What is the NDIS?

On its own, ADHD is not usually covered by the NDIS. That’s because it can be hard to meet the NDIS eligibility criteria for permanent and significant disability based on ADHD alone. An adult or child with ADHD who is responding well to treatment such as medication is unlikely to be eligible for the NDIS. ADHD often exists alongside primary disability types such as autism, intellectual disability, learning disability or global developmental delay. These primary disabilities are usually referred to as the main condition, with ADHD considered a co-occurring condition. Someone with one of these primary conditions may be more likely to meet the NDIS eligibility requirements. Learn more in our article ADHD and NDIS eligiblity.

If you turn 65 after you join the NDIS, you can choose to stay with the NDIS or leave the NDIS and receive supports through the Commonwealth Aged Care System. If you decide to obtain supports through the aged care system, you must notify the NDIS in writing that you no longer wish to be on the NDIS.

A goal is something you want to achieve or aim for. In the NDIS, goals are like roadmaps that help guide you towards what you want to achieve. Each NDIS goal is a statement of intention that provides a clear direction and purpose, helping you stay focused. These goals give the NDIS information about what’s important to you and what you want to do in life. For an NDIS Plan to be approved, it must include at least one goal. For inspiration, visit the Goal Tracker section of the Leap in! app.

The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) is the agency whose role is to implement the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). The NDIA is a government agency responsible for making the NDIS happen, while the NDIS is the scheme or program that provides support for eligible people with disability.

Yes, there is an age limit for the NDIS. To be eligible to join the NDIS, you need to be under 65. If you are already on the NDIS once you turn 65, you can choose to remain with NDIS or transition to the aged care system.

To access the NDIS, you need to meet the eligibility and disability requirements:

1. Age: From 0 to 64 (children under 9 are supported through the early childhood approach)
2. Residency: Live in Australia and an Australian citizen, permanent resident or hold a Protected Special Category visa
3. Meet the disability or early intervention requirements, or both.

To be eligible under the disability requirements:

• You have a disability related to a permanent impairment, or have a psychosocial disability caused by a permanent impairment
• Your permanent impairment will significantly impact your life and your ability to do everyday tasks
• You’ll likely need NDIS supports for your lifetime.

To be eligible under the early intervention requirements:

• You have an impairment, or a psychosocial disability caused by an impairment, that’s likely to be permanent, or be a child younger than 6 with developmental delay
• The early intervention supports you need will reduce your need for support in the future, improve your functional capacity or prevent it from getting worse, and be NDIS supports.

For more information visit NDIS eligibility.

Reasonable and necessary is the criteria the NDIS uses to decide which supports and services will be funded in your NDIS Plan.

All supports paid for with NDIS funds must meet all the reasonable and necessary criteria:

1. Be related to your disability
   
2. Help you pursue the goals in your plan
   
3. Support your social and economic participation
   
4. Be value for money
   
5. Be likely to be effective and beneficial
   
6. Complement informal and mainstream supports
   
7. Be an NDIS support or agreed replacement support for you.

As you near the end of your current NDIS Plan, the NDIS will contact you, usually by phone. This ‘check in’ is to see how you are going with your plan and if your needs have changed. Depending on your circumstances, the NDIS may:

• Vary your current plan if only small changes are required
• Continue your current plan for another 12 months (before 1 February 2027)
• Create a new plan with different supports.

Changes to the NDIS will affect what happens when a plan reaches its reassessment date.

• Before February 2027: The NDIS may continue your existing plan for 12 months. Your Core and Capacity Building funding will generally remain the same, with indexation applied, and any unspent funding will remain available in the continued plan.
• From 1 February 2027: A renewed plan will be created when a plan reaches its reassessment date. Unused funding from the old plan will no longer automatically carry over and the renewed plan may have minor to no changes from your previous plan.

Visit our Guide to check-ins and plan reassessments for more details.

The NDIS early childhood approach is for children younger than 6 with delays in their development, or younger than 9 with disability, and their families. It aims to support young children to build skills, take part in daily activities and be included in their community.

Early Childhood Partners (ECPs) are local organisations that implement the early childhood approach, connecting children and their families to mainstream (non-NDIS) supports, NDIS supports or a combination of both.

Children don’t need a diagnosis to get support. Children who don’t fully meet the definition of developmental delay but have developmental concerns can also receive support.

If you have concerns about your child’s development, contact your doctor, maternal and child health nurse, or other health professional. Your healthcare professional may connect you with an NDIS early childhood partner.

If there is evidence that your child has an impairment that is or is likely to be permanent, or is younger than 6 and has developmental delay, they may be eligible for the NDIS. Early childhood partners or NDIA staff can help you to apply.

Your NDIS Plan meeting or reassessment will be with your myNDIS contact, usually a Local Area Coordinator (LAC) from an NDIS partner organisation or an Early Childhood Partner. You can choose to have a plan meeting or reassessment over the phone, in person or by video call, whatever option works best for you. You can attend the meeting on your own or ask a family member, close friend, partner or trusted support person, like a support worker, to attend. See our Plan Meeting Checklist for more information.

To join the NDIS, you’ll need to meet both eligibility and access requirements. If you have a disability, you can find out more about supports by contacting an NDIS partner, such as a local area coordinator. For children younger than 9, contact an Early Childhood Partner. The NDIS partner or early childhood partner can help you determine eligibility and complete an access request to become an NDIS participant. Alternatively, you can apply yourself by completing an NDIS access request form and following the instructions. You’ll need to provide information about your disability and supporting evidence so the NDIA can determine if you’re eligible. If you send your application directly to the NDIS, they will ask an NDIS partner in your area to contact you. For more information visit NDIS eligibility.

You can request a review of your plan within three months of receiving it. This is called a ‘review of a decision’ or an ‘internal review’. Through this process, the NDIS can review some aspects of your plan including what NDIS supports are included, how those supports are described, how your funding is managed, how long your plan goes for and funding periods applied to your plan. You’ll need to explain why you think the decision should be different, if information you supplied to the NDIS should be reassessed and provide necessary supporting information and documents. Your review will be handled by an NDIA staff member who wasn’t involved in the original decisions about your plan. They will reconsider all relevant facts, law and policy, and can take new information into account. How to ask for an internal review:

• Call the NDIS on 1800 800 110
• Submit an enquiry via the NDIS Service Hub
• Write to the CEO, NDIA, GPO Box 700, Canberra ACT 2601
• Visit an NDIS office
• Send a completed Request for a review of a decision form.