What is respite - and what are STA and STR?

Respite is the everyday word: a short, planned stay away from home, with support included, so the person gets a change of scene and their carer gets a genuine break.

For years, NDIS plans called this STA. In October 2025 the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) renamed it short term respite - partly to make plain what the funding is for: rest, and keeping care arrangements sustainable. You'll see both names for a while yet. They mean the same support.

Which part of the plan pays for it?

Respite comes out of the Core budget - the flexible, everyday-supports part of a plan - under the category called Assistance with Daily Life.

It can appear in a plan two ways: as flexible Core funding, which can often be used for a stay without a dedicated line, or as a stated support - an amount set aside specifically for respite. The plan document (or a support coordinator) will show which.

One honest note: Core funding has to last the whole plan period, and overnight stays are one of the bigger-ticket items in it. Spreading stays across the year beats discovering in month ten that the budget has run dry.

How much respite can a plan fund?

The NDIA's guideline says it generally funds up to 28 days of respite per year, used flexibly - a block of up to 14 days at a time, several long weekends, or one weekend a month. Whatever pattern suits the person and their family.

• A stay must include at least one overnight.
• Funding is generally at a group price - sharing support with other guests - unless there's evidence the person needs individual support because of their disability.
• The nightly rate bundles accommodation, support, meals and activities together. You don't arrange each piece separately.

More than 28 days moves into different territory - longer arrangements are usually funded as medium term accommodation or supported independent living instead.

The rules: what respite can - and can't - be used for

Since the 2025 guideline, the NDIA has been clear and is checking claims more closely. Respite funding must relate to the person's disability support needs, and its purpose is to give informal supports - family and friends who provide care - a real break. It is not for holidays: claims that look like tourism, such as flights, cruises or theme-park tickets, are being refused.

None of that makes a stay joyless. Outings, activities and good food are part of any well-run stay. The difference is the reason for the stay: rest and sustaining care, not travel.

How do you get respite added to a plan?

1. Raise it. At a plan meeting or check-in with your My NDIS contact - or ask your support coordinator to raise it for you.
2. Bring evidence. For adults, the NDIA generally looks for informal supports providing substantial daily care - around six hours a day. You don't have to live with the person you care for.
3. Write a carer statement. A short, honest description of the caring role - and what happens without a break - is the single most useful document you can provide.
4. Changed circumstances? If the need has grown mid-plan, you can ask the NDIA for a plan change rather than waiting for the next review.

What should a stay actually include?

• Accommodation, support, meals and activities in one arrangement - one nightly rate, nothing to piece together.
• A plan for the stay written with the person, not just about them - meals, routines, medication, activities, all in their words.
• Updates home as agreed - as much or as little contact as the family chooses.

See what a stay at Bethel looks like

Seven questions worth asking any provider

Ask us these too - a provider worth choosing won't mind a single one of them.

• Can we visit and meet the team before booking?
• Who writes the plan for the stay - and does the person staying help write it?
• Who do staff call if something goes wrong - and how quickly do families hear about it?
• How is medication handled, and who signs off on it?
• What does staffing look like overnight?
• What are the cancellation terms if plans change?
• How will you keep us updated - and can we choose how often?

What SIL is - and what it isn't

Supported independent living pays for support workers to help with daily life in the place you live - personal care, cooking and meals, medication, routines, and getting out the door to the things that matter. Depending on what someone needs, the support can be there around the clock, and it can be shared with housemates or one-to-one.

Just as important is what SIL isn't. It never pays rent, board, groceries or household bills - those stay ordinary living costs, the same as for anyone. And SIL isn't a building. The home itself is a separate question: most people in SIL live in ordinary rented or family homes, and some also have SDA funding for a specialist-built one. You do not need SDA to get SIL.

Who SIL is for

SIL is for people with higher support needs - someone who needs help or supervision at all times of the day, or for most of it, including overnight. It's the most support-intensive of the NDIS home-and-living options, which is why the funding amounts are significant and the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) looks closely at them.

If the need is real but smaller - help in the mornings and evenings, say, rather than around the clock - other arrangements often fit better: support hours in your own place funded from Core, or an ILO. An honest provider will say so rather than steering everyone toward SIL. We do.

