The main criteria when it comes to applying to the NDIA is providing evidence of your (or your child’s) disability.
You meet the disability requirements if the NDIA has evidence of all of the following:
- Your disability is caused by an impairment (a loss of or damage to your body’s function or structure)
- Your impairment is likely to be permanent
- Your permanent impairment substantially reduces your functional capacity (your ability to perform daily tasks and activities across areas like mobility, self-care, and communication, specifically assessing how your disability restricts these actions) to undertake one or more of the following activities:
- moving around
- communicating
- socialising
- learning
- undertaking self-care
- self-management tasks
- Your permanent impairment affects your ability to work, study, or take part in social life
- You’ll likely need support under the NDIS for your whole life.
Evidence of my disability
To meet the disability requirements, the NDIA needs evidence that your disability is linked to at least one of the impairments below:
- Intellectual – how you speak and listen, read and write, solve problems, and process and remember information
- Cognitive – how you think, learn new things, use judgment to make decisions, and pay attention
- Neurological – how your body’s nervous system functions
- Sensory – how you see or hear
- Physical – the ability to move parts of your body
You may also be eligible for the NDIS if you have a psychosocial disability that means you have reduced capacity to do daily life activities and tasks due to your mental health.
It also doesn’t matter if you have one impairment or more than one impairment.
Who can provide evidence of my disability?
You can work with your treating health professionals to provide evidence of your disability.
Examples of common treating health professionals include:
- General Practitioner (GP)
- Paediatrician
- Orthopaedic surgeon
- Occupational Therapist
- Speech Pathologist (Therapist)
- Neurologist
- Psychologist
- Psychiatrist
- Physiotherapist
See this page for more detail: Health professionals who can provide evidence
The treating health professional who provides evidence of your disability should:
- be the most appropriate person to provide evidence of your primary disability; and
- have treated you for a significant period of time (e.g. at least six months).
What other evidence do I need?
- Proof of your disability – depending on your disability, the NDIA outlines the diagnostic criteria and which criteria list applies.For example: Autism must be diagnosed by a specialist multi-disciplinary team, paediatrician, psychiatrist or clinical psychologist and assessed using the current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) diagnostic criteria.
- Substantiating evidence – if you fall under List B, you may need additional reports, assessments, and letters from allied health professionals that outline the impact your disability has on functional capacity. This is especially important if a child is diagnosed as Level 1 under DSM-V criteria. 10 steps to excellent NDIS therapy reports
- Supporting documents – a carer statement, letters from informal supports and/or school that describe the impact the disability has on functional capacity. Tips on how to write a carer statement
What happens next?
When it comes to providing evidence, the more evidence you can provide to the NDIA during the application and planning meeting stage (especially if your disability is not listed under List A), the better chance you have of getting the outcomes you are after.
For more details on the NDIS application process, visit: NDIS toolkit: Applying to the NDIS .
Once your NDIS application is approved, the documentation you’ve gathered will also help in the next phase of planning. The NDIS will require evidence when you discuss what supports you would like funded. Use: NDIS toolkit: Preparing for your planning meeting once your application has been approved.
