intervention requirements — or both.
Your age
You need to be younger than 65 on the day you apply — your completed application has to reach the NDIA before your 65th birthday.
Children are handled differently: the early childhood approach covers under-6s with developmental delay and under-9s with disability. Read the early childhood approach
Where you live
You need to be an Australian citizen, hold a permanent residency visa, or hold a Protected Special Category visa — and live in Australia most of the time.
Disability requirements
One or more impairments that are likely to be permanent, that substantially affect your ability to do everyday activities, and that mean you will likely need support for life.
Or early intervention
One or more impairments likely to be permanent, where getting support now will reduce how much support you need later. You can qualify under disability, early intervention, or both.
You’ll also need three identity documents, and evidence from your treating health professional about your impairment and how it affects your daily life.
Check eligibility on ndis.gov.auApplying
Five steps, in the order they happen.
Connect with an NDIS partner
An NDIS partner is the local organisation the NDIA works through. They explain the process, and the information and evidence the NDIA needs to decide whether you're eligible.
Don't know who yours is? Call the NDIA on 1800 800 110
Find your local officeGather evidence with your doctor
Your application needs information from your treating health professional — assessments, reports and written statements about your impairment and how it affects your daily life. Book the appointment early; this is the step that holds people up.
What evidence is neededComplete the application
Your NDIS partner can fill it in with you, using what you told them at your first meeting. You can also do it yourself with an access request form.
About the access request formSend it in
Your partner can submit it for you, or you can submit it yourself through the NDIS service hub, by post to NDIA, GPO Box 700, Canberra ACT 2601, or in person at a local office.
Wait for the decision
The NDIA will tell you whether you are eligible within 21 days of receiving your application and all your evidence. If you become a participant, a plan meeting follows.
How the first plan is made
If the answer is no, the NDIA writes to you explaining why. You can ask for that decision to be reviewed, and there is no limit on how many times you can apply if your circumstances or your evidence change.
Your plan
Four budgets, and one test.
A plan holds your situation, your goals, your funding and how long it runs. The funding is grouped into four support budgets — and because plans are individual, most people don’t have money in all four.
Core supports
Up to 3 categoriesEveryday help and getting out into your community: assistance with daily life, consumables, and assistance with social and community participation. Core funding is flexible — you can move it between those categories.
This is where most of what we do sits.
Capacity building
Up to 9 categoriesBuilding skills and independence — support coordination, improved living arrangements, employment, health and wellbeing, daily living skills.
If you have a support coordinator, this is the budget they are paid from.
Capital
Up to 2 categoriesThe expensive one-off things: assistive technology and equipment, home or vehicle modifications, and specialist disability accommodation. Usually needs quotes and reports.
Recurring
1 categoryRecurring transport — help getting to work, study, day programs or community activities by taxi, rideshare or other private travel. There are three funding levels.
“Reasonable and necessary”
Every funded support has to pass this test. It’s worth reading before your plan meeting, because it’s the language the decision gets written in.
The full criteriaA support must
- relate to your disability
- help you work towards your goals
- help you work, study or take part in social activities
- be value for money
- be likely to be effective and beneficial for you
- work alongside your family, carers and mainstream services
- be on the NDIS supports list
It can’t cover
- day-to-day living costs everyone has
- events or holidays
- supports family or community services already provide
- anything illegal or harmful
- a replacement for income
The money
Who pays the invoices.
Every plan is managed one of three ways, and you can mix them — self-manage your core supports and have the rest plan-managed, for instance. You can also ask to change how your plan is managed at any time.
NDIA-managed
Also called agency-managed
The NDIA pays your providers directly and keeps the records. The trade-off: you can only use providers registered with the NDIS Commission.
Read the detailPlan-managed
A plan manager does the admin
A plan manager pays invoices, keeps records and reports on your spending. You get funding in your plan to pay them, and you can use registered or unregistered providers.
Read the detailSelf-managed
You or your nominee run it
The most control and the most paperwork. You can use any provider, negotiate prices, and even employ your own staff — but the budgets, payments and records are yours to keep.
Read the detail
Where we fit in
We’re the last step, not the first.
Focus is a registered NDIS provider in Lakemba. Once you have a plan, we deliver supports under it — personal care, community access, SIL, respite, overnight care and our day program. See the full list.
- Before you have a plan, we can
- sit down with you, explain what the NDIA is asking for, help you get your evidence together, and help you prepare for a plan meeting. No charge and no obligation.
- What we can’t do
- decide your eligibility, write your plan, or speed the NDIA up. Nobody outside the NDIA can — if a provider tells you otherwise, that’s a reason to walk.
Jargon buster
The words everyone uses and nobody explains.
- NDIA
- The National Disability Insurance Agency — the government body that runs the NDIS, decides eligibility and approves plans.
- NDIS partner / my NDIS contact
- The local organisation that helps you apply and stays your main contact once you have a plan. Often still called an LAC (Local Area Coordinator).
- Access request
- The formal application to become an NDIS participant, made with your partner or on an access request form.
- Reasonable and necessary
- The legal test every funded support has to pass. It is about your disability and your goals, not about what a provider would like to sell you.
- Plan meeting
- The conversation with an NDIA planner where your plan, goals, budgets and funding periods are set.
- Support coordination
- Funded help to find providers, set up service agreements and get your plan actually running. Usually time-limited, and funded under capacity building. Focus isn’t a support coordinator — we work alongside yours.
- SIL
- Supported Independent Living — help with everyday tasks in the home where you live, usually shared with others.
- STA
- Short Term Accommodation, often called respite — a stay away from home, including support, that gives carers a break.
- Registered provider
- A provider audited and registered by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. Focus is one. NDIA-managed funding can only be spent with registered providers.
- Price limits
- The maximum the NDIS lets a registered provider charge for a support, published each year in the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits.
The questions people ring us about.
What if the NDIA says no?
You get a letter explaining why. You can call the NDIA on 1800 800 110 to talk it through, and you can ask for the decision to be reviewed if you disagree. There is also no limit on how many times you can apply — if your situation changes or you get better evidence, you can apply again.
How long does the whole thing take?
The part with a clock on it is the decision: 21 days from when the NDIA has your application and all your evidence. Gathering the evidence beforehand is the part that varies, because it depends on appointments with your doctors and specialists.
Do I need a provider before I have a plan?
No. You do not need to sign with anyone to apply, and no provider can approve your access or write your plan — only the NDIA does that. Talking to a provider early can still help you understand what support actually looks like week to week.
Can Focus help me apply?
We can sit with you, explain what the NDIA is asking for, help you get your evidence together and prepare for your plan meeting. What we cannot do is decide your eligibility or fast-track anyone — nobody outside the NDIA can, and any provider who says otherwise is telling you a story.
What does it cost once I have a plan?
Our supports are charged at the rates in the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits — the same published rates every registered provider works to. We will show you which line items your supports draw from before anything starts.
We already have a plan but nothing is happening. Can you help?
Yes, and it is one of the more common calls we get. Bring the plan in and we will read it with you, work out what is funded and what is not being used, and be straight about which parts we can deliver and which need someone else.
Straight from the source.
Everything above is a plain-English summary of these pages. The NDIA updates them, so if the two ever disagree, believe the NDIA — and please tell us so we can fix ours.
NDIA enquiries: 1800 800 110
Talk to a person
Start with a phone call.
The fastest way to find out whether we’re right for you is twenty minutes on the phone with someone who actually does the work.
Call 0432 354 685- info@focusdss.com.au
- Centre
- 18 Browning Avenue, Lakemba NSW 2195