Which budget pays - and how the amount is set

SIL is paid from the plan's Core budget. Because it's one of the largest supports the NDIS funds, the amount isn't a flat rate - it's built for the individual person.

The main tool is the roster of care: the provider maps out a typical week - which hours are shared with housemates, which are one-to-one, what happens overnight - and the NDIA assesses funding against it. Two people in the same house can have quite different funding, because the roster reflects each person's needs, not the address.

Worth knowing before you compare providers: ask how they build the roster and how much say you get in it. The roster is where "choice and control" is either real or a slogan.

SIL vs SDA - the support, and the house

The two get mixed up constantly, because they often turn up together. The short version: SIL is the support; SDA is the house.

So when a provider talks about "a place" in a house, it's worth asking which one they mean: a vacancy in the support (SIL), a room in a specialist-built home (SDA), or both.

The 2026 rule change: every SIL provider must be registered

From 1 July 2026, all SIL providers must be registered with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission - including providers who were previously unregistered. Providers already delivering SIL have until 1 October 2026 to apply, and a new SIL module of the NDIS Practice Standards applies from the same date. Delivering SIL without registration is now a serious offence.

For you, the change is simple and good: every SIL provider must now meet audited standards for exactly this kind of support, and it is entirely fair to ask any provider - including us - where they stand. Beyond Disability Support is a registered provider, no. 4050087183, audited against the NDIS Practice Standards.

If you're already with a provider, the NDIA has been clear that your plan and funding don't change because of the registration rule - but a provider who can't tell you their registration status after October 2026 is a provider to ask harder questions of.

What good shared living actually looks like

Funding and registration matter, but they're not what daily life feels like. Shared living stands or falls on the ordinary things:

• Compatibility comes before vacancy. A good provider talks about who would live well together before talking about filling a room. If the first conversation is about availability, be wary.
• Your own room, your own routine. A door that's yours, mornings that run your way, and a home that doesn't feel like a roster with beds in it.
• Support written with the person, not about them. Meals, medication, routines and plans in their words - and revisited when life changes.
• Household decisions made by the household. What's for dinner, how weekends run, who's coming over - decided by the people who live there.

The test we'd apply to any home, including our own: does it feel like an ordinary house on an ordinary street? That's the point of supported living - a life, with support in it, not the other way around.

Nine questions worth asking any SIL provider

We'd expect you to ask us every one of these - and a provider worth choosing won't flinch at any of them.

• Are you registered with the NDIS Commission - and audited against the SIL Practice Standards?
• Can we visit the house and meet the team before deciding anything?
• How do you decide who lives together - and what happens if the mix isn't working?
• Will I have my own room and my own service agreement?
• Who builds my roster of care - and how much say do I get in it?
• What does overnight support look like - someone awake, or on call?
• Who do staff call if something goes wrong - and how quickly do families hear about it?
• How is disagreement between housemates handled - honestly, what's your process?
• What are the exit terms if it turns out not to be the right fit?

Waitlists, honestly

Here's the part most provider websites won't say plainly: good homes are usually full. A vacancy in supported living isn't like a hotel room - it opens when someone's life changes, and it can't be predicted or manufactured. A provider advertising constant availability is telling you something about turnover.

So the waitlist isn't a consolation prize - it's how the right match actually happens. Used well, it works like this:

1. Join early, even if the move is years away. A waitlist registration commits you to nothing, and long-term planning is exactly what it's for.
2. Keep your details current. When a room nears, providers start with the people whose situation they understand.
3. Test the fit before you need it. A respite stay with the same team is the closest thing to a trial run of a home - the house, the people, the way support is done.

Try a respite stay first

How to read the plan document

Plans don't all look the same - older plans and plans on the newer computer system of the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), my NDIS, are laid out differently. But every plan has the same three parts: a section about you and your goals, the funding itself, and a line saying how each budget is managed.

Before reading anything else, find three things: the total funding, the split between budgets, and how each budget is managed (by you, a plan manager, or the NDIA). Those three facts decide almost everything else on this page.

The three budgets - and sometimes a fourth

Every plan splits its funding into separate budgets, and the split matters more than the total, because each budget has its own rules about what it can pay for.

