NDIS glossary: plain-language words and acronyms
The NDIS has a lot of words that sound official until you need to use them in real life. This glossary explains common plan, provider and funding terms in plain language.
A
Access Request - The application process for joining the NDIS. You provide information about your disability, age, residency and how your disability affects everyday life; our guide to applying for the NDIS with psychosocial disability explains this in more detail.
Agency-managed or NDIA-managed - A way of managing NDIS funding where the NDIA pays providers directly. If a budget is NDIA-managed, you generally need to use registered NDIS providers for that support.
Assistive Technology (AT) - Equipment or technology that helps you do something you could not do, or makes it safer or easier. AT can be simple, like a shower chair, or more complex, like communication technology or home modifications.
C
Capacity Building - Funding aimed at building skills, independence and confidence over time. It can include supports such as therapy, support coordination, recovery coaching or skill-building work; see Core vs Capacity Building for mental health.
Capital supports - Funding for higher-cost supports, usually equipment, home modifications, vehicle modifications or Specialist Disability Accommodation. Capital funding is usually less flexible than Core funding.
Carer - A family member, friend or other unpaid person who provides support. The NDIS focuses on the participant, but it can consider the role and sustainability of informal supports; see NDIS supports for families and carers.
Choice and control - The NDIS principle that you should have genuine say over your goals, providers, supports and decisions. It includes changing your mind, asking questions, raising concerns and taking reasonable risks.
Community supports - Supports available in the community outside an NDIS plan. This might include peer groups, neighbourhood houses, public libraries, local council programs, community health or other services anyone can use.
Core supports - Funding for everyday support needs, such as daily living, community participation, consumables or transport-related support. Core is often more flexible than other budgets, but it still needs to be used for NDIS supports connected to your disability.
E
Early Childhood Approach - The NDIS pathway for young children with developmental concerns, developmental delay or disability. It focuses on early support for the child and family, not just funded plans.
ECEI - Older shorthand for Early Childhood Early Intervention. You may still hear people use it, but the current public wording is usually the Early Childhood Approach.
Eligibility - The NDIS rules about who can become a participant. For psychosocial disability, eligibility is about more than diagnosis; functional impact and evidence matter, as explained in NDIS eligibility for mental health.
Evidence - Information that helps the NDIA understand your disability, support needs and functional impact. It may come from professionals, providers, carers or your own examples; see NDIS evidence for psychosocial disability.
F
Functional capacity - What you can do in everyday life, with or without support. It looks at areas such as communication, social interaction, learning, mobility, self-care and self-management.
Functional impact - The practical effect of disability on your life. For mental health, this may include fluctuating capacity, difficulty leaving home, self-care, routines, relationships, safety, decision-making or managing daily tasks.
G
Goals - Statements in your NDIS plan about what you want to work toward. Good goals are personal and functional; writing better NDIS goals for mental health shows how to make them useful.
Guardian - A person with legal authority to make certain decisions for someone else. Guardianship is different from being a family member, carer, nominee or support person.
H
High-intensity supports - Supports involving more complex health-related or personal-care needs. Workers delivering these supports need the right training, supervision and instructions for the task.
I
Informal supports - Unpaid support from family, friends, neighbours or community. The NDIS can consider informal support, but it should not assume family or friends can safely provide unlimited support forever.
L
LAC (Local Area Coordinator) - A person who helps many participants understand and use the NDIS. LACs can help with access, plan implementation and community connections, but they do not provide disability supports themselves.
Line item - A support item or claiming code used for NDIS payments. It helps identify the type of support, the unit being claimed and the pricing rules that may apply.
M
Mainstream supports - Services outside the NDIS that everyone can use, such as Medicare, public hospitals, schools, housing services and Centrelink. The NDIS is not meant to replace these systems.
N
NDIA (National Disability Insurance Agency) - The government agency that runs the NDIS. The NDIA makes access and planning decisions and manages the participant and provider portals.
NDIS (National Disability Insurance Scheme) - The national scheme that funds disability-related supports for eligible Australians. The NDIS is the scheme itself, not the regulator.
NDIS Commission - The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. It regulates provider quality and safety, handles complaints about NDIS providers, oversees the Code of Conduct and manages provider registration.
NDIS supports - Services, items and equipment that can be funded by the NDIS because they relate to your disability and meet NDIS rules. Not every helpful service is an NDIS support.
Nominee - A person appointed to act or make decisions for a participant in specific NDIS matters. A nominee role should support the participant's rights, preferences and involvement as much as possible.
P
Participant - A person who has been accepted into the NDIS and has an NDIS plan. Participant is the NDIS word, but you are still a person first.
