NDIA Accountability Project

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Request priority eligibility decision

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Request priority eligibility decision

Guidance in this document is not approved for use unless you view it in PACE.

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

  • understand priority eligibility requests
  • check the priority eligibility request
  • record priority reason.

Recent updates

07 July 2025

  • Updated guidance to reflect changes in language hearing impairment to hearing loss.
  • Updated guidance to include reference to a 2-day milestone for priority hearing stream access decisions displayed in PACE.
  • Updated guidance to advise that the my NDIS contact gets a bell notification when a request for information (RFI) or access decision is made for priority hearing stream eligibility requests.

Before you start

You have:

  • read and understood Our Guidelines – Applying to the NDIS (external), including section When do we make priority eligibility decisions?
  • followed the guidance in article How to apply for the NDIS in PACE.

Understand priority eligibility requests

A priority eligibility request is when either:

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  • the applicant has asked for a priority eligibility outcome for their NDIS application. To learn more about whether the applicant is eligible for a priority decision and to inform your conversation, go to section Check the priority eligibility request in this article

  • evidence provided shows that a priority eligibility outcome is required.

    Note: If a person gives any relevant information verbally, record their name. This means any further information can be followed up with the same person as needed. Use article Log an activity or internal note.

In the application, first check the reason and the supporting evidence. If the applicant is in one of the following situations, we must decide if they’re eligible within 2 to 5 business days:

  • A child younger than 7 who is newly diagnosed with permanent hearing loss and likely to be eligible for the priority hearing stream. For this situation, once we have received a complete access request, we must decide if the child is eligible within 2 business days.

    For the hearing stream, the my NDIS contact gets a bell notification when a request for information (RFI) or access decision is made.

  • A child who has a developmental delay and is turning 6 years old within 30 days of a valid NDIS application. Learn more in article Priority considerations for early connections.

  • An immediate risk or concern to self, others, community, or Agency where appropriate disability or informal supports aren’t in place.

  • An unexpected, significant deterioration of disability-related functional capacity where appropriate disability or informal supports aren’t in place. Learn more in article Understand functional capacity assessments.

  • A disability which typically involves rapid deterioration in functional capacity of a person with:

  • Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease)

  • Brain Cancer

  • Motor Neurone Disease (MND)

  • Progressive Bulbar Palsy (PBP)

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  • Primary Lateral Sclerosis (PLS)
  • Progressive Muscular Atrophy (PMA).
  • A terminal illness and disability.

Note: To help progress these applicants quickly, don’t complete cases for Community Connections or Early Supports, Participant Environmental Circumstances (PEC), Functional Capacity Assessment (FCA), or Short Form Outcomes Framework (SFOF).

  • An imminent risk, within 1–14 days, of breakdown of either:
  • accommodation – risk of homelessness
  • caring arrangements, including informal supports due to death, serious illness or injury of informal supports, or significant and unexpected deterioration of disability-related functional capacity.
  • Where appropriate disability supports aren’t in place and the person is re-entering the community after a long-term residence or hospital stay. Specific release date not required.
  • A person with a newly acquired, significant disability such as spinal cord injury, ready for hospital discharge
  • A younger person living in residential aged care (YPIRAC)
  • A person ready for discharge from an inpatient mental health facility
  • A person due for release from a correctional facility.
  • A vulnerable person who doesn’t have suitable disability supports to re-enter the community after a long-term residential, hospital, correctional or other institutional stay.
  • An identified Agency reputation risk.

Timeframes

Participant Service Guarantee (PSG) timeframes

For applicants that are not eligible for a priority decision, we must follow the PSG timeframes. We must make a decision about the application within 21 days from the valid application date. This is a PSG key performance indicator (KPI). Learn more in article Check decision – legislative timeframes.

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Timeframes for priority eligibility requests

For a child younger than 7 who is newly diagnosed with permanent hearing loss and likely to be eligible for the priority hearing stream, we must decide if they’re eligible within 2 business days. A 2-day milestone displays on the Access Decision case.

Learn more in article Guide – Supporting children younger than 7 who are deaf or hard of hearing (including under the priority hearing stream).

For all other applicants eligible for a priority decision, we aim to make the decision and send a notification within 2 to 5 business days. This is the timeframe for priority eligibility decisions. It isn’t a PSG KPI.

Check the priority eligibility request

Check priority evidence

  1. Select the Documents tab.
  2. Review document Category, Sub Category and Description.
  3. Open the document to review further detail.

Look at applicant’s situation

  1. Look at the available evidence about the applicant’s situation.

  2. Check if their situation meets any of the priority eligibility criteria outlined above and in line with Our Guideline – Applying to the NDIS (external). If:

    • yes, and when applicable, also refer to these articles: Check evidence for a decision – developmental delay Check evidence for a decision – hearing loss 0-25 years of age Check evidence for a decision – terminal illness.

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  • no, you still need to follow the steps in section Record priority reason in this article. Contact the applicant to explain the reason why they may not be eligible for a priority decision.

Record priority reason

  1. From the Person Account, select the Cases tab.

  2. Select the open Access Request case, then select the Details tab.

  3. Scroll to Prioritisation.

  4. You must enter the relevant information from the evidence in Prioritisation Reason and Priority Description. Entering this information is mandatory to action your request.

    • For applicants with rapidly progressing disabilities:

    • At Prioritisation Reason, record Disability

    • At Priority Description, record the correct condition, for example Motor Neurone Disease.

    • For a child likely to be eligible for the priority hearing pathway:

    • At Prioritisation Reason, select 0-6 years with hearing impairment

    • At Priority Description, select Hearing Australia or EC Partner Priority.

    • For a participant with terminal illness and disability:

    • At Prioritisation Reason, select Vulnerable Cohorts.

    • At Priority Description, leave blank.

    • From the System information section, at Subject, record Terminal Illness.

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  1. At Prioritisation Comment you must complete this template:

    Assessment: Urgent decision requirements <not met/met>. Priority eligibility decision looked at following request from on . Review based on available evidence and information from Our Guidelines – Applying to the NDIS (external).

    Note: Completing this template is mandatory to action your request. Refer to sections Check priority evidence and Look at an applicant’s situation in this article to understand who’s eligible for a priority eligibility decision.

Next steps

  1. Complete and submit the Access Request case. The priority request will route for a decision by an access delegate.
  2. Continue to use guidance in article How to apply for the NDIS in PACE.

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