That no-transfers rule is the single most useful thing to know about a plan. A surplus in Capital can't rescue an empty Core budget, and vice versa - so it pays to watch each budget on its own, not just the total.

Core - the everyday budget

Core is the budget most people touch most weeks - the NDIA calls what it pays for core supports, and groups them into three categories:

• Assistance with Daily Life - support workers for everyday tasks like personal care, cooking, cleaning and yard maintenance. Our Daily Personal Support and Help at Home sit here.
• Consumables - everyday items such as continence products, and low-cost assistive technology like non-slip bathmats or small aids for dressing and eating.
• Assistance with Social and Community Participation - support workers who help you take part in your community and interests. Our Community Participation sits here.

Respite stays are paid from Core too - we've written a whole guide on that one: NDIS respite, explained properly Transport used to be a Core category as well; on newer plans it usually appears as regular payments in the separate Recurring budget.

Core is also the flexible budget: in most plans, funding can move between Core's own categories as needs change. The exception is anything marked as a stated support - that funding is locked to its stated purpose.

One honest note: because Core is flexible and gets used constantly, it's also the budget that runs out when spending isn't paced. The funding-periods section below is the NDIA's answer to exactly that.

Capacity building - the skills budget

Capacity Building funds supports that build independence over time rather than meet a daily need - and unlike Core, it is not flexible across its categories. Funding sits in the specific categories the plan includes, and stays there.

The category names are where most of the jargon lives. The ones people ask about most, translated:

• Improved Daily Living - therapies and assessments: occupational therapy, physio, psychology, speech.
• Support Coordination - a person who helps you understand the plan and connect supports (you may also see the formal name, "Coordination of Supports").
• Improved Life Choices - plan management: someone to handle the invoices and budget tracking.
• Finding and Keeping a Job, Increased Social and Community Participation - employment and skills-based community programs.

On newer plans (made in the NDIA's newer system, called PACE), some of these wear different names - Improved Life Choices appears as Choice and Control, and support coordination as Support Coordination and Psychosocial Recovery Coach. Same categories, same job.

One of those - support coordination - is a support we provide, and only if the plan includes it. If it's in yours, it's paid from the plan, not your pocket.

Capital - the equipment budget

Capital funds bigger, usually one-off items: assistive technology, vehicle modifications, home modifications. It's the least flexible budget of the three.

• Funding is tied to the specific items or categories the NDIA has approved - leftover Capital funding can't be repurposed for something else.
• Higher-cost items generally need quotes or an assessment (often from an occupational therapist) before the NDIA includes them.
• If a need changes mid-plan - equipment breaks, or circumstances shift - you can ask the NDIA for a plan change rather than waiting for reassessment.

Funding periods - the 2025 change

This is the newest rule, and the one that changes how a plan reads. Since 19 May 2025, new and reassessed plans release funding in funding periods - usually three months at a time - instead of making the whole year's funding available on day one.

The mechanics, plainly:

• Funding you don't use in one period rolls into the next period of the same plan - it isn't lost at the quarter's end.
• Funding unspent when the plan itself ends goes back to the NDIA - plans don't carry a balance into the next plan.
• Periods can be set differently for different supports, and if the structure isn't working, you can ask for a plan variation mid-plan - or raise it at reassessment.

Practically: bigger spends - like a block of respite nights - are worth timing with the periods in mind, and the my NDIS app is the quickest place to see what's released and what's left. A plan manager watches this for you, which is half the reason people use one.

What funding can - and can't - buy

Since 3 October 2024, what counts as an NDIS support is defined by two lists: one of supports NDIS funding can buy, and one of things it can't. The out-list is mostly what you'd guess - everyday living costs like rent and groceries, and things other systems fund, like mainstream health care and education.

Two things stop the lists being the whole story. First, a support still has to pass the NDIA's reasonable and necessary test - the lists say what's possible, not what's approved. Second, there's a narrow "replacement supports" process for swapping in certain items that would otherwise be off-list, with NDIA approval first.

The honest rule of thumb: if you're not sure a purchase fits, check before spending - with your plan manager, your My NDIS contact, or the NDIA directly. An awkward question up front beats a rejected claim later.

