National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is an Australia-wide scheme to support people aged 0 to 65 years with permanent and significant disability.
Through the NDIS, people with disability will be able to access "reasonable and necessary" supports to achieve their personal goals. Reasonable and necessary supports are those that help participants to live an ordinary life - that is, to build their skills and abilities so they can engage in education, employment and community activities.
The NDIS gives participants and their families more choice and control over their disability supports and how those supports are provided.
The NDIS is managed by the National Disability Insurance Agency, or NDIA. The NDIA is responsible for determining eligibility for the scheme and for developing personalised support plans for participants.
If your child becomes a participant in the NDIS, they will have an individual plan that lists their goals and the funding they have received to purchase supports and services that will help to achieve their goals.
How will our local school work with the NDIS to help support my child?
Contacting the NDIS
If you would like to see if your child is eligible for support from the NDIS, your local school can help you get in touch with the Local Area Coordinator.
You can also contact the NDIS directly, by phone, an online contact form, or visiting your local NDIS office.
The school can add to your application by giving you any existing information they have about your child - for example, personalised learning plans and school-based assessments of your child’s educational needs - which you can request.
However, the school is not required to complete new assessments or produce new reports for the NDIS application process.
NDIS-funded service providers at school
Some young people with disability benefit from allied health and specialist therapies, like physiotherapy, speech pathology and occupational therapy.
In most cases, these therapies can be delivered at home or in a therapist’s office. Some therapies may be best delivered in school during school time.
Schools work with both parents and carers and allied health providers to meet the needs of students and support their learning and development.
This may include sharing information about the student and what activities might work best to support them. In some cases, where it is suitable, this may mean working directly with the provider in the classroom.
If your child is being supported by the NDIS, there may be times when you can ask for an NDIS-funded service provider to work with your child at your local school.
The school’s principal makes the decision if and when these services can be provided during school hours, and will make sure that the flow of the school day is not interrupted.
The principal's decision will consider the educational needs of your child, the impact on your child's learning programs, the school’s operational requirements and duty of care obligations towards all students and staff
You can also share your child’s NDIS goals and aspirations plan with your school, so it can be used to help to form the personalised learning and development for your child. You do not have to share your child’s NDIS Plan with the school if you do not want to.
More information on how to request NDIS-funded services to be delivered at school is available in this Parents and Carers NDIS Fact Sheet.
Video: Public schools and the NDIS
Duration: 3:37 min
Assistance with resolving NDIS-related issues
You may approach your school with questions about the NDIS or for help to resolve NDIS-related issues. This may include contacting the NDIS, a Local Area Coordinator or Early Childhood partner on your behalf to try and resolve an issue relating to the NDIS . The department has NDIS Coordinators to support schools resolve NDIS issues and escalate matters to the NDIA if required.
A parent/carer consent form is available in various community languages. This allows nominated school and department representatives to share information with the National Disability Insurance Agency, NDIS Local Area Coordinator or NDIS Early Childhood partner on matters directly related to your child’s access to the NDIS, NDIS planning and reviews or your child’s NDIS-funded supports and services.
You can make a complaint directly to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission about a NDIS-funded service. The NDIS Commission can be contacted as follows:
- Phone: 1800 035 544
- Text Telephone: TTY 133 677
- Translating and Interpreting Service: 131 450
- National Relay Service and ask for 1800 035 544
- Online complaint form
- Mail: PO Box 210, Penrith NSW 2750
If you feel comfortable, you should first speak to the NDIS service provider if you are unhappy with the service. If you are still unhappy after speaking with the service provider, you can contact the NDIS Commission. You can also contact the NDIS Commission in the first instance.
You can also contact the following organisations if you have concerns about services delivered by a NDIS provider:
NSW Ombudsman
Telephone: 02 9286 1000 or 1800 451 524 (outside Sydney metro)
Email: nswombo@ombo.nsw.gov.au
Address: HSBC Centre, 24/580 George St, Sydney NSW 2000
Fair Trading NSW
Telephone: 13 32 30
Address: 12 Darcy Street, Parramatta NSW 2150
Commonwealth Ombudsman
Telephone: 1300 362 072
Commonwealth Ombudsman Website
