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Submit a referral to the Complex Support Needs (CSN) Branch

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Knowledge Submit a referral to the Complex Support Needs (CSN) Branch

Article Record Type Article Number Publication Status Last Modified Date Guidance 000002207 Published 1/7/2026, 6:02 am

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Title Submit a referral to the Complex Support Needs (CSN) Branch

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This article provides guidance for a local area coordinator, early childhood partner, planner delegate or complaints officer to:

  • understand complex support needs (CSN) and pathway factors
  • consider a referral to the CSN branch
  • complete the CSN Referral Form.

Recent updates

1 July 2026

  • updated short term respite (STR) to short term accommodation (STA)
  • updated OG links with heading jump links
  • repaired link to article Review the escalation and prioritisation matrix
  • minor updated to grammar and formatting.

Before you start

You have read and understood:

You’ve identified the supports the participant may need to engage with the NDIS and other government services. For example, justice, health, correctional services or child protection.

Understand complex support needs

We define complex support needs (CSN) as:

  • A situation where a participant has extraordinary support needs because of personal and situational factors. These factors need coordinated support from multiple services.

The term complex doesn’t relate to the complexity of a participant’s disability, it describes:

  • the interaction of the personal and situational factors in the participant’s life
  • the intensity of the factors
  • how they impact the participant’s ability to navigate the NDIS and coordinate their supports.

CSN Branch

The CSN pathway provides specialised support for participants who have personal and situational factors that are outside the scope of the usual NDIS pathway. The CSN team includes planners and staff who have experience working with specific complex support cohorts such as children, justice, psychosocial and allied health.

Consider a referral to the CSN branch

To work out if a referral to the CSN branch is needed, you must identify which personal and situational factors are impacting the participant. The factors may include:

Accommodation

  • homelessness, or risk of homelessness
  • current accommodation at risk due to loss of primary informal supports
  • increased use of short term accommodation (STA)
  • unable to identify suitable specialist disability accommodation (SDA) or supported independent living (SIL).

Behaviours of concern

  • risk to self or others
  • identified behaviours of concern or regulated, restrictive practice
  • worsening behaviour which creates a risk to self or others.

Children

  • children who are living out of the family home or urgently need accommodation outside their home. To learn more, go to Guide – How to support children and young people to remain in their family home (https://ndia.my.salesforce.com/articles/Knowledge/191886471)
  • participant not attending school full time
  • parent or guardian unable to sustain care, overwhelmed by caring requirements or caring for multiple children who are NDIS participants
  • Child Protection involvement.

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Guidelinevoluntary or involuntary involvement in other government service systems. In particular health, child protection, guardianship orders, mental health and justice

  • difficulty engaging with the NDIS.

Justice interface

We provide support to eligible people with a disability who are involved in the justice system. Involvement in the justice system may mean the participant:

  • is currently incarcerated for a period of more than 12 months, either while sentenced or on remand
  • is currently incarcerated, or has experienced 2 or more periods in a correctional facility in the past 12 months
  • considered a high-risk offender under relevant State or Territory legislation
  • is incarcerated and found unfit to plead, or is currently held under an indefinite order
  • has transitioned from a custodial setting within the last 12 months and continues to have justice involvement. The participant must have met one of the above criteria for this to apply.

Justice involvement refers to any formal interaction with the justice system, including but not limited to:

  • police engagement, for example, arrests, interviews, or charges
  • breaches of parole or community corrections orders
  • court appearances or legal proceedings
  • custodial remand or incarceration
  • active supervision by justice authorities. This includes, but is not limited to, extended supervision, justice, or parole orders.

Markets

Markets means the service delivery markets and their capacity to support people:

  • limited or no service delivery available in remote areas
  • thin or exhausted markets in regional areas
  • disengagement of providers.

Supports and care

  • limited or no informal supports to help with decision making or engage in planning. For example, the participant may have limited or no advocates, guardians, nominees, family members, carers or friends Expand All + |
  • difficulty engaging or maintaining support coordination
  • formal guardianship required
  • transitional supports for returning to the community. For example, leaving rehabilitation or hospital, incarceration
  • stressed care arrangements. An immediate unmet need for targeted support or a crisis because of a sudden, unexpected change in the participant’s situation
  • multiple family members with disability living in the one home.

Vulnerable

  • increased risk of significant harm from abuse or neglect
  • impact of trauma or abuse
  • limited or no expressive communication.

Complete the CSN Referral Form

  1. Complete and submit the Referral to the complex support needs (CSN) branch (https://ndisgovau.sharepoint.com/sites/CSN_Teams/FE-JnGLWc6dFt127GYdpSvEBhOOPV4Df96CfeQ6W80cdzg? nav=NWYONZFkOWUtY2E2Mi00YTYyLTk1Y2UtOTdiZTE3MTQ2YmYy). Make sure you complete all sections of the referral form. Provide details and supporting evidence in the free text fields. This could be any documents and case numbers.
  2. You’ll get an email confirming your submission.

If you have any questions or issues submitting the form, please email redacted: s47E(d) - certain operations of agencies redacted: s47E(d) - certain operations of agencies

Referral escalations

An escalated or urgent circumstance referral is categorised as Extreme under the Escalation Prioritisation Matrix (https://ndia.my.salesforce.com/articles/Knowledge/202260459). An escalation request can be made via email to redacted: s47F - personal privacy, s47E(d) - certain operations of agencies

Next steps

  1. CSN Branch will review the referral to determine if it can be accepted. The outcomes of the referral are either:
  • Accepted – CSN will update the case and will proceed with assessment.
  • Not Accepted – the CSN will update the case and reassign it to you. You must close the enquiry case. You’ll also get an email advising the referral was Not Accepted.
  1. When the assessment is complete, you’ll get an email confirming the outcome. The suitability assessment will be uploaded to the

participant record and linked to the referral enquiry case. The suitability outcomes are:

  • Suitable – CSN will update the case and assign it to a holding inbox until the participant can be allocated to a CSN planner. You’ll get an email to let you know the outcome. You should continue to support the participant.
  • Not Suitable – CSN will update the case and reassign to you. You’ll get an email to let you know the outcome.
  1. When the participant is allocated, and the my NDIS contact is updated to a CSN planner, you’ll get an email confirming the update and whether you need to provide a handover.

Reviewing a Suitability Decision

If you’re not satisfied with the CSN Suitability Assessment Outcome and would like to discuss the decision, please send an email to redacted: [s47E(d) - certain operations of agencies](/library/documents/bc455e3f7247-foi-24-25-0515-documents/document-015__47e-d-certain-operations-of-agencies/) You need to include the participant’s name and NDIS number.

A CSN Operations team leader will contact you to discuss the outcome within 2 business days.

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