Who manages the money

Every budget in a plan is managed one of three ways - and the choice changes which providers you can use:

• Self-managed - you pay providers and claim it back. Almost any provider, registered or not; most flexibility, most admin.
• Plan-managed - a plan manager pays the invoices and tracks the budgets. Almost any provider, none of the paperwork.
• NDIA-managed - the agency pays providers directly. Registered providers only (Beyond is registered - no. 4050087183).

One 2026 change worth knowing: a small number of support types - supported independent living among them - now require a registered provider no matter how the plan is managed. For most everyday supports, the choice above still decides who you can use.

You can mix them - one budget self-managed, another plan-managed - and you can ask the NDIA to change how a plan is managed. Like everything else here, it's your call: how the money is handled is a decision the plan records, not one it takes away from you.

How we help with funding - support coordination

What you can expect from us

Every NDIS worker and provider in Australia must follow the NDIS Code of Conduct. Here is what it means for you, in our words.

• RespectYou're treated as an adult with your own views, your own decisions and your own life - never as a diagnosis or a plan.
• PrivacyYour information stays yours. We collect only what we need to support you, and we don't share it without your consent unless the law requires it.
• Safe, skilled supportSupport is provided carefully and competently by people who are screened, trained and introduced to you properly.
• HonestyWe act with integrity and tell you the truth - about what we can do, what we can't, and what things cost.
• Action on concernsIf something is wrong with the quality or safety of support, we raise it and act on it promptly.
• Freedom from harmWe take every reasonable step to prevent and respond to violence, neglect, abuse, exploitation and sexual misconduct.

Choice and control

Choice and control aren't slogans. They look like this:

• You decide what support you want, when, and who provides it. You can change your mind.
• You can ask for a different support worker, and we'll talk through a change.
• You can bring a family member, friend, advocate or support person to any meeting or conversation with us.
• You can ask for information in a different way - larger print, read aloud over the phone, or with an interpreter.
• You can leave. If Beyond stops being the right fit, we'll help the handover happen smoothly.

Giving feedback or making a complaint

Tell us what's working and what isn't. A complaint is not a mark against you - it's information we need, and it never affects the support you receive.

When you raise something, we listen first, tell you what we'll do about it and by when, and let you know how it was resolved. If you're not satisfied with the outcome, you can take it further - see below.

Talking to someone independent

You never have to come to us first. These services are free, independent of Beyond, and you can contact them at any time.

In an emergency, call 000.

Your information

We collect personal information so we can plan and provide your supports, report to the NDIS and other funding bodies on how funding is used, and respond to your questions and feedback. We keep it confidential and don't use it for anything else without your say-so.

• You can ask to see your own file, and to correct anything that's wrong.
• Photos, videos, stories and the newsletter are all optional, and you can switch any of them off with a phone call.
• Some de-identified information (never your name or address) must be reported for disability-services statistics. It never affects your entitlements.

The full privacy statement - including when the law can require us to share information - is written out on the consent form, and you can ask for a printed copy at any time.

How NDIS prices are set

Every year the NDIA publishes the Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits - a long document, and the reason "what does a support worker cost?" has a public answer. For each support it lists a price limit: the most a provider can charge when a plan is managed by the NDIA or by a plan manager.

Three things follow from that. The limit is a ceiling, not a set price - providers can charge less. It applies to registered providers working with NDIA-managed and plan-managed participants (Beyond is registered, no. 4050087183). And if you self-manage your plan, you can agree any price with any provider - but a higher price simply buys fewer hours from the same budget.

What changes the rate

The same support can sit on several different price limits. What moves it:

• When. Weekday daytime is the base rate. Evenings cost more, Saturdays more again, Sundays and public holidays the most. Overnight support has its own rates depending on whether the worker is awake or sleeping over.
• How many people. One-to-one support is priced per hour for one person. In a small group, the hourly cost is shared, so the price per person is lower - which is one reason our programs run in groups.
• What kind of support. Everyday support and community access sit on standard rates. Supports that need particular skills - the NDIA calls these high intensity - have a higher limit.
• Short stays. A respite stay is priced per 24 hours, and that daily rate includes the accommodation, meals, activities and the support itself - it isn't hourly.

