What is “disability evidence” for the NDIS?
You may need to provide evidence of your disability or developmental delay when you apply to the NDIS.
Different health practitioners can provide specific evidence to help the NDIS understand your disability and impairments.
The type of evidence they need depends on your disability and impairments.
Different types of NDIS evidence
Evidence from your treating health professional can include:
- completing an NDIS supporting evidence form
- completing the NDIS evidence of psychosocial disability form
- filling in section 2 of the access request form
- providing existing reports, assessments or letters
- writing a letter or email.
NDIS Evidence Forms
Click to download the forms you need:
- Supporting evidence form (PDF)
- Evidence of psychosocial disability form (Word Doc)
- Evidence of psychosocial disability form (PDF)
What kind of disability evidence do you need to provide?
The NDIS call this ‘best practice’ evidence and it means the evidence they need to see in this particular circumstance.
Below find the ‘best practice’ evidence for specific disabilities.
Find best-practice evidence for your disability
Choose a disability below to go straight to the relevant best-practice evidence.
- Acquired brain injury (ABI)
- Autism
- Cerebral palsy
- Hearing impairment
- Intellectual disability, developmental delay, global developmental delay and Down syndrome
- Multiple sclerosis
- Psychosocial disability
- Spinal cord injury
- Stroke
- Vision impairment
- Other disabilities
Acquired brain injury (ABI)
You can gather evidence from your treating health professionals, primarily your ABI health professionals.
Disability evidence in preference order
- Care and Needs Scale (CANS) for 17 years and over
- World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS) 2.0 for 17 years and over
- PEDI-CAT for 16 years and under.
Autism
You can gather evidence from your health professionals, including any member of a multidisciplinary team, such as a:
- paediatrician
- psychologist
- psychiatrist
- occupational therapist
- speech therapist.
Disability evidence in preference order
- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5)
- Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale (Vineland-III)
- World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS) 2.0 for 17 years and over
- PEDI-CAT for 16 years and under.
Cerebral palsy
You can gather evidence from your treating health professionals, including any member of a multidisciplinary team, such as a:
- occupational therapist
- physical therapist
- paediatrician
- physiotherapist.
Disability evidence in preference order
- Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS)
- Other: Manual Ability Classification System (MACS)
- Other: Communication Function Classification System (CFCS).
Hearing impairment
You can gather evidence from your treating health professionals, primarily your audiologist.
Disability evidence in preference order
- Hearing impairment responses and groupings guide for 17 years and over
- PEDI-CAT for 16 years and under
- Other: Hearing acuity score.
Intellectual disability, developmental delay, global developmental delay and Down syndrome
You can gather evidence from your treating health professionals, including any member of a multidisciplinary team, such as a:
- paediatrician
- psychologist
- occupational therapist
- speech therapist.
Disability evidence in preference order
- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5)
- Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale (Vineland-III)
- World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS) 2.0 for 17 years and over or PEDI-CAT for 16 years and under.
Multiple sclerosis
You can gather evidence from your treating health professionals, primarily your neurologist or disease steps trained nurse examiner.
Disability evidence in preference order
- Disease Steps (DS)
- Patient-Determined Disease Steps (PDDS)
- Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS).
Psychosocial disability
You can gather evidence from your treating health professionals, such as a:
- paediatrician
- psychiatrist
- GP
- psychologist.
You can also gather evidence from specialist health professionals, such as:
- clinical psychiatric staff such as mental health or psychiatric nurses, occupational therapists and social workers
- mental health allied health professionals
- Australian Mental Health Outcomes and Classification Network (AMHOCN) trained mental health staff including mental health peer workers.
Disability evidence
You’ll need a statement from a treating health professional, including information about:
- how long they have been working with you
- evidence of the mental health condition (a diagnosis is helpful, if available)
- treatments you have explored and any you have not tried, with reasons
- how your mental health condition impacts on your everyday life (a functional assessment may be helpful).
Functional capacity assessments
You’ll also need a functional capacity assessment. These can be done by your health professional.
They may include:
- Life Skills Profile 16 measure (LSP-16)
- Health of the Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS)
- World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS).
Spinal cord injury
You can gather evidence from your treating health professionals, including any member of a multidisciplinary team, such as a:
- neurologist
- physiotherapist
- occupational therapist
- recreational therapist
- psychologist
- psychiatrist.
Disability evidence in preference order
- Level of lesion
- American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale (AIS)
- World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS) 2.0 for 17 years and over
- PEDI-CAT for 16 years and under.
Stroke
You can gather evidence from your treating health professionals, primarily your neurologist.
Disability evidence
- Modified Rankin Scale (mRS).
Vision impairment
You can gather evidence from your treating health professionals, primarily your ophthalmologist.
Disability evidence in preference order
- Impact of Vision Impairment (IVI) questionnaire for 17 years and over
- PEDI-CAT for 16 years and under
- Other: Visual acuity rating.
Other disabilities
Other disabilities may require evidence from the following health professionals:
- paediatrician
- occupational therapist
- speech therapist
- physiotherapist
- social worker
- GP.
Disability evidence in preference order
- World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS) 2.0 for 17 years and over
- PEDI-CAT for 16 years and under.
