The NDIS is how the Commonwealth Government provides support to Australians with disability, their families and carers. It is administered by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA). The NDIA makes decisions about whether someone is eligible to become an NDIS participant and, if so, how much funding they will receive. Eligibility is focused on lifelong, functional impairment.
For children who are NDIS participants, funding is allocated to the child with their family, carer or advocate, who choose who they will purchase services from and when, and where and how they will receive services.
The NDIS does not fund services that are reasonable and necessary for children to participate in education. These remain the responsibility of the Department of Education (the department).
For an Easy English version of the NDIS and your child's school, download: The NDIS and your child at school (PDF, 561KB).
For more information, visit the NDIS website(opens in a new window) or call 1800 800 110.
Accessing the NDIS
People who are eligible for the NDIS will be supported to apply by a local area coordinator or early childhood partner.
NDIS partners can help families learn about and access the supports available in their community and supports available through the NDIS.
For more information, see Apply to the NDIS or call 1800 800 110.
For children younger than 9
The early childhood approach is how the NDIS supports children younger than 6 with developmental delay or children younger than 9 with disability and their families to access the right support when they need it.
Children younger than 6 do not need a diagnosis to get support through the early childhood approach where there are concerns about their development.
The early childhood approach was developed based on evidence-based research with the help of leading experts in early childhood intervention.
The approach supports best practice in early childhood intervention because it helps the child and family to build their capacity and supports greater inclusion in community and everyday settings, meaning each child will be provided with opportunities to grow and learn.
The NDIS funds early childhood (EC) partners to deliver the early childhood approach. Early childhood partners are local organisations that help parents and carers to get the supports their children need.
For more information, see early childhood approach.
For children aged 9 and over
The NDIS supports children older than 9 through local area coordinator (LAC) partners.
LACs will work with you to understand your child’s needs and connect you to mainstream and community supports in your area. They can also help you see if the NDIS is right for your child.
For more information, see LAC partners in the community.
To find EC and LAC partners in your area, visit: the Offices and contacts in your area page on the NDIS website or phone 1800 800 110.
Providing information on your child's disability
When you apply for the NDIS you will need to provide information about your child's disability or their need for early intervention. Your child's school may be able to help with this by providing existing documentation including:
- copies of applications for the Program for Students with Disability (PSD) program
- Disability Inclusion Profiles
- individual education plans (IEP)
- reports from student support services or allied health practitioners.
Schools can only provide information that already exists, they cannot arrange for new assessments or reports.
You do not have to tell the school that your child is an NDIS participant or ask for copies of supporting information if you do not want to.
Support in schools
Schools are responsible for supports for your child's learning at school, including:
- teaching, learning assistants and other supports such as Auslan interpreters
- general support, resources and training for teachers, tutors and other staff
- therapy delivered in schools for education or training purposes, such as allied health practitioners
- aids and equipment to make the curriculum accessible, such as modified computer hardware, software and Braille textbooks
- school building modifications such as ramps, lifts and hearing loops
- transport for educational or training activities such as excursions, field trips and sporting carnivals.
If your child is an NDIS participant this will not affect any extra support they get at school to support their education. This includes support your child may be getting if they are eligible for Disability Inclusion or the Program for Students with Disabilities (PSD).
PSD is one of the supports available to help schools meet the needs of eligible students with disability and high needs who attend Victorian government schools. Disability Inclusion is the new funding and support model for students with disability. It is being introduced over a staged rollout between 2021 to 2025 and will progressively replace the PSD.
For more information, see Disability Inclusion Funding and Support and Program for Students with Disabilities (PSD).
Supports the NDIS is responsible for
The NDIS is responsible for support your child gets for their disability to help with their daily lives, for example:
- equipment that needs to be transported such as a wheelchair or personal communication devices
- therapies a family and school have agreed may be delivered during school time but are not for educational purposes
- specialised training of teachers and other staff about the specific personal support needs of a student with a disability
- personal care and support
- transport to and from school and specialist transition supports to and from school to further education, training or employment.
