How to get NDIS support for children: steps

How to get started with NDIS support

The first step to NDIS support for your child is contacting the NDIS.

Your GP or child and family health nurse or another health professional might be able to put you in touch with an NDIS representative:

If your child is under 9 years, this will usually be an early childhood partner.
If your child is 9 years or over, this will usually be a local area coordinator.

Or you can call the National Insurance Disability Agency (NDIA) on 1800 800 110. The NDIA is the agency that runs the NDIS. From the NDIA, you can get contact information for NDIS representatives in your area, or the NDIA might organise for one to contact you.

The NDIS representative will contact you to organise a meeting. This is a meeting to help you and your child find services and supports. The meeting might be face to face, by video call, or on the phone.

How to prepare for your NDIS meeting

It’s important to prepare for your meeting with the NDIS representative.

Preparation can help you think clearly about what support you and your child need. It can also help your NDIS representative find the right services and support for your child.

Here are things to think about as you prepare. It’s a good idea to write your thoughts and other information in a notebook or a computer file. This can make it easier to share the information at the meeting. It’s also good to write down your questions.

1. Your child’s strengths, interests and favourite activities

For example, ‘Piper has a great sense of humour and loves her dog and being outdoors with her family’.

2. Your child’s participation in daily and family life

For example, ‘Piper lives with her mama (Jenny) and mum (Pam) and younger brothers (Bailey and Sal). Piper goes to the local primary school’.

3. The reasons your child needs support

For example, ‘Piper has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair’.

4. Your child’s goals

For example, ‘We would like Piper to be able to get to and from school independently’.

Our article on developing NDIS goals can help you with this step.

5. Your child’s current supports and how well they’re working

These include:

mainstream services like child and family health nurses, GPs and teaching aides
community supports like playgroups, library services and sports clubs
informal supports like the help your child gets from you, grandparents or kinship carers.

6. Your family’s situation

You can write a carer’s statement, which explains how your child’s disability, developmental concerns or developmental delay affects you and your family. You can write about your other children, your child’s carers, and your own health, wellbeing, financial circumstances and so on.

What to bring to your NIDS meeting

You should bring the following to the meeting with your NDIS representative:

the information, notes and statements you’ve prepared
information or reports from your child’s health professionals, therapists or teachers, if you have them
proof of your identity and your child’s identity – for example, a passport and driver licence
any questions you have about the process.

You might also like to bring a support person, like a family member, a friend or an advocate.

You might need more than one meeting if there’s a lot to talk about or if your NDIS representative needs you to get additional information or reports from your child’s health and other professionals.

What to expect from your NDIS meeting

At the meeting, your NDIS representative will talk with you about your child and their interests, strengths, needs, goals and current supports.

Your NDIS representative will use this discussion to help you find and get connections, which include mainstream and community services:

Children under 9 years will get early connections.
Children 9 years and over will get community connections.

Your NDIS representative will also talk with you about whether your child might be eligible for the NDIS.

Your NDIS representative will help you find connections, but the connections themselves aren’t funded by the NDIS. All children who need support for development can get connections. Children don’t need to be eligible for the NDIS to get connections.

If your child might be eligible for the NDIS

If your child needs more support than they can get from connections, they might be eligible for the NDIS.

Children under 9 years

Your child might be eligible for the NDIS if they’re:

under 9 years and have a disability
under 6 years and have developmental delay
under 6 years and don’t fully meet the NDIS definition of developmental delay but have developmental concerns.

Children 9 years and over

Your child might be eligible for the NDIS if:

they have a disability that causes a significant impairment that affects their ability to take part in everyday activities
their impairment is permanent or likely to be permanent.

Applying to the NDIS

If you want to apply for your child to join the NDIS, your NDIS representative might use the information you’ve gathered to complete an application to the NDIS during your meeting.

Or you and your NDIS representative might need another meeting to gather more information and evidence for your child’s NDIS application. Your NDIS representative will let you know.

Your NDIS representative will send your child’s application to the NDIA. After the NDIA gets your child’s application, they’ll decide within 21 days. If your child is accepted into the NDIS, your child will get NDIS-funded supports through an NDIS plan.