A draft list of NDIS supports has been proposed by the Australian Government as part of changes to the NDIS Act. Under the proposed Bill Amendment, the changes will provide a framework for improvements to the NDIS. 

The below contains 15 categories of goods and services that are not classified as ‘NDIS supports’, including a description of each category. These supports will not be funded by the NDIS.
 

Day-to-day living costs 

Accommodation and household related: 

• Rent, rental bonds, home deposits, mortgage deposits, strata fees, rental bonds and home deposits. 

• Standard home security and maintenance costs, fencing, gates and building repairs 

• General furniture removal and services, unwanted furniture pick up

 • Pools, pool heating and maintenance, spa baths, saunas, steam rooms 

• General home repairs, general renovations and maintenance. 

• Water, gas, and electricity bills, council rates 

• Water filters, purifiers, or aerators. 

• Electricity generators, solar panels, and batteries 

• Standard household items (dishwasher, fridge, washing machine, non-modified kitchen utensils and crockery, fire alarms, floor rugs, beanbags, lounges, standard mattresses, and bedding), replacement of appliances, including hot water services, solar panels, etc. 

Finance and payments related: 

• Donations, tithes, gifts, and political contributions, 

• Fines penalties, and court-ordered amounts 

• Travel insurance, life insurance, home and contents insurance, car insurance and excess insurance for Novated vehicles (Salary Sacrifice). 

• Superannuation for participants or related parties (exceptions apply for arm’s length Employment arrangements) 

• School / education fees including TAFE and university. 

• Legal costs 

• Child support fees, debt repayments, gift cards 

• Business development costs, business skills development costs 

• Debts, liabilities, and taxes, other than those necessarily incurred in the receipt of supports 

Food, Beverage related:

 • Groceries (except for modified foods required as a result of a person’s your disability e.g. PEG feeding), 

• Fast food services and takeaway food 

• Alcohol 

Lifestyle related:

 • Cigarettes, vapes and smoking paraphernalia, legal cannabis 

• Gambling • Internet services, land line phone, mobile phones, mobile phone accessories, and mobile phone plans and smart phones.

 • Gaming PCs, consoles and games, subscriptions for streaming services

 • Standard toys, balls, racquets, uniforms, membership costs and other costs associated with recreational sports 

• Wedding, honeymoon, funeral, other events. 

• Musical instruments, music production, social media production

 • Tickets to music, theatre, cinema or sporting events, and general conference fees

 • Sex work

 • Sex toys 

• Surrogacy, Menstrual products, IVF

 • Trampolines 

• General play equipment, indoor or outdoor.

 • Membership of a recreational club 

Clothing related: 

• Jewellery, watches (including smart watches)

 • Makeup, cosmetic treatments, wigs, and cosmetics

 • Standard clothing and footwear 

Travel related:

 • Cruises, holiday packages, holiday accommodation, including overseas travel, Airfares, passports, visa, meals and activities.

 • Tickets to theme parks, tourism and entertainment operators

 • Motor vehicles, motorbikes, watercraft, all-terrain vehicles and other recreational vehicles, mechanical repairs, tools, vehicle registration. 

 • Petrol 

Pet Related: 

• Animals (other than approved NDIS funded assistance animals), 

• pet food for animals other than for approved NDIS assistance animals, 

• veterinarian costs, pet boarding, pet grooming, taxidermy, pet cremations/funeral 

Carve outs that may be considered ‘NDIS supports’ for certain participants 

The following day to day living costs may be funded under the NDIS if they relate to reasonable and necessary supports:

 • Additional living costs that are incurred by a participant solely and directly as a result of their disability support needs

 • Services delivered in a gym or recreational club related to the participant’s disability support needs (excluding the cost of membership, entry, or basic equipment). 

• Play equipment where it is specialist sensory equipment could be funded under Assisted Technology 

• Additional insurance costs that arise from modified vehicles 

• Additional costs to upgrade standard household items to household items that include accessibility features 

Not value for money/not effective or beneficial 

Alternative and complementary therapies: 

• Crystal therapy

 • Tarot card reading, Clairvoyants 

• Cuddle therapy 

• Reflexology

 • Aromatherapy 

• Sound therapy 

• Yoga Therapy 

• Wilderness Therapy 

• Alternative or complementary medicine 

Wellness and coaching related:

 • General massage 

• Sports or athletic supplements 

• Life/wellness/career coach/cultural coach

 • Hypnotherapy

 • Neurofeedback

 • Gaming therapy 

• Mastermind coaching

 • Somatic therapy

 • Kinesiology 

Energy and Healing Practices related: 

• Reiki (including intuitive reiki), Scalar Lounge, Frequency Healing and Energy balanced massage, Deep Energy Clearing, Spinal Flow Technique, Shamanic Healing 

Beauty Services related:

 • Hair therapy, hair and beauty services including nail salons 

Carve outs that may be considered ‘NDIS supports’ for certain participants 

• Therapeutic massage that is directly related to a participant’s disability support needs

Mainstream – Health 

 • The diagnosis and clinical treatment of health conditions, including ongoing or chronic health conditions 

• Diagnostic assessments and screening services. 

