NDIA Accountability Project

This project is in DRAFT

Applying to the NDIS

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  • Arnold-Chiari Types 2 and 3/Chiari malformation
  • Microcephaly
  • Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
  • Fetal hydantoin syndrome
  • Spina bifida
  • VATER syndrome /VACTERL association.

List C: What if you’re receiving disability support in Western Australia?

Please note: the transition of people formerly in Western Australian government disability programs is now complete and List C is no longer in operation.

If you were a participant in a WA defined program and are in the process of applying to the NDIS before 3 October 2024, please contact 1800 800 110 or enquiries@ndis.gov.au to discuss whether List C arrangements still apply.

We have an agreement with the Western Australian government to bring Western Australians onto the NDIS. If you’re receiving disability supports in Western Australia, you might already meet most of the eligibility criteria. We’ll send you a letter with all the details on how to apply.

The Western Australian government will let us know if you’re on a program for faster access to the NDIS. This is called a defined program.

If you’re on one of these programs, you need to show us that you:

  • are younger than 65 on the day you apply
  • live in Australia permanently
  • are an Australian citizen or permanent resident.

We’ll let you know what evidence you need to give us when you apply.

If you show us you meet the above requirements, we’ll decide you’re eligible under the disability requirements.

Which Western Australian defined programs are eligible for the NDIS?

  • WA state-administered National Disability Insurance Scheme
  • Supported CommunityLive
  • Community Residential
  • Day Options
  • Disability Professional Services
  • Emergency Accommodation
  • Respite
  • LAC Coordination
  • Recreation.

List D: Permanent impairment/Early intervention, under 7 years. No further assessment required.

Synonyms for conditions are also shown (e.g. condition / synonym / synonym).

Conditions primarily resulting in Intellectual/ learning impairment

Chromosomal abnormalities resulting in permanent impairment

  • Global Developmental Delay
  • Aicardi syndrome
  • Aicardi-Goutiéres syndrome
  • Angelman syndrome
  • CHARGE syndrome
  • Cockayne syndrome/ Types I and Type II / Cerebro-oculo-faciao-skeletal (COFS) syndrome/ Pena Shokeir syndrome Type II / Weber-Cockayne syndrome/ Neill-Dingwall syndrome
  • Coffin-Lowry syndrome
  • Cohen syndrome
  • Cornelia de Lange syndrome
  • Cri du Chat syndrome
  • Dandy-Walker syndrome
  • DiGeorge syndrome/ 22q11.2 deletion syndrome/ Velocardiofacial syndrome/ Shprintzen syndrome/ Conotruncal anomaly face syndrome
  • Down syndrome/ Trisomy 21
  • Edwards syndrome/ Trisomy 18
  • Fragile X syndrome
  • Kabuki syndrome
  • Lesch-Nyhan syndrome/ Nyhan’s syndrome/ Kelley-Seegmiller syndrome/ Juvenile gout
  • Leigh syndrome/ Leigh’s disease/ subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy
  • Menkes disease
  • Patau syndrome/ Trisomy 13
  • Prader-Willi syndrome
  • Rett syndrome
  • Seckel syndrome/ microcephalic primordial dwarfism/ Harper’s syndrome/ Virchow-Seckel dwarfism
  • Smith-Lemli-Optiz syndrome
  • Smith-Magenis syndrome
  • Sturge-Weber syndrome
  • Trisomy 9
  • Tuberous sclerosis
  • Williams syndrome
  • Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome.

Conditions primarily resulting in Neurological impairment

Systemic atrophies primarily affecting the central nervous system

  • Friedrich’s ataxia
  • Hereditary spastic paraplegia/ Infantile-onset ascending hereditary spastic paralysis/ L1 syndrome/ spastic paraplegias types 2 and 11
  • Louis-Bar syndrome/ Ataxia-telangiectasia
  • Niemann-Pick disease (Types A and C)
  • Progressive bulbar palsy of childhood/ Fazio-Londe disease.

The following spinal muscular atrophies

  • Spinal muscular atrophy Type I/ Werdnig Hoffmann disease/ infantile SMA
  • Spinal muscular atrophy Type II/ Dubowitz disease
  • Spinal muscular atrophy Type III Kugelberg-Welander disease/ juvenile SMA
  • Spinal muscular atrophy lower extremity dominant/ SMA-LED
  • X-linked spinal muscular atrophy.

Extrapyramidal and movement disorders

  • Hallervorden-Spatz syndrome / Pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration (PKAN)/ neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation 1 (NBIA 1)
  • Alpers disease/ Alpers syndrome/ Grey-matter degeneration/ Progressive sclerosing poliodystrophy/ Progressive infantile poliodystrophy
  • Demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system
  • Adrenoleukodystrophy / X-linked childhood cerebral form
  • Alexander disease
  • Canavan disease
  • Krabbe disease/ Globoid cell leukodystrophy
  • Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease.

Episodic and paroxysmal disorders

  • Lennox-Gastaut syndrome/ Lennox syndrome
  • West’s syndrome.

Polyneuropathies and other disorders of the peripheral nervous system

  • Dejerine-Sottas disease/ Dejerine-Sottas syndrome/ Dejerine-Sottas neuropathy/ progressive hypertrophic interstitial polyneuropathy of childhood/onion bulb neuropathy
  • Infantile Refsum disease.

Conditions primarily resulting in physical impairment

  • Amputation
  • Diamond-Blackfan anaemia
  • Epidermolysis bullosa
  • Harlequin type icthyosis
  • Hay Wells syndrome/ ankyloblepharon/ ectodermal dysplasia/ clefting [AEC] syndrome
  • Joint or limb deformities resulting in impaired mobility
  • Juvenile arthritis/ Stills Disease
  • Osteogenesis imperfecta
  • Sjogren Larsson syndrome.

