What is a disability-related health support

On this page:

If you need help to manage a health condition caused by your disability, we may fund disability-related health supports to help you manage that condition.

Disability-related health supports can be health equipment, items and services that help you manage or reduce the impact your disability has on your day-to-day life.

This may include funding for:

  • someone to provide you with disability-related health supports, like a nurse or a qualified therapist
  • expert training for people who support you
  • some types of equipment, like continence products, dressings or food products for your PEG
  • some types of assistive technology, such as pressure care cushions or a cough assist machine.

We’ll only fund a disability-related health support if it’s an NDIS support that relates to your disability.

The types of disability-related health supports we may fund include supports for:

  • dysphagia
  • diabetes management
  • continence
  • wound and pressure care for slow to heal wounds
  • respiratory care and planning to help you breathe properly
  • nutrition, including meal preparation
  • podiatry assessment and foot care
  • seizure monitoring and management
  • accessing health or mental health services
  • specialist services following a recently acquired severe condition
  • training for support workers or the people who support you, where appropriate.

The type of services and supports covered by this list may be provided in a range of different ways.

What health supports aren’t funded by the NDIS

Under NDIS laws, we can’t fund services and supports that you can get through the health system and other community and mainstream supports and services. For example, services at public or private hospitals, ambulance transport, medicines, child and maternal health services or palliative care.

This includes supports related to health, such as the diagnostic assessment and clinical treatment of health and dental health conditions, including ongoing or chronic health conditions.

The Australian health system provides health services to treat illnesses or health conditions.

If you need help to manage your health or a health condition you should talk to your doctor first. Your my NDIS contact can also help you connect with other services and supports.

You can ask for disability-related health supports to be included in your NDIS plan at any time. Your my NDIS contact can help you understand the process.

Tip: How to tell if a support may be a disability-related health support.

A good way to tell if the support you think you may need can be funded by the NDIS is to answer yes to these 4 questions:

  • Is the support related to your disability?
  • Is the support value for money?
  • Will the support benefit you and help you to live more independently?
  • Should it be provided by the health system?

How to get disability-related health supports in your NDIS plan

Sep 1: Understand what evidence you need to provide us

To get disability-related health supports in your plan, you need to give us evidence. This helps us understand the disability-related health supports you need.

The type of evidence we need will depend on what disability-related health support you’re asking for.

Your NDIS contact can help you understand what evidence you need to provide.

Step 2: Gather your evidence

The best place to start is by talking to your treating healthcare professional or allied health provider.

If you think you may need an assistive technology disability-related health support, your health provider will follow our assessment template to give us the information we need.

This includes assessments for nutrition and dysphagia and continence-related assistive technology.

For some supports, you might also need to get a quote. We’ll let you know if this is the case.

Learn more about how to gather evidence.

Step 3: Provide your evidence so we can make a decision

You can send your evidence to us by:

We’ll let you know if we need more information, and what we need to make a decision. If your request is approved, the funding will be included in your NDIS plan.

If your request isn’t approved

If we can’t fund a support you asked for in your NDIS plan we’ll let you know why. 

If you don't agree with a decision we make about disability-related health supports, you can ask for an internal review of our decision.

If your situation changes and you think you may need more or different disability-related health support, you can ask for a change to your plan at any time.

Learn more about how to tell us about a change of situation.

When you have disability-related health supports in your plan

Once you have disability-related heath support funding in your plan you can use your funding to get the NDIS supports you need, in line with your plan.

The NDIS supports lists will help you understand what can and can’t be paid for with NDIS funding so you can use your NDIS funds in the right way.

Your my NDIS contact or support coordinator can also help you use your NDIS funding.

Funding for providers to support you

You may have funding included in your plan for a provider to help you with your disability-related health needs.

For example, your funding may be for a registered nurse who can change a urinary catheter or a support worker to provide a feed safely using your PEG.

Funding for training for people who support you

For some disability-related health supports, a support worker, family member or friend may be able to provide your supports.

If someone else can support you with your disability-related health support needs, we may provide funding for a qualified practitioner to train them. For example, a registered nurse can train your support worker, family member or friend to prevent pressure sores and wounds.

The person may be a support worker, family member or friend.

Before they support you they must:

  • be trained by an appropriately qualified health professional
  • be trained for that task specifically for you
  • have experience in that task
  • be competent to provide the support.

Our guidelines

Disability-related health supports

Dysphagia supports

Nutrition supports including meal preparation

Diabetes management supports

Continence supports

Wound and pressure care supports

Podiatry and foot care supports

Related information

This page current as of
7 May 2026
Indicates required field
Was this page useful?*
Why?
Why not?