• Time-limited, goal-oriented services and therapies: 

o where the predominant purpose is treatment directly related to the person’s health status, or 

o provided after a recent medical or surgical event, with the aim of improving the person’s functional status, including post-acute rehabilitation or post-acute care

 • Any pharmaceutical

 • Any equipment or assistive technology prescribed as a result of clinical care, treatment or management from a medical practitioner delivered in the context of clinical care. 

• Acute, subacute, emergency and outpatient clinical services delivered through public or private hospitals. 

• Prescription medicines, non-prescription medicines, biological medicines, vaccines, sunscreens, weight loss products, vitamins, sport and athletic supplements, homeopathic medicines, prescription glasses 

• Nursing services (where related to treatment of a health event) 

• Ambulance services or membership 

• Health transport services 

• Hospital in the home services 

• Sleep consultant services. 

• Health retreats

 • New-born follow-up provided in the health system, including child and maternal health services 

• Palliative care

 Carve outs that may be considered ‘NDIS supports’ for certain participants 

• Disability-related health supports where the supports are a regular part of the participant’s daily life, and result from the participant’s disability. This includes continence, dysphagia, respiratory, nutrition, diabetic management, epilepsy, podiatry and foot care, and wound and pressure care supports. 

• Jointly with other parties, provision of specialist allied health, rehabilitation and other therapy, jointly with health services, to facilitate enhanced functioning and community re-integration of people with recently acquired severe conditions such as newly acquired spinal cord and severe acquired brain injury.

 • Thickeners and nutritional supplements related to disability-related nutrition supports. 

Mainstream – Mental Health 

• Any pharmaceutical 

• Treatment for drug and alcohol dependency, eating disorders, gambling and other addictions. 

• Acute, subacute emergency and outpatient clinical services delivered through public and private hospital mental health services. 

• Supports related to mental health that are clinical in nature, including acute, ambulatory and continuing care, rehabilitation 

• Any residential care where the primary purpose is for inpatient treatment or clinical rehabilitation, or where the services model primarily employs clinical staff 

Carve outs that may be considered ‘NDIS supports’ for certain participants 

• Ongoing psychosocial recovery supports

Mainstream – Child Protection and Family Support  

• Out of school hours care 

• Vacation care, excluding respite. 

• Travel and accommodation for parents with children in OOHC 

• Guardianship services

 • Family therapy 

• Parenting programs

 • Babysitting or nannying services, au pairs

 • Dating or relationship services including VR/match makers/apps

 • Marriage and relationship counselling 

• Statutory child protection services required by families who have entered, or are at risk of entering, the statutory child protection system 

• General parenting programs, counselling or other supports for families, which are provided to families at risk of child protection intervention and to the broader community, including making them accessible and appropriate for families with disability 

• Funding or providing out-of-home care or support to carers of children in out of-home care where these supports are not additional to the needs of children of similar age in similar out-of-home care arrangements 

Carve outs that may be considered ‘NDIS supports’ for certain participants

 • Parenting programs specific to a disability need (could be considered under capacity building supports)

Mainstream – Early Childhood Development

• Childcare fees, including any fees associated with specialist or segregated childcare service models. 

• Teaching aids or supports related to educational attainment • Building modifications for early childhood educational and care settings. 

• Meeting the early childhood education and care needs of a child 

Carve outs that may be considered ‘NDIS supports’ for certain participants 

N/A 

Mainstream – School Education Description 

• Out of school hours care 

• School fees including any fees associated with specialist or segregated schooling models. 

• School uniforms, shoes, lunchboxes, drink bottles or other school equipment unless a specially adapted item is required to address a participant’s functional impairment. 

