Step-by-Step Guide: How to Apply for NDIS Support

When you’re new to the NDIS, the process can seem daunting. Breaking it down into steps can make it more manageable. Below is a step-by-step roadmap for applying to the NDIS and accessing supports, from the initial inquiry all the way to getting a plan in place.

1. Check Eligibility Criteria

Before anything else, ensure that you (or your child) meet the basic NDIS eligibility conditions. You must be:

(a) under 65 years of age at the time of application,

(b) an Australian citizen or permanent resident (or hold a special category visa), and

(c) living with a permanent and significant disability that affects daily activities.

• “Permanent” means the condition is likely to be lifelong (it doesn’t have to be untreatable, but it won’t just go away).
• “Significant” means it impacts your ability to take part in everyday life without support. For example, a child might need help with personal care, communication, or mobility because of their disability.

If these criteria sound like your situation, you’re on the right track. For mental health conditions, remember you’d need to show it causes a lasting psychosocial disability (not just temporary distress). If you’re unsure about eligibility, you can call the NDIS hotline or talk to a Local Area Coordinator (LAC) about your circumstances. Still, generally, the above points are the key tests.

2. Gather Professional Evidence and Reports

This is a crucial step that often determines whether your NDIS application will be successful. The NDIS requires supporting evidence of your disability – essentially, proof from treating professionals that: 1) you have a diagnosed disability (or developmental delay for young children), 2) it is likely permanent, and 3) it substantially impacts your daily functioning. Strong documentation will smooth the path; insufficient detail can lead the NDIA (National Disability Insurance Agency) to come back asking for more info, which delays things.

Here’s how to approach this step:

• Consult Your Health Professionals: Make an appointment with the specialists who know your child or your condition best. This could be a pediatrician, general practitioner (GP), psychologist, psychiatrist, occupational or speech therapist, or any relevant expert. Explain that you are applying for the NDIS and discuss the need for a report or form that outlines the diagnosis and impacts. If you don’t yet have a precise diagnosis, you may need to get an assessment first (for example, an autism assessment by a psychologist, or a cognitive assessment for an intellectual disability). These assessments, while time-consuming, provide the evidence base for your application.
• Prepare the Supporting Evidence Form or Reports: The NDIA provides specific forms (such as the NDIS Supporting Evidence Form) that your treating practitioner can fill out. For mental health conditions, there is an Evidence of Psychosocial Disability form designed to capture details about how a mental illness affects you. Many professionals will write a detailed report instead, which is fine as long as it covers key information. Good evidence should be recent and come from a relevant professional (for example, a psychologist can speak to functional impacts of autism, a psychiatrist or GP can confirm a mental health diagnosis, etc.). It must verify the primary disability and describe how it affects various aspects of life, such as mobility, communication, self-care, learning, social interaction, and self-management. The report should also note what treatments or interventions have been tried (and that the disability still persists).
• Include All Relevant Documents: Attach any existing reports that support your case. This might include diagnostic letters, therapy progress notes, school reports or early intervention reports (for a child), hospital discharge summaries, etc. For example, if your child has autism, include the official diagnostic report from the multidisciplinary assessment. If you have a psychosocial disability, include letters from psychologists or psychiatrists that detail your condition and daily support needs. The NDIA will accept existing assessments as evidence, so you don’t always need something brand new if recent documentation exists.

Taking the time to gather thorough documentation pays off. An allied health or medical report that clearly paints a picture of daily challenges can strongly support your NDIS request. Remember, allied health providers (like psychologists, OTs, and speech therapists) routinely provide assessments and reports for NDIS applications. These reports inform the NDIA’s decisions about access and planning. Don’t hesitate to ask your providers for help; they often know exactly what information is needed.

3. Submit an NDIS Access Request

Once your evidence is ready, it’s time to formally apply. There are a couple of ways to lodge an NDIS Access Request:

• By Phone: You can call the NDIS on 1800 800 110 and request to make an Access Request. They may take some details over the phone and then send you forms to complete. This hotline can also answer basic questions or connect you to a local office.
• Via Form (Paper or Online): You can fill out the NDIS Access Request Form (available as a PDF download or obtainable from an NDIS office) and submit it via email or post. Some people prefer this because it allows you to carefully include all your information and attachments. As of 2025, an online application option is also available through the NDIS website for added convenience.

When filling out the application (whether by form or phone), be prepared to provide: personal details, residency and identity documents, and consent for the NDIS to gather info. Section 2 of the Access Request Form is usually where a treating professional verifies the disability. If you already have a separate report or the supporting evidence form, you can attach that instead of having them fill out Section 2. Make sure you attach all your supporting documents (the reports we gathered in Step 2) when you submit your application. Double-check that everything is included; missing medical evidence is a common reason applications get delayed.

Early Childhood Approach: If you are applying for a child under age 7, the process might be slightly different. The NDIS has an Early Childhood Early Intervention (ECEI) approach for young children. Instead of contacting NDIA directly first, you can get in touch with an Early Childhood Partner organisation in your region. They specialise in helping families of young kids and can assist with gathering evidence and completing the access process. They may provide some interim support while you go through the application. For children under 6 years with developmental delay or disability, the early childhood partner is there to guide you, so don’t hesitate to use their support. (If your area doesn’t have an early childhood partner, you can still use the standard Access Request Form route.)

