Your health and safety

COVID-19 is a respiratory illness, with symptoms ranging from a sore throat to pneumonia. Some people recover quickly and easily, and other may get very sick, very quickly.

Good hygiene can prevent infection for most people.

Personal protective equipment (PPE)

You can use your NDIS funds to purchase PPE items when:

you live in an area where a state or territory public health order requires you to wear PPE when you receive supports
you receive at least one hour a day of face-to-face daily living supports
current restricted areas are:
- Victoria - between 29 July 2020 and 31 March 2021
- New South Wales - between 29 July 2020 and 28 February 2021
- a list of restricted areas and dates are in the NDIS Price Guide Addendum.

If you need PPE items like face masks, face shields and gloves you can use your Core supports budget to purchase these items.

Plan and self-managed participants can purchase PPE and record and claim their purchases in the usual way. NDIA-managed participants can purchase PPE through registered providers.

Participants who receive at least 1 hour a day of face-to-face daily living supports can access up to $50 per week from their budget for PPE for their use when their support worker is supporting them.

If you need to purchase face coverings or masks to use outside the home, this is still an everyday expense, and you cannot use your NDIS funds to pay for them.

Generally, the ordinary use of hand sanitiser is a personal expense.

However, if you receive close personal support and find that you are using more hand sanitiser than you would under normal circumstances, you can use your NDIS plan to cover the cost of extra hand sanitiser.

You can use the Low Cost Disability-Related Health Consumables line item in your Core supports budget to purchase hand sanitiser, as you would for PPE like gloves and face masks. Funding the extra cost is a temporary change during the COVID-19 pandemic.

No. NDIS plans are not being adjusted for eligible participants to purchase PPE. Participants should manage PPE purchases from their existing Core supports budget.

You can use the Low Cost Disability-Related Health Consumables line item in your Core supports budget to purchase PPE.

As part of our initial COVID-19 response we made changes to the myplace portal so all participants, no matter how their plan is managed, could use their Core supports budget flexibly to purchase the services and supports they need.

If your circumstances have significantly changed due to COVID-19 please contact 1800 800 110 and select option 5 to discuss your situation.

Yes – but only providers delivering services in restricted areas are able to claim for PPE to support them to meet public health guidelines.

You need to agree to this before your provider can charge you for PPE.

There are price limits for PPE, and your provider can’t claim more than the costs set out in the NDIS Price Guide and Support Catalogue.

A list of restrictions by location and the dates they apply are in the NDIS Price Guide Addendum.

Participant plans won't be automatically adjusted, but plan use will be monitored. If you are concerned about your situation please contact us on 1800 800 110 and select option 5.

You should follow your local public health advice. If the government in your state or territory says that you must wear a mask, you must do so.

Visit your local state or territory health website for advice, as this is often changing:

advice about face masks in NSW
advice about face masks in Victoria
advice about face masks in Queensland
advice about face masks in Western Australia
advice about face masks in South Australia .

The recommendation to wear a face mask does not apply to children (people aged under 12), people with breathing difficulties and anyone who has physical conditions that make it difficult to wear a face mask.

You can also find more information about masks and keeping safe .

Participants are encouraged to use the flexible approach to purchasing low cost AT items to access the disability related supports they need to achieve their goals, for example, downloading or purchasing a translation phone app to assist you engage to the community, using your existing Core supports budget.

It is important to remember that NDIS funding is for disability-related supports, not for everyday or ordinary living expenses.

Health and safety

Participants impacted by COVID-19 will be prioritised to ensure they continue to receive their disability related supports, including any additional supports or funding they need.

Participants in supported independent living (SIL) arrangements who are required to self-isolate or quarantine may be able to claim for related cleaning services and additional supports. For more information contact us by phone 1800 800 110 and select option 5.

If a participant contracts COVID-19, the state or territory health system is the first contact point. The NDIA will work closely with the health system.

We are no longer issuing priority home delivery codes. As restrictions have eased across Australia, previously issued priority home delivery codes are no longer valid.

