Do you meet the residence requirements?

Then you must meet the residence requirements. This means:

  • You are an Australian citizen or permanent resident.
  • You live in Australia.

Are you an Australian citizen or permanent resident?

You must be an Australian citizen,  or have one of two visa types that means you can live here.

Do you live in Australia?

You must live in Australia.  This means Australia is your home and you spend most of your time here.

To help us decide, you need to give us evidence to show us you live here. If you give us consent to use your Centrelink record, that usually gives us enough evidence to decide if you live in Australia.

If you don’t give us consent, you need to give us enough information to help us decide that you live in Australia.

You’ll need to answer these questions:

Some of these questions might not apply to you, but we must consider them when we decide whether you live in Australia. 

We may also ask you other questions to determine whether you live in Australia.  For example, your family might be deployed overseas in the Defence Force, meaning you need to leave Australia for a while. In these situations, we’ll ask you for more information about why you’re leaving and can’t return.

If you apply, we look at your whole situation when we decide if there’s enough evidence to show that you live here. This will be a simple decision for us in most situations. But sometimes we may need to look at the questions below.

Where do you live?

We consider where you live, and your living situation.  We’ll look at whether you have more permanent accommodation in Australia than any other country.

For example, you might own a home or have a formal rental agreement in Australia. This is a good sign to us that you live in Australia.

Where is your family?

We also consider where your immediate family lives. 

We look at where you spend most of your time with them, face-to-face. We don’t consider how you connect with your family on the phone or internet.

Do you work in Australia?

If you work, we look at where you normally work or make money.  If you work or make money in Australia, that’s a good sign you live here. If you don’t work or are unemployed we’ll consider the other questions to determine whether you live in Australia.

Do you own property in Australia?

We consider what assets or property you own in Australia. We also see if you have an Australian bank account.

If you own assets or property here, it doesn’t always mean you live in Australia. Your assets or property will need to show you have an ongoing connection to Australia. You don’t live in Australia just because you own assets or property here.

How much time do you spend outside Australia?

We consider how often you go overseas, and how long you’re outside Australia when you travel. We also consider why you travel overseas, such as for work, holiday or to live with family.

This is usually the most important point to help us decide if you live in Australia. You need to show us that you have a long-term and meaningful connection to living in Australia.

You don’t need to stay in Australia all the time. You can still work overseas or go on a holiday.

You will need to show a stronger connection to Australia than other countries if you spend a lot of time overseas.

If we decide you’re eligible and create your plan, there may be times you can’t use your NDIS funding overseas. This is usually after you’re overseas for more than 6 weeks, unless we give you more time.

Learn more about when you can’t use your plan.

This page current as of
27 October 2023
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