Plain English
NDIS words, explained.
The NDIS runs on acronyms. You should not have to learn them before you can ask for help, but here they are anyway.
Cannot find a word? Call us on 0414 851 688 and ask. We will not make you feel silly for asking.
A to Z
The words you will actually hear
Access request
Asking the NDIS to become a participant. You fill in a form, provide evidence from a doctor or specialist, and the NDIA decides whether you are eligible.
Advocate
Someone who speaks up for you, or helps you speak up for yourself. Advocacy organisations are free and independent of your provider.
Capacity building
Support aimed at helping you learn to do something yourself, rather than having it done for you. Learning to cook, catch a bus, or manage your own money.
Core supports
The most flexible part of your funding. Usually pays for day-to-day support: personal care, household help, and getting out into the community.
Capital supports
Funding for equipment, home modifications, or Specialist Disability Accommodation. Not flexible: it can only be spent on the specific thing it was approved for.
Cancellation, short notice
Cancelling a shift with less than the required notice. Providers are allowed to claim the full amount for these, which is why the notice period is worth knowing.
Line item
A specific support in the NDIS Price Guide, with its own code and maximum price. Your invoices are made up of line items.
LAC (Local Area Coordinator)
A partner organisation that helps you understand the NDIS, apply, and use your plan. Free, and not a provider.
MTA (Medium Term Accommodation)
Somewhere to live for up to 90 days when you have a long-term home confirmed but cannot move in yet.
NDIA
The National Disability Insurance Agency. The government body that runs the NDIS, decides eligibility and approves plans.
NDIS Commission
The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. Separate from the NDIA. It registers providers, handles complaints and can investigate. Call 1800 035 544.
NDIS number
Your unique participant number. Providers need it to claim for your support.
Nominee
Someone formally appointed to make NDIS decisions on your behalf.
Plan-managed
A plan manager pays your invoices for you and keeps track of your budget. The NDIS funds this separately, so it does not come out of your support budget.
NDIA-managed
Also called agency-managed. The NDIA pays providers directly. You can only use NDIS-registered providers.
Self-managed
You receive the funding and pay providers yourself. The most flexibility, and the most paperwork. You can use unregistered providers.
Plan review
A meeting to look at how your plan is going and decide what your next plan should contain. Usually annual, and you can ask for one earlier if things change.
Positive behaviour support
A planned approach to behaviours of concern that focuses on understanding why they happen and changing the circumstances around them.
Price Guide
The NDIS document setting the maximum a provider can charge for each support. Providers can charge less, never more.
Reasonable and necessary
The test the NDIA applies to decide whether to fund a support. It must relate to your disability, represent value for money, and be likely to help.
Registered provider
A provider assessed and registered by the NDIS Commission against the NDIS Practice Standards. Hope Harbour is a registered provider.
Roster of care
A week-by-week plan of who supports you, when, and for how long. Used to quote Supported Independent Living.
SDA (Specialist Disability Accommodation)
Purpose-built or modified housing for people with very high support needs. This is the building, not the support in it.
Service agreement
The written agreement between you and your provider: what they will do, when, what it costs, and how either of you can end it.
SIL (Supported Independent Living)
Support to live in a shared home. This is the staffing, not the house.
STA (Short Term Accommodation)
Respite. Up to 14 days at a time somewhere else, including support, meals and activities.
Support coordinator
Someone funded in your plan to help you understand it, find providers, and put it into action. Independent of your support provider.
Worker Screening Check
A national clearance every NDIS worker in a risk-assessed role must hold. Checked against criminal history and misconduct records, and monitored continuously, not just once.
Still confused?
Ring us and ask. That is genuinely what we are here for.
No question is too basic. Most people who call us have not read a Price Guide in their lives, and they should not have to.