If you were unable to do your own shopping because of your disability before the COVID-19 pandemic, and your situation is the same now, then delivery fees may be claimable.

You can use the checklist on page 9 of Booklet 3 ‘Using your NDIS plan’ to learn more. If you have questions please talk to your local area coordinator, planner or support coordinator.

If you are unwell, have any COVID-19 symptoms, or are diagnosed with COVID-19, you should tell your employer immediately.

You should talk to your employer about who you have been in contact with at work, and how they can support you during self-isolation.

Just because you need to go into quarantine, this may not mean that the support you are getting from your employer needs to stop.

Think about ways that you can keep working towards your employment goals, and discuss ways that you can work together from home.

If your employer isn’t able to offer services while you are at home, there may be other vocational services other providers might be able to offer.

It is your employers’ responsibility to make sure they are providing a safe workplace and minimising the chance of spreading COVID-19 among their employees.

Information in Easy Read is available for people who work in an Australian Disability Enterprise (ADE):

All states and territories have now moved to COVIDSafe plans however physical distancing and regular hand washing is still important to help stop the spread of COVID-19.

If you are feeling the impact on your mental health and well-being, there are a range of resources available to help.

We have released information packs on:

psychosocial disability – to help people with psychosocial disability and their carers get the most out of their NDIS plan during the pandemic.
mental health and well-being – to help you, your family and carers look after your mental health and well-being.

Information relating to coronavirus (COVID-19) and mental health is available on the Department of Health website .

Additional resources:

Lifeline on 13 11 14
Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800
Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636
Headspace on 1800 650 890
SANE Australia on 1800 187 263
Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467
Australian Government Department of Health 24-hour Coronavirus hotline on 1800 020 080
NDIS on 1800 800 110

If you are in a known outbreak or ‘hotspot’ area, we encourage you to consider what supports are critical to your health and wellbeing and what supports are not critical right now. This may also mean considering how many support workers are needed to keep you safe and reduce the risk of physical injury.

You might like to see how your rostered supports can be staggered throughout the day, to minimise the number of people in the house while also meeting your support needs.

If you live in a shared environment, consider whether the same paid support workers could also assist the other people in your home, while still meeting your needs.

Consider which of your services and supports are non-essential and see whether these can be delivered by telepractice or other means, like email or phone.

You should reconsider all non-critical supports if you are in a known outbreak area in order to maintain physical distancing but consider what technology you can use to maintain social contact with friends, family, providers and the community.

For example, you may continue in-home support from a support worker for day-to-day activities like showering, but stop attending a social program in the community and chat to friends online instead.

Support workers need to comply with their employers’ Work and Health Safety obligations.

If your support workers can’t work with you, your provider should be in touch to organise a replacement worker or carer to help you.

It’s important that you discuss what your essential needs are with your providers, to ensure they are being met.

All NDIS providers are expected to follow NDIS rules, codes and policies.

Transcript for 'My regular support workers can't deliver services to me'

The funding in your core support budget is flexible, so you can use the overall funding in this budget to purchase the disability-related supports you need.

You can decide how to use this funding for day-to-day assistance, to pay support workers to help with everyday tasks like grocery shopping, or daily living tasks.

If your Core support funding is low, we will move the funding in your capacity budget to your Core support budget, so that you can use it flexibly for day-to-day assistance.

We are making more NDIS plans self-managed, so that you can use your funding more flexibly.

Call us on 1800 800 110 if you need to change your plan management arrangements.

Transcript for 'My family usually care for me, but now they can't, what should I do?'

Yes. You can ask your provider to assist you with different disability-related tasks, like helping you with online grocery shopping, or visiting the pharmacy to ensure you have adequate supplies of medication.

Your Core supports budget is the most flexible. In most cases, you can use your funding across any of the Core support categories to ensure you can get the disability-related support you need during this time.

Daily living expenses like groceries, rent, bills (including internet charges) are a personal expense. You cannot use your NDIS funding to pay for day-to-day items.