For Support Coordinators, carers and people with disabilities, one of the important steps in managing and advocating under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is understanding which specific disabilities have been accepted for an individual participant.
This knowledge is fundamental because only the disabilities officially accepted by the NDIS will influence the type of funding and support a participant can access. The upcoming legislative changes, set to come into effect 3rd October 2024, make it even more vital to be informed about how accepted disabilities impact the delivery of care and services.
NDIS plans are tailored to each participant’s individual needs, but they do not explicitly list the participant’s accepted disabilities. NDIS bases its support funding on how a person’s disabilities affect their ability to function in everyday life. The focus is on functional needs, which are directly related to the accepted disabilities but are not explicitly stated in the plan.
In developing recommendations for support services and Assistive Technology, your allied health practitioner needs to understand specific disabilities under access as:
The right services and recommendations must align directly with the functional needs of accepted disabilities:
Knowing the functional impact of the participant’s accepted disabilities helps to ensure that the supports recommended by the practitioner are considered. If recommendations refer to functional impacts stemming from conditions not under access with NDIS, those would not be taken into consideration by the scheme planners.
Funding must reflect the approved supports:
While the exact disabilities accepted may not be listed on the plan, the types of support funded are based on the accepted conditions, making it essential to ensure these match the participant’s needs.
A participant may have multiple disabilities, but not all may be accepted by the NDIS for funding. It’s critical for carers and Support Coordinators to know which disabilities have been accepted so they can advocate effectively for the right support.
For example, a participant with both a physical disability and a psychosocial condition might have only their physical disability accepted, meaning funding would be allocated to services addressing that area.
Each accepted disability impacts the type of services and funding a participant can receive under the NDIS. By understanding the specific disabilities accepted, our Allied Health Assessor can:
Target the correct supports: Ensuring the right services and supports are requested based on functional needs related to accepted conditions.
Streamline service access: Avoid delays by ensuring that funding requests align with what the NDIS has accepted as necessary based on the participant’s disabilities.
Navigating the 2024 NDIS Legislative Changes
The 2024 NDIS legislative changes focus on improving decision-making processes and providing clearer guidelines for assessing eligibility and funding. This leads to the importance of being precise and informed about how accepted disabilities influence the support a participant receives.
The first changes will commence on October 3rd, 2024. From that date, there will be a new definition of NDIS Supports. The new rule will cover what NDIS Funding can and can't be spent on. The exact definitions are being finalised and will be available prior to October 3rd.
A participant’s disabilities and their functional impacts can evolve over time. New conditions may arise, or existing ones may change in severity. In such cases, simply including those conditions in the Functional Capacity Evaluation report, would not trigger access review. Submitting new evidence for emerging conditions would be necessary for NDIS to consider additional access.
If you or your participants are not sure about which disabilities have been accepted by the NDIS, please contact your planners and request information to be made available to ensure you are informed and able to advocate effectively for appropriate support.
FAQs
Does the NDIS plan list the accepted disabilities for a participant? No, NDIS plans do not explicitly list accepted disabilities. Instead, the plans focus on functional needs and goals based on the participant’s accepted disabilities.
How do I know which disabilities have been accepted by the NDIS? The accepted disabilities are determined during the NDIS access process. Functional needs related to these disabilities are addressed in the NDIS plan. If you are not sure, you will need to contact NDIS and request this information.
What if a participant develops a new disability after their NDIS plan is created? If new conditions develop, Support Coordinators can submit updated medical evidence to the NDIS as part of an access request for reassessment to include new supports.
How can I ensure a participant gets the right funding for their needs? Funding requests should always align with the functional impacts stemming from and arising directly as a result of NDIS-accepted disabilities.
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