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The National Access Team (NAT)

The National Access Team makes decisions about whether people meet the NDIS ‘access requirements’ This includes:

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Upon receiving a valid access request, the NDIA must respond within 21 days. In some cases, the NDIA may need more documents, assessments or evidence, which means it might take longer for your request to be assessed.

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Access Criteria

Access requirements are what is required for a person with a disability to join the NDIS. This is determined by the availability of the scheme where one lives as well as a participant’s age, residency status, disability and early intervention requirements. To become an NDIS participant you must:

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  • Have a permanent impairment that significantly affects your ability to take part in everyday activities or have a developmental delay

  • Be aged less than 65

  • Be an Australian citizen or hold a permanent visa or a Protected Special Category visa

  • Live in an area where the NDIS has rolled out

To Meet Access

AGE

To access the NDIS one needs be between 0-65 years old when entering the scheme

RESIDENCE

To meet the residency requirements on must live in Australia and:

  • Be an Australian citizen OR

  • Hold a Permanent Visa OR

  • Hold a Protected Special Category Visa

Disability Requirments

To access the NDIS one must have an impairment or condition that is likely to be permanent and there is evidence that:

  • Getting supports now (early interventions) will help you by reducing how much help you will need to do things because of your impairment in the future

  • Improving or reducing deterioration of your functional capacity or helping your family and carers to keep helping you and

 

Those supports are most appropriately funded through the NDIS, and not through another service system.

EARLY INTERVENTION

A participant meets early intervention requirements if they have an impairment or condition that is likely to be permanent and there is evidence that getting supports now (early interventions) will help by:

  • Reducing how much help a participant will need to do things because of their impairment in the future and

  • Improving or reducing deterioration of one’s functional capacity or

  • Helping a participant’s family and carers to keep helping them

CHILD EARLY INTERVENTION

You may meet the early intervention requirements if you  are a child aged under 6 years of age with developmental delay which results in:

  • Substantially reduced functional capacity in one or more of the areas of self-care, receptive and expressive language, cognitive development or motor development and

  • Results in the need for a combination and sequence of special interdisciplinary or generic care, treatment or other services which are of extended duration, and are individually planned and coordinated

SUPPORT PERSON OR EQUIPMENT

To meet access one may need support from a person or equipment to do everyday things because their impairment or condition stops them from doing everyday things by themselves such as:

·Being able to understand and be understood by other people

·Making and keeping friends

·Coping with feelings and emotions

·Understanding, remembering and learning new things

·Getting out of bed

·Moving around the home and outside the home

·Taking a bath or shower, dressing and eating

·Doing daily jobs, handling money and making decisions.

REDUCING SUPPORT

NEEDS IN THE FUTURE

A participant meets the NDIS early intervention criteria if they

  • Have an impairment or condition that is likely to be permanent (lifelong); or

  • Is a child under 6 years of age with a developmental delay and the delay requires more help with self-care, communication, learning or motor skills than another child of the same age.

  • Early intervention supports will reduce the impact of their impairment, condition or developmental delay; stop the impact of the impairment or condition from getting worse; and strengthening one’s informal supports (such as helping a carer)

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