Understand disability requirements

SGP KP Publishing

Exported on 2026-02-16 03:25:36

Table of Contents

1 Recent updates …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 4 2 Before you start …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 5 3 Overview ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 6 4 Disability requirements …………………………………………………………………………………………. 7 4.1 Check eligibility for disability requirements ………………………………………………………………. 7 4.2 Additional considerations………………………………………………………………………………………. 7 5 How to weigh evidence of disability ………………………………………………………………………. 8 6 Next steps …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 9

This article provides guidance for all NDIA staff and partners to understand:

• eligibility under the disability requirements
• how to weigh evidence of disability.

1 Recent updates

5 May 2025

Updated link to article Make an access decision – post-legislation changes.

2 Before you start

You have:

• read and understood Our Guideline – Applying to the NDIS (external), including section Do you meet the disability requirements?
• read article What evidence of disability is required?
• read article Check eligibility – age and residence requirements.

3 Overview

To be eligible for NDIS, the person must meet the requirements for:

• age
• residence
• disability, early intervention, or both.

4 Disability requirements

To meet the disability requirements, we must have evidence of all of the following:

• their disability is related to an impairment
• their impairment is likely to be permanent
• their permanent impairment significantly reduces their functional capacity to undertake one or more of the following activities: moving around, communicating, socialising, learning, or undertaking self-care or self-management tasks
• their permanent impairment affects their ability to work, study or take part in social life
• they’ll likely need NDIS support for their lifetime.

4.1 Check eligibility for disability requirements

Use these articles to check evidence for a decision:

• Check eligibility – DIS – disability caused by an impairment
• Check eligibility – DIS – likely permanence
• Check eligibility – DIS – significant functional impact
• Check eligibility – DIS – social and economic impact
• Check eligibility – DIS – NDIS supports for life.

4.2 Additional considerations

Use these articles before you check evidence for a decision.

Check if there is evidence of a condition on List A. Go to Check eligibility – List A condition.

Note: A person is likely to meet the disability requirements if they provide evidence of their diagnosis.

Check if there is evidence of a condition on List B. Go to Check eligibility – List B condition.

Note: A person is likely to meet some of the disability requirements if they provide evidence of their diagnosis.

5 How to weigh evidence of disability

When you weigh the relevance and importance of the provided disability evidence, consider:

• who is providing the evidence of disability?
• how old is the evidence of disability (particularly relevant for functional capacity evidence)?

For further information, refer to Our Guideline – Applying to the NDIS (external), including sections:

• What information do we need in your application?
• Who can give us evidence of your impairments?
• How do we weigh evidence of disability?

6 Next steps

To consider the early intervention requirements, go to article Understand early intervention requirements.

If you are an access delegate:

• to make an access decision, continue to article Make an access decision – pre-legislation changes or Make an access decision – post legislation changes
• to make an eligibility reassessment decision, continue to article Finalise eligibility reassessment decision.