Justice system

in custody in a correctional facility, for example a prison, remand centre, youth detention centre or secure mental health facility
on remand, awaiting or following sentencing
required by a court order to regularly report to a correctional or community correctional agency, for example on bail, probation or parole
serving a community based order, or are on a leave of absence order or therapeutic leave
under forensic orders, which may include restrictions on your movements or other requirements, such as drug testing or attending prescribed treatment.

The NDIS is responsible for providing disability-related supports to help meet your needs while you’re involved in the justice system.

State justice systems are responsible for:

imposing conditions on any individual, who may be considered a risk, while in the community
law enforcement and ensuring any participant released from a justice setting complies with any supervised orders or conditions that may be in place
taking action should someone re-offend or be considered a risk of re-offending
protecting other people if a participant has a known criminal history.

We have a guideline about the justice system , which explains what we consider and how we make decisions based on the legislation.

Justice Liaison Officers

The NDIA has a network of Justice Liaison Officers (JLOs). JLOs work with each state and territory government agency to support people with disability while they are in custody and when transitioning back into the community.

The JLOs can:

work with mainstream justice services to help a person to access the NDIS
help people with disability access the supports they need while in custody and when transitioning back into the community
proactively respond to enquiries and resolve any barriers between the NDIS and mainstream services
provide education and promote a best practice approach.

JLOs can provide support across the NDIS pathway, including access, developing an NDIS plan, using your funded supports and making any changes.

Supporting access

During the NDIS access process, JLOs can:

help others understand the NDIS access process, including consent requirements
provide help and review with supporting evidence as part of an access request
submit access requests and monitor the status of applications, including prioritising requests
explain NDIS decisions
where access is met, support progression to the planning stage.

JLOs can help connect those who are not eligible for the NDIS to local community and mainstream supports.

Planning, implementation, monitoring and reassessment

JLOs ensure planning, implementation and reassessment occurs at the right time. They support participants while in custody and when transitioning to the community.

JLOs work with internal and external stakeholders to make sure a participant’s NDIS plan meets their disability-related needs.

Justice panel

While disability supports may be crucial in reducing the risk of re-offending, the NDIS is designed to only fund disability-related supports.

Criminal matters, including post-release supervision, remain a matter for state judicial systems.

In some instances, the line between the two systems has become blurred. There needs to be greater accountability in place to ensure the NDIS is not replacing justice supports.

The NDIS justice panel examines the management of prisoners exiting jails who have been identified as current or potential participants in the NDIS.

The Panel will identify the role of other service systems, including:

state housing
law enforcement
corrections agencies.

This will help ensure appropriate supports are in place to manage community safety concerns and the risks of re-offending.

Find out more about the justice panel and its members.

More information

For more information on supporting people with disability in the justice system, visit: