Food is one of life’s essentials but when it comes to the NDIS, knowing what’s covered and what’s not in relation to meal preparation and delivery can be hard to wrap your head around.
Here at Leap in! we often hear questions like…“Can I use my NDIS Plan for ready-made meals?”
To make things easier, we’ve cooked up a guide to help you understand how these supports work and what options might be available in your NDIS Plan.
Does the NDIS cover food and groceries?
Will the NDIS cover your weekly food shop? Things like fruit, veg, bread, milk and meat?
The short answer is no.
The NDIS does not cover:
- Groceries or ingredients
- Fast food
- Takeaway services
- Packaged meals.
The NDIS only pays for costs that are related to your disability support needs
Does the NDIS cover meal preparation and delivery?
If preparing meals is difficult due to your disability, you may be eligible to use your NDIS Plan to pay for meal preparation and delivery.
Meal preparation and delivery covers the cost of preparing meals at another location and delivering them to you. The NDIS only covers the cost of preparing and delivering the meals, not the cost of the ingredients.
Top tip: Meal preparation and delivery must be specified in your plan to purchase this support with NDIS funds.
Claiming meal preparation and delivery.
If your NDIS Plan includes meal preparation and delivery, the Core Assistance with Daily Living budget may be used for this support. The NDIS will specify how much of your Core budget you can use for meal preparation and delivery.
However, it’s important to ensure that invoices clearly state the different costs:
- Ingredients (paid for by the participant)
- Food preparation and delivery (paid for by the NDIS).
Will the NDIS cover delivery services like Uber Eats?
No. The NDIS will not pay for fast food services, takeaway food or food ordered through delivery platforms like Uber Eats, DoorDash or Deliveroo.
The only exception is when a registered meal provider can itemise and separately bill for the cost of meal preparation, delivery and ingredients.
Meal kit services such as Marley Spoon and Hello Fresh do not meet the criteria for meal preparation and delivery as they are ingredient delivery services with no meal preparation component.
Choosing a ready-made meal supplier.
Thinking about ready-made meals delivered to your home? Whether you prefer frozen, ready-to-heat or warm meals, here are some tips to help you choose the right provider.
- Make a list of what’s important to you (eg. delivery times, dietary requirements)
- Do some online research or ask people you know for tips
- Check if the company can meet any specific needs like pureed or gluten free meals
- Ask for a menu. You want them to make food you like!
- Make sure they can do everything on your list (including delivery times)
- Ensure the provider can itemise and separately bill the costs of ingredients (paid for by you) and food preparation and delivery (paid for by the NDIS).
Meal preparation – Core Assistance with Daily Living.
In some cases, the NDIS may fund a support worker to help you prepare your own meals so you can build skills in meal planning and preparation. This does not need to be stated in the plan, although it is sometimes specified, usually as something like ‘support for meal preparation’.
If support work for meal preparation is specified, you can also use this funding flexibly for a short period to fund a delivery service for prepared meals (such as Lite n’ Easy, Ablefoods, Gourmet Meals etc.) if:
- You need to isolate due to an infectious illness
- Your usual support worker is unavailable
- You’re recovering from a hospital stay or illness
- You have difficulty arranging help for a short period.
While there is no guidance around what the NDIA considers to be “a short period”, it’s typically considered around 4 weeks.
Remember, you can only use your NDIS funds to pay for the preparation and delivery, not the ingredients.
We can help.
If you need help understanding your NDIS Plan or using your supports, the Leap in! Crew is here to support you. Call us on 1300 05 78 78 or chat with us online.
Further reading.
- What will the NDIS pay for?
- NDIS support categories explained.
- Respite care and the NDIS: Everything you need to know.
Updated 23 September 2025 with the latest information from the 2025-2026 PAPL and NDIS Supports lists. Originally published 11 July 2019 and updated 28 September 2021.
