NDIS Terms

Legislation

The NDIS is established by the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (NDIS Act).

Governance

The Commonwealth Minister administers the NDIS Act, and the Disability Reform Ministerial Council makes policy decisions. The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) administers the scheme and is governed by a Board.

Quality and Safeguards Commission

The Quality and Safegaurds commission registers and regulates NDIS providers, monitors compliance, and responds to concerns and complaints.

NDIA

The NDIA manages scheme funds, administers access to the scheme, and approves payment of support packages.

State and territory legislation

This refers to the State legislation that can impact how services are delivered or funded.

Co-morbidity

This refers to the occurrence of more than one disorder at the same time. It may refer to co-occurring mental health issues or co-occurring mental health issues and physical or intellectual conditions. The term co-morbidity is generally no longer used—the preferable terms are co-existing or co-occurring.

Mental health condition

This refers to symptoms that may be caused by life events or genetic factors. They can be temporary or lifelong and include mood, anxiety, personality, psychotic, and compulsive disorders. Mental health condition is an interchangeable term that also refers to a mental health issue. This term is encouraged to be used rather than mental illness.

Mental health issue

This is an interchangeable term to refer to psychiatric impairment and mental health condition. This term is encouraged to be used rather than mental illness

Mental illness

This is an interchangeable term to refer to mental health condition. The term mental illness can be found offensive by people living with mental health issues, their families and carers

Psychiatric condition

This is an interchangeable term to refer to mental health condition. 'Psychiatric' is a term related to mental health professionals and associated establishments.

Psychiatric diagnosis

This is an interchangeable term to refer to psychiatric impairment. Can be found offensive.

Psychiatric impairment

This is an interchangeable term to refer to psychiatric diagnosis. Can be found offensive.

Psychosocial disability

This term is used to describe a disability arising from a mental health condition or conditions. Not everyone who has a mental health condition will have a disability, but for those who do, it can be severe and longstanding and it can have a significant impact on someone's life and potential recovery. Psychosocial disability is the term preferred by people living with mental health issues, families, and carers.
'Psychosocial disability' is an internationally recognised term under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and is used to describe what is often the outcome for a person with a mental health condition attempting to interact with a social environment that presents barriers to their equality with others.
Psychosocial disability may also describe the experience of people with impairments and participation restrictions related to mental health issues such as the loss of or reduced abilities to function, think clearly, experience full physical health and manage the social and emotional aspects of their lives.

Carer

This term is commonly used by services and governments to describe a person who provides unpaid support to an individual who needs help. A carer may be, and will continue to be, either the person's wife, husband, partner/significant other, parent, neighbour, friend or, in some cases, their child or children.

Consumer

This term refers to a person who is 'living with' a mental health issue and is currently using, or has previously used, a mental health service.

Consumer/peer advocate

This term refers to a person who has been asked by an individual living with a mental health issue to speak on their behalf and represent their concerns. A consumer or peer advocate seeks the outcomes desired by the individual. Although government and others may give power to advocates, such advocacy is tokenistic unless it is directly accountable to the consumer.

Consumer/peer/lived experience representative

This term refers to a member of a government, professional body, industry or non-government organisation committee who attends or contributes to a single meeting or series of meetings to provide views on behalf of people living with mental illness or family or friends supporting someone living with mental illness. This person is nominated by, and is accountable to, an organisation of peers. The role of a consumer/peer/lived experience representative is to provide a lived experience perspective.

Correspondence nominee

This refers to a person appointed to act on behalf of an NDIS participant in relation to activities under the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (NDIS Act) that do not relate to their NDIS plan. For example, a correspondence nominee may receive copies of mail or make enquiries on behalf of the participant. An appointment of a correspondence nominee may be made at the request of the participant or by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA).

Nominee

This term refers to a person who is able to act on a participant's behalf as a correspondence nominee or a plan nominee (or both) for the purposes of the NDIS.

Participant

This is an NDIS specific term that refers to a person who becomes a participant in NDIS once the NDIA determines they satisfy the access criteria.

Plan nominee

This term refers to a person who is appointed by a delegate of the CEO of the NDIA, or at the request of the participant, to assist in the development, preparation, review or replacement of a participants' NDIS plan or the management of the funding for supports under the person's plan.

Clinical recovery

This term refers to the elimination or improvement of symptoms of a mental health issue through the treatment of impairments.

Mental Health Sector definition of recovery

This term refers to a deeply personal, unique process of changing one's attitudes, values, feelings, goals, skills or roles. It is a way of living a satisfying, hopeful and contributing life. Recovery involves the development of new meaning and purpose as one grows beyond the catastrophic effects of mental health issue/s.

NDIS definition of recovery

This term refers to the achievement of an optimal state of personal, social and emotional wellbeing, as defined by each individual, whilst living with or recovering from a mental health issue.

Personal recovery

This term refers to living a satisfying, hopeful, contributing life within the limitations caused by the mental health issue.

Wellbeing

This term refers to the state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief or economic and social condition.