After submitting your application (by email, post, or phone lodgment), keep a copy of everything. The NDIA should confirm they received your request. Now comes the most challenging part – waiting!

4. NDIA Assessment & Outcome

Once the NDIA has your Access Request and documents, they will assess your eligibility against the criteria in the NDIS Act. An NDIA officer (sometimes called a planner or delegate) will review the evidence. They might contact your listed health professional if they need clarification, or they might contact you for additional information. If the initial evidence wasn’t sufficient to make a clear decision, the NDIA will ask you for more details – you’ll get a letter outlining what additional evidence is required. (This is why Step 2, providing detailed reports, is so essential to get right the first time.)

• How long does it take? There are service standards (the Participant Service Guarantee) for how quickly the NDIA should decide applications, often around 21 days for an initial decision after receiving all info. However, times can vary. While you wait, it’s okay to call the NDIS hotline to check the status or see if they need anything else. It’s natural to feel anxious during this period – you’ve put a lot of effort in, and the stakes feel high. Try to remember that many families are going through this; you’re not alone, and there is support available regardless of the outcome.
• The Decision: You will receive a formal outcome letter. If accepted, congratulations – you (or your child) are now an NDIS participant! The letter will confirm that you meet the access requirements. If not accepted, the letter will explain why. Perhaps they felt the disability wasn’t evidenced as permanent or significant enough. Don’t be discouraged: you can often reapply with more evidence, or appeal the decision if you believe it’s wrong (internal review is the first step in that case). You can seek advice from an LAC or advocacy service on what to do next if you are declined. But let’s assume you’re approved, as most people with well-prepared documentation for lifelong conditions are.

5. NDIS Planning and Getting Your Supports Started

After an approval, the journey isn’t over, but it moves into a new phase: planning. The NDIA (or a Local Area Coordinator on their behalf) will contact you to schedule a planning meeting. In this meeting, you’ll discuss the participant’s goals, support needs, and current challenges in detail. The planner will use this discussion, along with the reports you provided, to shape an NDIS plan that includes funding for various supports.

Here’s what to expect and prepare for in the planning stage:

• Think About Goals: The NDIS is goal-oriented. A goal could be as simple as “improve Jane’s communication skills so she can express her needs” or “increase John’s independence in daily self-care.” Goals help justify the supports; for example, funding for speech therapy aligns with a communication goal. Come with a few key goals that matter to your family.
• Discuss Needed Supports: Be honest about what supports you need to reach those goals. If your child has challenging behaviours and meltdowns due to autism, you might need a psychologist’s help for emotional regulation and an occupational therapist for sensory strategies. If you, as an adult, want to return to study but severe anxiety is stopping you, maybe you need regular counselling and a support worker for confidence in community settings. The planner might ask what a typical day looks like, where the gaps are, and what currently helps or doesn’t help. Use your reports here – if the psychologist’s report says you need weekly therapy and quarterly OT consults, mention that. The NDIA aims to fund “reasonable and necessary” supports – essentially, things related to the disability that are reasonable to expect NDIS to fund (as opposed to mainstream services) and necessary for your needs.
• The Plan: After the meeting (which can be in person or over the phone), the NDIA will finalise your NDIS plan. This document will list your goals and the funding allocated in different categories. Most therapeutic supports fall under the Capacity Building – Improved Daily Living budget. However, some (like behaviour support or social skills training) might be under Improved Relationships, etc. You don’t need to worry about the category names too much; the important part is the funding amount and purpose. When you receive the plan, review it. If something expected is missing or the funding seems too low to cover recommended therapy hours, you can discuss it with the planner or request a plan review. But hopefully, with strong evidence and a clear conversation, your plan will include the therapies and supports your family needs.

Now you’re ready to implement the plan:

• Choose Providers: With NDIS funding in hand, you can start booking services. You might have support from a Support Coordinator or LAC to connect with providers, or you can search the NDIS provider directory. This is where you select, for example, which psychology clinic or which therapist to go with. You could choose a service like ProActive Psychology for counselling support, given they are a registered NDIS therapeutic supports provider. You can also find local OTs, speech therapists, or community programs – whatever you have funding for. If your plan is NDIA-managed, you’ll need to use NDIS-registered providers; if it’s self-managed or plan-managed, you have more flexibility (including non-registered providers).
• Schedule Assessments or Therapy Sessions: Often, the first thing funded after a new plan is an assessment by each therapist to set baselines and therapy goals. For example, an occupational therapist might do a functional assessment, or a psychologist might conduct some questionnaires. These initial sessions help formulate a therapy plan for the year. After that, regular therapy appointments (weekly, fortnightly, monthly – depending on funding and need) will commence. Over time, the providers will track progress and provide reports to you and the NDIS about outcomes.
• Keep Records & Communicate: Track the progress of how the supports are helping. It’s good to note improvements or ongoing struggles. When it comes time for your annual plan review, this information will support requests for continued or increased support if needed. Providers usually supply a report for the review detailing progress (and these reports again highlight the value of therapeutic support in improving life).

Throughout this process, remember that you are not alone. It’s absolutely okay to ask questions at any stage – be it from the NDIS reps, LAC, support coordinators, or other parents in NDIS support groups. It is a lot of paperwork and new terminology, but you will get the hang of it step by step. The NDIS exists to help families like yours, even if the bureaucracy can be frustrating. And once supports are in place, many parents see real improvements in their child’s skills and well-being, making the effort worth it.