Plan - The document that sets out your goals, funded supports and other supports in your life. It is the practical map for how your NDIS funding can be used.
Plan-managed - A way of managing funding where a registered plan manager pays invoices and keeps budget records for you. Plan-managed participants can generally use both registered and unregistered providers.
Plan manager - A registered provider who helps manage NDIS invoices, payments and budget tracking. A plan manager is different from a support coordinator; they manage money, not the whole support network.
Plan reassessment or review - The process where your plan is looked at again and may be changed. It helps to prepare evidence and examples before this happens; see preparing for your NDIS plan review.
Price limits and pricing arrangements - NDIS pricing rules that set guidance or maximum amounts for many supports. They help participants and providers understand what can be claimed and how service agreements should handle prices.
Provider - A person, business or organisation that delivers NDIS supports. Providers can be registered or unregistered; Ellira is not yet a registered NDIS provider — we are working toward NDIS registration. For more context, read registered vs unregistered NDIS providers.
Psychosocial disability - Disability that can arise from a mental health condition when it creates long-term functional impact. The focus is not only the diagnosis, but how the condition affects everyday life, support needs and participation.
R
Reasonable and necessary - The test the NDIS uses when deciding whether it can fund a support. The support needs to relate to your disability, represent value for money and help with goals, participation or support needs under NDIS rules.
Recovery coach - A psychosocial disability support role focused on recovery, capacity building, connection and navigating services. Psychosocial recovery coaching explained and recovery coach vs support coordinator explain the role in more detail.
Registered provider - A provider registered with the NDIS Commission for particular support types. Registration can matter for plan-managed specialist supports, SDA, behaviour support and NDIA-managed funding.
Restrictive practices - Practices that restrict a person's rights or movement. They are heavily regulated, require proper authorisation and reporting, and should only ever be discussed with clear safeguards and qualified behaviour support advice.
S
SDA (Specialist Disability Accommodation) - Housing designed for people with very high support needs or extreme functional impairment. SDA funds the home or dwelling, not the everyday support inside it; see SIL vs SDA.
Self-managed - A way of managing NDIS funding where you, or someone helping you, pays providers and claims from the NDIS. Self-management usually gives the most provider choice, but also brings record-keeping responsibilities.
Service agreement - An agreement between you and a provider about supports, prices, cancellations, responsibilities and how you will work together. See understanding your NDIS service agreement.
Service booking - A record used in some NDIS payment systems to set aside funding for a provider or service. It is not the same as giving blanket consent or agreeing to work with a provider forever.
SIL (Supported Independent Living) - Regular support with daily tasks in a shared or individual living arrangement. SIL funds the support workers and routines, not the building; see SIL vs SDA.
STA or respite - Short Term Accommodation, sometimes called respite. It can provide short stays away from home, support for daily living during the stay and a break for both the participant and informal supports when it fits the plan.
Stated supports - Supports in a plan that must be used in the way they are described. If something is stated, check before moving that funding to another purpose.
Support catalogue - The NDIS list of support items and codes used for claiming. It is mainly a payment tool, but it can help explain what a provider is charging for.
Support coordination - Capacity Building support that helps you understand and use your plan, connect services and solve provider problems. People may talk about levels such as support connection, support coordination and specialist support coordination.
Support worker - A worker who provides practical disability support, such as help with daily living, community participation, routines or personal care. A support worker should stay within their role and not diagnose, treat or replace clinical advice.
T
Telehealth - Support delivered by phone or video instead of in person. It can work well for some conversations and planning tasks, but it should be chosen because it suits you; see telehealth and hybrid NDIS mental health supports.
TTP - Temporary Transformation Payment, a pricing term you may see in older NDIS pricing material, service agreements or invoices. If it appears in current paperwork, ask the provider or plan manager to explain what is being claimed and why.
U
Unregistered provider - A provider that is not registered with the NDIS Commission. Unregistered providers still have obligations, including the NDIS Code of Conduct, but some funding types and support types require registered providers.
Utilisation - How much of your NDIS budget has been used. Low utilisation can mean supports are not set up, not working, or no longer needed; making the most of your NDIS plan explains how to look at this calmly.
W
Worker screening - Checks used to help decide whether a worker can safely work with people with disability. Screening is only one safeguard; supervision, training, matching, complaints and respectful practice still matter.
Where to from here
If a word in your plan still does not make sense, you can ask before signing or agreeing to anything. To talk through your plan with Ellira, send a referral or book a call.
This article is general information, not medical or clinical advice. For support with your situation, talk to your GP, treating team, or call us on 1300 487 996. In an emergency call 000. For urgent mental-health support call Lifeline on 13 11 14.