NDIS Legislation Changes: Securing Support for Additional Impairments – Your Questions Answered

Our Support Coordinator webinar series gives you front-row access to valuable insights directly relevant to your role.

Exploring a new topic each month, these sessions are highly engaging.

They result in many questions being asked of our webinar presenter, Mary Ingerton from Support Coordination Academy.

In this Q&A-style article, Mary answers some of the questions that arose from our August webinar – see a recording below – which explored the topic of NDIS Legislation Changes: Securing Support for Additional Impairments.

Your Webinar Questions Answered

These are the real questions Support Coordinators raised – and the expert guidance provided in response.

1. How do you gather foundational information if a participant doesn't have any documentation from the application process – i.e., if they have an intellectual disability and limited informal supports?

A Support Coordinator can assist a participant to access the documentation they originally submitted as part of their NDIS application via the process detailed on the NDIS website.

2. How do you gather foundational information for disability diagnosis for clients who have been supported in the disability space for, say, 30-plus years when the evidence has been lost and their families are reluctant to redo the disability diagnosis – namely because the assessments are too traumatic?

It is a Support Coordinator’s responsibility to understand the impact of a person’s disability and related impairment/s and the barriers they experience in accessing the supports they need – as this informs the supports a participant requires to pursue their life goals. 

Information can be gained from a number of sources:

  • Family members, friends, the participant, etc. – essentially, anyone who knows the participant and can provide information about how the person’s disability and related impairment/s impact them and create barriers to accessing appropriate supports
  • Previous Support Coordinators who have worked with a participant will likely have copies of reports
  • Any Functional Capacity Assessments (FCAs) that have been completed
  • Any provider within the participant’s support network should have information about the participant’s disability-related support needs

Additionally, see the answer to question no.1.

3. If a participant has a specific goal relating to regular exercise, could this be funded in their plan?

For a support to be funded in a participant’s NDIS plan, it must meet the ‘reasonable and necessary’ decision-making criteria:

  • How does the support relate to the participant’s disability-related support needs?
  • Will the support assist the participant to achieve one or more of their goals?
  • Will the support assist the participant to increase their social and economic participation?
  • Is the support likely to be effective and beneficial and be considered good practice?
  • Would the support be considered value for money?
  • Is the support something the NDIS would reasonably expect the participant’s informal support to provide?
  • Is the support most appropriately funded by the NDIS or another service system? I.e., can the support be provided through a mainstream service or accessed within their community?
  • Does this support fall within the supports the NDIS does not fund?
4. If a participant has not yet received their impairment notice, how easy is it to get this from the NDIA?

Impairment notices only began to be issued to new people accessing the NDIS from January 2025.

If a participant would like clarification of the impairment the NDIS has noted on their profile, they can request this information from the NDIS directly. 

5. Is there a template outlining what information a GP or treating professional needs to provide as evidence for a person to apply for access to the NDIS?

A GP or treating professional must provide the following as evidence:

  • The person has been diagnosed with a disability

The term disability relates to an impairment of body structure or function, a limitation of activities (the tasks a person does) or a restriction in participation (the involvement of a person in life situations). 

  • The disability is directly related to an impairment

The impact of a person’s disability diagnosis is evident by the barriers they face and their reduced functional capacity to complete daily activities.

These include an intellectual, cognitive, neurological, sensory, physical or psychosocial impairment. Note: a person may have one or more related impairments.

  • The impairment is likely to be permanent, requiring lifelong supports from the NDIS.

‘Likely to be permanent’ relates to the permanency (enduring) and ongoing (lifelong) impact of the impairment, not the disability diagnosis.

The impairment may be permanent, even if its impact changes over time. For more, see the following links:

Handy information for GPs and health professionals can be found here.

For other diagnoses, and for the NDIA to acknowledge an impairment is likely to be permanent, a person needs to evidence that all available and appropriate treatment options have been pursued – e.g., clinical, medical, therapeutic, assistive devices, life changes, etc.

Additionally, the NDIA will require evidence from a treating professional that there are no further treatments available that could relieve or remedy the impact of the impairment.

  • The impairment significantly reduces the person’s functional capacity to complete daily activities.

This relates to evidencing how the impairment impacts and significantly reduces the person’s capacity to complete daily activities across at least one of the six domains: communication, socialising, learning, mobility, self-care and self-management.

For more information, refer to the NDIS Operational Guidelines: Applying to the NDIS.

6. Why does the NDIS consider mainstream inclusion as something that it doesn't have to fund?

This is about the sustainability of the NDIS. The NDIS was only ever meant to provide funding for supports that are directly related to a participant’s disability and the impact of their related impairment. 

The NDIS is designed to complement, not replace, existing mainstream services like healthcare, education and community supports. 

7. What if you have a client with multiple impairments connected to a physical disability – does that mean you have to create multiple evidence documents?

No, it does not. A Functional Capacity Assessment (FCA) is a comprehensive and holistic evaluation conducted by an Occupational Therapist (OT) to assess an individual’s ability to perform daily tasks and activities. It identifies strengths, limitations and areas requiring support to enhance independence and quality of life.

This assessment is crucial to inform personalised support plans for an NDIS participant, ensuring they receive the appropriate level of support and funding based on their unique situation and supports needs. 

8. Up to how many diagnoses can a participant have in their profile as part of the NDIS? And does more diagnoses mean more funding?

There is no limit to the number of disability diagnoses and related impairments a person can have on their NDIS profile. 

But for the NDIS to acknowledge a person’s disability diagnosis and related impairment/s, the participant must provide evidence that addresses and meets all the NDIS disability access criteria. 

9. Does the NDIS fund any of the assessment required for a participant who is totally dependent upon the NDIS and does not have the financial means to fund the assessment themselves?

Generally, if an NDIS participant requires an assessment to determine their support needs – e.g., a Functional Capacity Assessment (FCA) – this support would be funded within a participant’s NDIS plan.

10. What would be the one piece of advice you would suggest to try to get a person with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to get an additional psychosocial impairment? A psychiatric diagnosis would be ideal, but they are expensive assessments.

I suggest you explore options available through your health or mental health systems. Within Queensland, the Queensland Centre of Excellence in Intellectual Disability and Autism Health has regular clinics that people with intellectual disability and/or autism can access for free via a referral from their GP.

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