Impairment

This term refers to any loss or abnormality of psychological, physiological or anatomical structure or function. Impairment is the loss or damage to mental function resulting from the condition or diagnosis of symptoms.

Likely permanence of impairment

This term refers toa permanent impairment is an impairment for which there is no known, available or appropriate evidence-based treatment or intervention that may remedy the impairment. While an individual's mental health condition may be episodic, the impairment/s as a result of the mental health condition may still be considered permanent.

Substantially-reduced functional capacity

This term refers toan inability to effectively participate in or complete a task (much more than a person experiencing difficulty with task completion). This is considered in an age-appropriate context. The reduction must be within one or more of the six legislative (NDIS Act 2013, S24(1)) domains; social interaction, communication, learning, mobility, self-care, and/or self-management. For a reduction to be considered substantial within a domain there must be an inability to effectively function within the whole or majority of the domain, not just a singular activity.

Continuity of supports

This term refer to people who do not meet the NDIS access requirements, but were accessing a disability or mental health service before applying to become an NDIS participant, will continue to receive support consistent with their current arrangements. This arrangement has been agreed to by the Commonwealth Government and all states and territories. (mental health specific term) means linkage of components of individualised clinical treatment and care across health service agencies according to individual needs.

Informal support

This term refer to an individual's network of support or assistance from family, carers, friends, neighbours and members of the community. People providing informal support are not paid for the care they provide.

Lived experience/peer worker

This term refers to a person who is employed in a role that requires them to identify as being, or having been a mental health consumer or carer. Peer work requires that lived experience of mental illness is an essential criteria of job descriptions, although job titles and related tasks vary.

Mainstream services

This term refers togoods, services, supports and assistance available for the general community which are not provided by the NDIS—for example services provided by health and education.

Mental health service

This term refers to a specialised service that provides assessment, treatment and clinical support for people experiencing mental health issues. Mental health services may be delivered either publicly or privately. They include both inpatient and community-based services. A mental health service may include: (1) a hospital—but only to the extent the hospital provides clinical treatment or care to people who have or may have a mental health issue ; (2) a community mental health service or (3) any service, or any service in a class of service, prescribed by the regulations for this definition.

Supports

This term refers toservices, assistance and products required by an NDIS participant to address the impact of a disability. Supports can include mainstream services, assistance from family, carers, friends and NDIS funded items such as supports to access employment support.

Psychosocial support

This term refers to support provided to enable people to live or remain in the community as opposed to clinical treatment or medication. Psychosocial support can refer to support provided by non-clinical but trained mental health workers and peer workers, and as one to one support or in groups. This type of support may be considered within the range of supports offered in an NDIS plan.

Reasonable and necessary

The term 'reasonable' means something fair and 'necessary' means something you must have. The NDIS funds reasonable and necessary supports relating to a person's disability to help them achieve their goals and meet their needs.

Care coordination

This term refers to care coordination services providing a single point of contact (via a Care Facilitator) for people (and their families/carers) with lived experience of mental health issues and complex care needs. Care Facilitators will be responsible for ensuring all of the patient's clinical and non-clinical care needs, as determined by a nationally consistent assessment tool, are being met. Also known as care/case manager or key worker. Key features are: (1) The principal service provided is the coordination of access to a range of services required by the individual; and (2) Where other support services are delivered, they are incidental to the principal care coordination role. Within the NDIS the terms 'care coordination' and 'support coordination' are often used interchangeably, however, they have distinct meanings.

Local Area Coordinator

This an NDIS specific term that refers to local organisations that are working in partnership with the NDIA to help participants, their families and carers access the NDIS. An LAC will (1) provide assistance to participants with less complex needs to connect to their local community and help them put their NDIS plan into action; (2) rovide short-term help to people with disability who are not eligible for the NDIS to help them find community based activities or resources; and (3) work with the community to develop activities that with benefit all people with disability.

Planner

This an NDIS specific term that refers to an NDIA employee who can make planning decisions. They work with participants and planning partners to determine current and future supports that will enable participants to achieve their goals and aspirations and enable better outcomes. They also support participants to access the NDIS by facilitating the completion of their first plan and review of their subsequent plans.

Support Coordination

This an NDIS specific term that refers to the assistance provided to strengthen participants' abilities to coordinate and implement supports in their plans and to participate more fully in the community. Also known as 'Coordinator of Supports'. Support Coordination may include: (1) initial assistance to link participants with providers; (2) coordination of funded, mainstream and community supports; (3) building on informal supports and resolving points of crisis; (4) parent training and developing participant resilience in their own network community and (5) developing participant capacity for social and economic participation.

Specialist Support Coordination

This an NDIS specific term that refers to all the activities outlined in 'Support Coordination' but addresses situations where it is appropriate to have a specialist deliver Support Coordination-style activities—necessitated by specific high-level risks in the participant's situation.