This is why a quote from any provider should say when the support will happen, not just how many hours. Ten hours spread across weekday afternoons and ten hours on Sundays come from the same budget at very different rates.

Which budget pays

Your plan is split into budgets, and each support is paid from a specific one. In short:

• Core pays for daily personal support, help at home, community participation and respite stays - the everyday supports, and the flexible budget.
• Capacity Building pays for support coordination, under Coordination of Supports.
• Supported independent living (Bethel) is funded from Core, but the funding is set specifically for that support in the plan.

If you're not sure what's in your plan, we've written a whole guide: Your NDIS plan, decoded. Bring the plan to us and we'll show you where each support would come from.

Travel and cancellations - the two surprises

Two charges catch people out, because they're allowed by the NDIS but only under conditions - and both should be in your written arrangements before they ever appear on a statement.

• Provider travel. A provider may claim the time it takes a worker to travel to you, but only if you've agreed to it in advance, and only up to the caps the NDIA sets. Travel that isn't agreed can't be charged.
• Short-notice cancellations. If a support is cancelled with less than seven clear days' notice, or nobody's home, the NDIS allows a provider to claim up to the full agreed price - again, only where the arrangements say so. We'd always rather reschedule than charge; tell us as soon as plans change.

How we quote

Our rates follow the NDIS price limits for every support we deliver. Before any support starts, we go through the arrangements with you - what the support is, when it happens, the rate that applies and which budget it comes from - and you get it in writing. Nothing changes without talking to you first, and nothing is charged for the first conversation.

We work with NDIA-managed, plan-managed and self-managed plans. If your plan is plan-managed, we invoice your plan manager directly; if you self-manage, we invoice you and you claim from the NDIS.

Self-funded support - no plan needed

Our self-funded support is arranged privately, outside the NDIS, so the price limits above don't apply. Instead we quote for the arrangement you actually want - the tasks, the days, the hours - and you see the figure before anything begins. There's no assessment and no package to apply for first.

It's designed for families who need practical help now: domestic help, shopping, meals, companionship and transport. It isn't personal or clinical care - if that's what's needed, we'll say so and point you to the right funding.

Who's eligible - the three tests

The NDIA checks three things, in this order. All three have to be met.

• Age. You must be younger than 65 on the day you apply - and the complete application has to reach the NDIA before your 65th birthday. (Over 65, the aged-care system is the door instead.)
• Residency. You must live in Australia - it's your home and where you spend most of your time - and be an Australian citizen, a permanent resident, or hold a Protected Special Category visa.
• Disability, or early intervention. Either your impairment is likely to be permanent and substantially reduces what you can do in daily life, so you're likely to need NDIS support for life - or the impairment is likely to be permanent and getting support early will reduce what you need later.

The evidence that matters most

Applications live or die on the evidence, so it's worth spending most of your effort here. The NDIA wants information from your treating health professionals - a GP, specialist, psychologist, occupational therapist, speech pathologist or similar - that covers:

• What the impairment is, and that it's likely to be permanent
• How it affects everyday life - moving around, communicating, looking after yourself, learning, managing at home and in the community
• What treatments have been tried, and what's still expected to change (if anything)
• Recent, dated reports - the more specific about daily impact, the better
• Proof of identity, age and residency

The single most common reason applications stall is evidence that describes a diagnosis without describing its impact. "Has autism" is a diagnosis; "needs prompting for every step of the morning routine and can't use public transport alone" is impact. Ask the professionals writing your reports to be concrete.

The five steps

1. Talk to an NDIS partner. Local area coordinators (LACs) and early childhood partners help people apply for free. Find yours through the NDIS office finder, or call the NDIA on 1800 800 110.
2. Gather the evidence from your treating health professionals - the list above.
3. Complete the access request form. Your partner can do it with you, or you can do it yourself.
4. Submit it - online through the NDIA's service hub, by mail, or in person at a local office.
5. Wait for the decision. The NDIA may ask for more information; the sooner it arrives, the sooner the clock runs.

If you're found eligible, the next step is a planning conversation about your goals and supports - and that's where a provider like us comes into the picture.

