NDIS reasonable and necessary supports: what are they?
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) funds reasonable and necessary supports for children with disability or developmental delay and adults with disability. The NDIS calls these NDIS supports.
To be considered reasonable and necessary, a support must:
- be related to your child’s disability or developmental delay
- help you or your child pursue the goals in your child’s NDIS plan
- help your child take part in the community
- be value for money
- be likely to work and benefit your child, and be based on evidence
- be an NDIS support
- not be something mainstream services, like health and education systems, or community services could provide
- not be something that you, your family or friends could provide.
Reasonable and necessary supports don’t include day-to-day living costs.
What do reasonable and necessary supports do?
Reasonable and necessary supports help your child and family work towards your child’s NDIS goals. All the NDIS supports in your child’s NDIS plan must be related to your child’s NDIS goals.
In general, reasonable and necessary supports should help your child to:
- learn and practise skills in their everyday life
- build knowledge, skills and confidence
- become more independent
- take part in social and community activities
- look after their health and wellbeing.
How does the NDIA decide what’s reasonable and necessary?
The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) runs the NDIS.
When the NDIA makes decisions about what supports are reasonable and necessary for your child, it uses the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013, National Disability Insurance Scheme Rules 2013 and the NDIS Operational Guidelines.
For a full list of NDIS supports, go to What does NDIS fund?