Support Connection

(NDIS specific term) a time limited service focused on enabling a participant to connect to supports in their plan. The word 'connection' is appropriate for a support that assists participants to establish arrangements with funded providers and to build a network of informal and mainstream supports. Support Connections primarily focus on helping a participant to begin implementing their plan by assisting them to:
 identify options (funded, mainstream and in informal networks)
 investigate options
 understand funding flexibility
 reach decisions regarding services
 reach agreement with providers
 commence services and ensure new support arrangements thrive.

Care plan

This term refers to a legal document that outlines the support services and interventions a participant needs to achieve their goals and live independently. It is a colaborative written statement developed between the participant, their support team, and their NDIS service providers for individuals which states the nursing and other interventions to be undertaken, the health outcomes to be achieved that align with their goals and the review of care which will occur at regular intervals. Care plans can be subject to reassessment in addition to regular reviews to ensure they remain relevant and responsive to the participant's changing needs.

NDIS participant plan

This term refers to a plan approved by the NDIA that contains the participant's statement of goals and aspirations and statement of participant supports.

Treatment in the community

This term applies to a person subject to a treatment authority, forensic order or treatment support order that enables treatment to be provided to a patient without detaining the patient at a hospital under an inpatient treatment order.

Wellness plans/advance directives

This term refers to plans that are 'designed to facilitate consumer involvement in their own care, particularly in terms of symptom management, relapse prevention and crisis planning. It serves as a recovery aid and a prompt or reminder about what to do to support someone's recovery. It includes a component of the form where consumers can nominate what they would like to happen (or not happen) if they become unwell, such as who might look after the children, who to contact and who would be preferred to be involved in care and treatment planning. It also includes an opportunity to document the type of supports and treatments or medications that keep the person well, and those that are unhelpful'.

Access Requirement

To access the NDIS the client must (a) Have a disability that will not go away; (2) Be less than 65 years old; (3) Live in Australia and (4) Be an Australian Citizen or have evidence that permits you to live in Australia.

Choice and control

This term refers to the choices made by the partipant as to the supports recieved as well as who delivers those supports.

Community engagement

This term refers to the Way in which people are involved in their community

Community services

This term refers to the activities and services that anyone can use, this can for example include Church and sport club activities, library and group attendance.

Disability

A disability is a condition that will not go away and can include (1) Sensory disability like being deaf; (2) Physical disability; (3) Intellectual disability and (4) Psychosocial disability from a mental health issue.

Early Childhood Early Intervention - ECEI

This term refers to giving children with disability help when they are young to make their life better later on.

Eligibility

This term refers to the rules that need to be satisifed for a person to obtain an NDIS package. The NDIS use the Access Request Form to decide eligibility to become a participant within the NDIS.

First plan

This refers to first NDIS plan. This document lists the persons goals, the $ value of and the supports the person is entitled to recieve under the NDIS, specific their condition.

Formal supports

This term refers to the supports that are paid for out from the participants NDIS package

Funded supports

This terms refers to the support that are paid for by the NDIS, that helps the participant achieve daily activities and achieve the goals outlined within the NDIS plan.

Goals

This refers to the things the particpant wants to undertake and achieve in the short and longer term to help improve their quality of life.

Guardian

This term refers to a person who can legally make choices for a person with a disability.

Informal supports

This term refers to the support recieved from people in the participants life like family,friends and neighbours.

Insurance approach

The NDIS supports people as early as possible to make life better later on.

Insurance principle

Every Australian who is born with a disability or gets a disability will get the support they need.

Lived experience of disability

This term refers to the participants life experience of having a disability.

Multidisciplinary team

This term refers to a team of people with different skills working together to support someone on the NDIS.

Participant Statement

This term refers to the information about a person within the NDIS. That information will include (1) Where they live and who with; (2) Friends and family; (3) Supports they get; (4) What they do day to day and (5) Their goals.

Person with disability

This term refers to nature of help required by a participant. This can include but not be llimited to (1) Getting dressed; (2) Getting around; (3) Understanding things; (4) Making friends and (5) Getting a job.

Privacy

This term refers to the NDIA Privacy Notice which informs the participant of the (1) what information the NDIA needs to know about you; (2) The people the NDIA can ask for information about you; (3) Why the NDIA needs the information and (4) what the NDIS does with the information.

Provider

This term refers to someone who runs a service or has things to sell to people getting an NDIS package. People can choose the provider they want to use and change provider if they are not happy.

Reasonable and necessary

The term reasonable refers to something that it is fair, whereas necessary refers to something that is needed. The NDIS will give money for things that are fair and that you need to maintain a quality of life.

Self-management (funding)

This term refers to a participant who pays providers directly with their NDIS money. A participant can manage all of their NDIS money or part of it.

Self-management

This terms relates with the extent of help a person needs to (a) Do day to day things; (2) Make choices; (3) Look after their own money and (4) Know what to do if they have a problem.

Service agreement

This is a document that explains what supports a provider will give you and how you will pay them.

Supplier

This term refers to someone who sells such items like equipment to help support a person with disability.