The department will continue to deliver Personal Care in Schools (PCIS) and student transport (through the Students with Disabilities Transport Program) in-kind until the end of the 2024 school year, while future arrangements are decided.
The NDIS will not pay for school costs that are not related to your child's disability, for example:
- school uniforms
- course fees.
NDIS Navigators
NDIS Navigators work in Victorian government specialist schools. They will help parents/carers in those schools to get the most out of the supports available for their child.
NDIS Navigators will provide free and direct support to help parents/carers to:
- navigate and understand the NDIS
- apply for and access NDIS funded supports for their child
- understand activities like a plan reassessment
- find out how to raise issues about their child’s plan or with a provider through appropriate channels.
For more information, visit NDIS Navigators or contact the NDIS & Strategic Projects Unit at ndisnavigators@education.vic.gov.au
NDIS funded therapy and schools
You may want your child's NDIS therapist to work with them while they are at school, for example to:
- observe your child in the classroom or in the school environment
- attend a student support group meeting, to monitor and tailor the support they provide to your child
- deliver your child's therapy at school in person or virtually.
The principal will decide if it's safe and practical for your child to have NDIS therapy at school. They'll consider:
- your child's individual circumstances
- whether having NDIS therapy at school will affect your child's learning
- the safety of all students
- where NDIS therapy can take place.
If you make a request for NDIS therapy at school:
- You need to discuss your request with the principal.
- You need to complete a consent form and a request form.
- The principal will decide whether to approve your request and will let you know.
- If approved, a meeting will be held to discuss practical arrangements. This will include you, the school and your child's therapist.
If your request is approved your child's therapist will also need to sign relevant forms and work agreements with the school. These agreements apply to anyone carrying out private business on school grounds. They do not relate to the NDIS service agreement between you and your child's therapist.
You will be responsible for letting your child's therapist know:
- the agreed times and conditions for therapy
- occasions when therapy cannot take place. This may be because your child is absent or other school activities are taking place.
You will also be responsible for letting the school know:
- if your child stops getting therapy or you change therapy providers
- how therapy is going.
If your child is getting NDIS therapy they can still use the school therapy programs. Programs may include:
- the visiting teacher service
- student support services.
The department has prepared guidelines to assist parents and carers and therapists to understand the issues a school must consider when responding to these requests, and the process for making a request.
These guidelines are available on the department’s Policy and Advisory Library. See: NDIS funded therapy in schools.
Personal care in schools
Your child may need personal care assistance at school to support their activities of daily living. This may include help with:
- toileting
- eating and drinking
- dressing
- moving around
- complex health or medical support.
Personal care is currently provided by school staff. This arrangement will continue until the end of the 2024 school year. The department will continue to work with the Commonwealth to agree future arrangements.
If your child is an NDIS participant and gets personal care it will be in their NDIS plan. When you see ‘personal care in school’ support in your child’s NDIS plan, it’s only there to show that you get the service. You do not need to use your NDIS funds to pay for this service, and you can’t manage it yourself.
You do not need to pay anyone for your child's personal care at school and you cannot use the money in your child's plan for a different personal carer.
Students with Disabilities Transport Program (SDTP)
If your child gets support under the SDTP nothing will change for your child until at least the end of the 2024 school year. The department will continue to fund and provide the program until then.
If your child gets support under the SDTP and is an NDIS participant, school transport will appear in their plan as an in-kind item. When you see student transport in your child's NDIS plan, it's only there to show that you get the service.
You do not need to pay anyone for this service, and you cannot use the money for a different transport provider.
The department is working with the Commonwealth to confirm how school transport for children with disabilities will be delivered in the future.
For more information refer to the Students with Disability Transport Program.
School leaver employment supports
The NDIS funds a range of post-school supports to help young people with disability to move from school into employment or other options, for example:
- social and community participation
- building life and work skills
- mobility or communication technology
- finding and maintaining a job.
Visit School leaver employment supports for more information.
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