• Personalised learning or supports for students that primarily relate to their educational attainment 

• Aids and equipment for educational purposes (e.g. modified computer hardware, education software, braille textbooks) 

• Aids and equipment which are fixed or non transportable in schools that enable a student access to education (e.g. hoists)

 • Reasonable adjustment to campuses, including capital works (e.g. ramps, lifts, hearing loops) 

• Services from a person employed at the participant’s school or the relevant department of education for education purposes 

• Textbooks and teaching aids (including alternative formats) • Tutors, scribes • Educational supports associated with home schooling

• School refusal programs

 • School camp fees

 • Transport between school activities 

Carve outs that may be considered ‘NDIS supports’ for certain participants 

• In-kind Personal Care in School and Specialist School Transport 

Mainstream – Higher Education and Vocational Education and Training 

• School fees 

• Any supports for students that primarily relate to their education and training attainment

 • Building modifications to TAFEs and university campuses 

• Services from a person employed at the participant’s higher education facility 

• Learning assistance and aids

 • Teaching assistance and aids 

• Textbooks and teaching aids (including alternative formats)

 • Transport between education or training activities 

• General education to employment transition supports 

Carve outs that may be considered ‘NDIS supports’ for certain participants

 N/A

Mainstream – Employment 

 • Disability Employment Services

 • Work-specific aids and equipment required to perform a job (including modified hardware and software)

 • Reasonable adjustments to access a workplace 

• Work-specific support related to: o recruitment processes, 

o work arrangements or the working environment, including workplace modifications, work-specific aids and equipment, 

o transport within work activities and 

o work-specific support required in order to comply with laws dealing with discrimination on the basis of disability 

• Employment services and programs, including both disability-targeted and open employment services, to provide advice and support to: o people with disability to prepare for, find and maintain jobs o employers to encourage and assist them to hire and be inclusive of people with disability in the workplace (i.e. support, training and resources, funding assistance to help employers make reasonable adjustments, and incentives for hiring people with disability, e.g. wage subsidies)

 Carve outs that may be considered ‘NDIS supports’ for certain participants 

N/A 

Mainstream – Housing and Community Infrastructure  

• The provision of accommodation for people in need of housing assistance, including routine tenancy support 

• Ensuring that appropriate and accessible housing is provided for people with disability, other than participants eligible for specialist disability accommodation (SDA) 

• Ensuring that new publicly-funded housing stock, where the site allows, incorporates Liveable Housing Design features 

• Homelessness-specific services including homelessness outreach and emergency accommodation. 

• The improvement of community infrastructure, i.e. accessibility of the built and natural environment, where this is managed through other planning and regulatory systems and through building modifications and reasonable adjustment where required 

• Postal services 

• Housing subsidies (e.g. rental bonds, mortgage relief and assistance with buying a home)

 • Crisis housing (excluding discharge from hospital, aged care)

 • Mortgage payments. 

• Rental payments 

• Mobile homes, caravans, campervans, tents

 • Purchase of land, or house and land packages 

• Land taxes and levies 

• Council rates and taxes 

Carve outs that may be considered ‘NDIS supports’ for certain participants 

• Medium term accommodation if you have a long-term home you will move into after MTA but you can’t move into your long term home yet because your disability supports aren’t ready and you can’t stay in your current accommodation while you wait for your long term home. • Delivery fees for NDIS supports (e.g. delivery of assistive technology)

Mainstream – Transport  

• Accessible public transport 

• Public transport fares

 • Concessions to facilitate use of public transport 

• Airline lounge memberships

 • Transport costs for pets and companion animals. 

• Transport infrastructure, including road and footpath infrastructure 

• Community transport services

 • Modifications to public transport and taxis 

Carve outs that may be considered ‘NDIS supports’ for certain participants

 N/A 

Mainstream – Justice

• Supports in secure mental health facilities which are primarily treatment focused (clinical in nature) 

• Supervision and monitoring of offenders

 • The day-to-day care and support needs of a person in custody, including supervision, personal care and general supports 

• Pre-sentence psychological and psychiatric reports

 • Secure accommodation facilities where the purpose of this accommodation is to safeguard the community or prevent reoffending, including secure mental health facilities.

 Carve outs that may be considered ‘NDIS supports’ for certain participants

 N/A 

Mainstream – Aged Care 

• Aged care services 

Carve outs that may be considered ‘NDIS supports’ for certain participants 

• Supports for an NDIS participant under the age of 65 who chooses to live in residential aged care and purchase support from an aged care provider 

Unlawful goods and services 

• A support the provision of which would be contrary to: 

o a law of the Commonwealth 

o a law of the State or Territory in which the support would be provided. 

• Assistive technology, vehicle modifications or home modifications that do not meet state and territory laws, the National Construction Code or relevant Australian standards

 • Supports involving restrictive practices that are not authorised in the participant’s state or territory of residence

 • Illicit drugs or other consumable products that are against the law 

• Firearms and weapons 

• Seclusion rooms 

Carve outs that may be considered ‘NDIS supports’ for certain participants

 N/A

Income replacement 

• Income support payments

 • Rent subsidy 

• Loan repayments or buy now pay later payments.

 • Income protection insurance

 • Fringe Benefits for staff or contractors 

• Cryptocurrency, shares, investment products 

Carve outs that may be considered ‘NDIS supports’ for certain participants 

N/A