The access request form - and the supporting evidence form

The application itself is the Access Request Form. You can ask for one by calling the NDIA on 1800 800 110, through your local area coordinator or early childhood partner, or at an NDIA office - and your partner can fill it in with you.

The medical part is where applications are won or lost. Your treating health professional can complete it in one of two ways: Part F of the Access Request Form, or the NDIA's separate Supporting Evidence Form. Either works - what matters is that it describes the impact on daily life, not just the diagnosis.

How long it takes

The NDIA has 90 days to make an access decision once it has received your application and all the supporting evidence. In practice the clock is often longer than 90 days from the day you start, because gathering reports takes time and the NDIA can ask for more. Two things shorten it: sending everything at once, and answering requests for information quickly.

If the answer is no

The NDIA sends a letter explaining the decision. You have two routes:

• Ask for a review. An internal review looks at the decision again, and it helps to add evidence that answers the reasons given in the letter.
• Apply again if your circumstances change or you have new evidence.

Either way, your NDIS partner can connect you with community and mainstream services in the meantime - and a "no" now is not a "no" forever.

Children under 9

Young children go through the NDIA's early childhood approach rather than the standard access request. An early childhood partner talks with the family first, can connect you to supports straight away, and helps with an application if the NDIS is the right path. You don't need a diagnosis to have that first conversation.

What the NDIS Worker Check is

It's a background check that looks at whether a person poses a risk to people with disability. Every state and territory runs its own screening unit, but the result is a single national clearance. In NSW the unit is the Office of the Children's Guardian, and the service desk is Service NSW.

If you're applying for support work with a registered NDIS provider, expect to need one - your employer will tell you if your role requires it. It's a separate check from the Working With Children Check, and some roles need both.

The three identity documents

You'll show three original, current documents in the same name - one from each group. If your name has changed, bring the evidence of that too.

• Category A - birth certificate, passport, visa, ImmiCard or citizenship certificate
• Category B - driver licence, photo card or passport
• Category C - Medicare card, student ID, bank card, tax notice or a trusted referee report

The four steps

1. Apply online. Lodge the application through your MyServiceNSW account. You'll be asked who your NDIS employer is - list them if you have one. The confirmation email gives you an application number; keep it.
2. Visit a Service NSW centre within 28 days. Bring your application number, the three original ID documents, any name-change evidence, and the fee - $112 for paid workers, nothing for volunteers.
3. The Office reviews it. The Office of the Children's Guardian checks the application and runs the screening.
4. Your employer verifies it. Your NDIS employer gets an email asking them to confirm you work for them, and has 30 days to do it. If you listed more than one employer, only one needs to verify.

What your employer does - and when you can start

Give your employer your application number. Once they've verified your application, talk to them about starting work while it's assessed - the Office allows it, as long as the application has been verified by the employer. Whether that suits the role is your employer's call.

How long it takes

There's no fixed timeframe, and the Office doesn't give one. Most delays come from the same few things: missing or mismatched information, common names, information that has to come from other agencies, and applications that need a closer risk assessment. The fastest applications are the complete ones.

Five years, anywhere in Australia

A clearance is valid for five years. It moves with you: you don't reapply if you change employers, change roles, or move interstate. You can reapply from three months before it expires, and the Office sends email and SMS reminders at three, two and one month out - but there are no extensions, so a late renewal means a gap in when you can work.

The other must-do: the Worker Orientation Module

Alongside the check, every NDIS worker completes the NDIS Commission's free online orientation module. It takes about 90 minutes, and it's worth doing before your first interview - it's the shared language of the sector.

What a plan reassessment is - and isn't

A reassessment looks at all of your supports and can end in a brand-new plan. It's for when life has changed enough that your current plan no longer fits - a new diagnosis, a move, a change in how much support you need day to day.

It isn't the only way a plan changes. If your plan is mostly working and only needs adjusting, the NDIA can make a plan variation instead - no full reassessment needed.

Scheduled reassessments

Every plan has a reassessment date. About 2 to 3 months before it, expect your NDIS contact to get in touch for a check-in - a conversation about how the plan is going and what you'll need next. The NDIA asks you to think ahead: the life changes you're expecting over the next three years, like starting work or moving house.

Asking for one yourself

If something has changed significantly and your plan no longer meets your needs, you don't have to wait for the scheduled date. Since 27 August 2026:

Who can ask

You, your plan nominee or your child representative - nobody else. You can't give a provider consent to ask for you.

How

The NDIA's Plan Reassessment Request Form, saying what's changed and why you need a reassessment.

Evidence

Recent reports - usually from within the last four months - from your health professionals, showing a significant and ongoing change to your support needs.

Where

Through the NDIA's service hub, by mail to NDIA, GPO Box 700, Canberra ACT 2601, or in person to your NDIS contact or local office.

What happens next

Once the NDIA has the information it needs, it makes a decision within 90 days. There are three outcomes:

1. A reassessment - you'll get a new plan, and the NDIA books a plan meeting.
2. A variation instead - your current plan is adjusted.
3. No change - usually because the evidence doesn't show a significant and ongoing change.

An NDIA planner looks at whether each support is related to your disability and will help you work towards your goals - which is why evidence that ties supports to goals matters so much.

How to walk in prepared

The strongest reassessments start weeks before the meeting. A short list worth working through:

• Your goals for the next three years, in your own words - not just the old goals copied across
• What's working, what isn't, and what's changed since the last plan
• Recent reports from therapists and health professionals that show how supports help you towards your goals
• How you've used your funding - and why, if some of it went unused
• Who you'd like with you - a family member, an advocate, or your support coordinator

If you disagree with the decision

If the NDIA makes a decision about your plan that you don't agree with, you can ask for an internal review of the decision. The decision letter tells you how, and by when - read it early. Free, independent advocates can help; our Your rights page lists where to find one.

What the job is

The NDIS puts it simply: support workers help people develop their skills and work towards their goals. Day to day that means personal care, meals, getting out into the community, help around the house and building everyday skills - done with the person, not for them.

You might work in people's homes, out in the community, in group programs or in supported living. Support workers can work for a provider or for themselves, and providers can be registered or unregistered. This guide is about working for a provider. For the honest version of what the days are like, read the job, told straight.

Do you need a qualification?

The NDIS doesn't list a required qualification for support workers. In practice, many employers ask for a Certificate III in Individual Support or something similar - and we do.

Other qualifications count too. Our position description asks for a Certificate III in Individual Support, Mental Health, Aged Care, Community Services, Disability Work or similar.

The checks

Two are NSW clearances, run through Service NSW. The rest are what employers commonly ask for - ours included.

NDIS Worker Check

The national clearance for people working with NDIS participants. If you work for a registered provider, expect to need one. $112 for paid workers, free for volunteers, valid five years. How to get yours, step by step.

Working with Children Check

A separate NSW check for work that involves children. $112 for paid workers, free for volunteers, valid five years. You apply online, then take four identity documents to a Service NSW centre.

Right to work

Australian citizenship, permanent residency, or a visa with work rights.

First aid

A current first aid certificate. Many employers ask for one - our position description does.

Licence and car

Common for community roles, where you drive to people's homes and outings. We ask for a driver's licence and a reliable, comprehensively insured vehicle.

The free training to do first

The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission says every new worker should complete the Worker Orientation Module. It's free, online and takes about 90 minutes.

The Commission also runs a New Worker NDIS Induction Module for people starting in the sector, and we ask our new starters to complete it. Do both before your first interview if you can - they're the shared language of the work.

The rules you work by

Everyone who delivers NDIS supports - registered or not - works under the NDIS Code of Conduct. In short: respect people's right to make their own decisions, respect their privacy, work safely and with care and skill, act with honesty and integrity, and speak up about concerns - including any sign of violence, neglect, exploitation or abuse.

If you want to see those rules from the other side, our page on what people can expect from us puts them in plain words.

Your first role

1. Start the checks. The Working with Children Check can start any time. The NDIS Worker Check needs an employer to verify it, so many people apply once they have an offer.
2. Do the orientation module. About 90 minutes online, free.
3. Think about a Certificate III. If you don't have a relevant qualification yet, it's the one employers ask for.
4. Build some experience. Volunteering, a traineeship or a course placement all count as a start.
5. Apply, and ask questions. A good provider will tell you about training, supervision and the people you'd support.