Diseases of myoneural junction and muscle

  • Congenital muscular dystrophy
  • Congenital myotonia / Thomsens disease/ Becker myotonia
  • Distal muscular dystrophy
  • Duchenne muscular dystrophy
  • Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy
  • Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy
  • Myotubular myopathy
  • Oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy
  • Paramyotonia Congenita.

Cerebral palsy and other paralytic syndromes

  • Cerebral palsy
  • Diplegia
  • Hemiplegia
  • Monoplegia
  • Paraplegia
  • Quadriplegia
  • Tetraplegia.

Conditions resulting in sensory and/or speech impairment

Permanent blindness in both eyes, diagnosed and assessed by an ophthalmologist as follows either:

  • Corrected visual acuity (extent to which an object can be brought into focus) on the Snellen Scale must be less than or equal to 6/60 in both eyes
  • Constriction to within 10 degrees or less of arc of central fixation in the better eye, irrespective of corrected visual acuity (i.e. visual fields are reduced to a measured arc of 10 degrees or less)
  • A combination of visual defects resulting in the same degree of visual impairment as that occurring in the above points.

(An optometrist report is not sufficient for NDIS purposes.)

Deafblindness confirmed by ophthalmologist and audiologist and assessed as resulting in permanent and severe to total impairment of visual function and hearing.

Conditions resulting in multiple types of impairment

  • Aceruloplasminemia
  • Addison-Schilder disease/ Adrenoleukodystrophy /
  • Albinism
  • Arginosuccinic aciduria
  • Aspartylglucosaminuria
  • Cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis/ cerebral cholesterosis
  • Congenital cytomegalovirus infection
  • Congenital hypothyroidism
  • Congenital iodine-deficiency syndrome /cretinism
  • Congenital rubella syndrome
  • Galactosaemia with long term learning disabilities and neurological impairment
  • Glycine encephalopathy/ non-ketotic hyperglycinaemia
  • GM1 gangliosidosis
  • Hartnup disease
  • Homocystinuria
  • Lowe syndrome/ Oculocerebrorenal syndrome
  • Mannosidosis
  • Menkes disease
  • Mucolipidosis II / I-cell disease
  • Mucolipidosis III / pseudo-Hurler polydystrophy
  • Mucolipidosis IV
  • Neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis
  • Niemann-Pick disease
  • Phenylketonuria
  • Pyruvate carboxylase deficiency
  • Pyruvate dehydrogenase deficiency
  • Sialidosis
  • Sulfite oxidase deficiency.

The following mucopolysaccharidoses

  • Hurler syndrome/MPS1-H
  • Scheie syndrome/ MPS 1-S
  • Hurler-Scheie syndrome/ MPS 1 H-S
  • Hunter syndrome/ MPS II
  • San Fillipo syndrome/ MPS III
  • Morquio syndrome/ MPS IVA
  • Maroteaux-Lamy syndrome/ MPS VI
  • Sly syndrome/ MPS VII.

The following lysosomal storage disorders

  • Gaucher disease Types 2 and 3
  • Niemann-Pick disease (Types A and C)
  • Pompe disease
  • Sandhoff disease (infantile form)
  • Schindler disease (Type 1)
  • Tay-Sachs disease (infantile form).

Congenital conditions — cases where malformations cannot be corrected by surgery or other treatment and result in permanent impairment

  • Chiari malformation/Arnold-Chiari malformation
  • Congenital absence of limb(s)
  • Congenital hydrocephalus
  • Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
  • Fetal hydantoin syndrome
  • Microcephaly
  • Spina bifida
  • VATER syndrome (VACTERL association).

When do we make priority eligibility decisions?

If you’re in one of the following situations, we’ll decide if you’re eligible within 2 to 5 business days.

  • Child younger than 7 years with a hearing impairment, either:
    • Identified as Hearing Australia or Early Childhood Partner Priority
    • Identified as ‘newly diagnosed’.
  • A child is identified as having a developmental delay and is turning 6 years old within 30 days of a valid NDIS application.
  • Immediate risk to self, others, community or agency where appropriate disability or informal supports are not in place.
  • Unexpected, significant deterioration of disability-related functional capacity where appropriate disability or informal supports are not in place.
  • Rapid deterioration in functional capacity of a person with one of the following permanent disabilities:
    • Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease)
    • Brain Cancer
    • Motor Neurone Disease (MND)
    • Progressive Bulbar Palsy (PBP)
    • Primary Lateral Sclerosis (PLS)
  • Progressive Muscular Atrophy (PMA).
  • A terminal illness and disability
  • 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.
  • Appropriate disability supports are not in place and are 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, being discharged from hospital
    • A younger person living in residential aged care
    • A person being discharged from an inpatient mental health facility
    • A person due to be released from correctional facility.

How do we weigh evidence of disability?

We understand that you may have evidence of your disability from different health professionals at different times. When we’re deciding if you’re eligible for the NDIS, we look at:

  • how old your evidence is
  • who provided your evidence.

We weigh evidence based on what we consider best practice, or highest quality. We consider this evidence most strongly when we make a decision.

What type of evidence should you provide?

We need evidence to help us consider if you meet the disability or early intervention requirements.

For the disability requirements, we need evidence to confirm your permanent impairment and evidence about how this impacts your functional capacity.

For the early intervention requirements, we need evidence to confirm your permanent impairment and evidence that confirms you need early intervention.

It’s important to understand the type of evidence that you are providing us. You may have evidence from a doctor or specialist confirming your permanent impairment or you may

have evidence from an allied health professional or other medical professional that tells us about impacts to your functional capacity (your ability to do daily life activities). These are different types of evidence which will often be provided by different health professionals based on their qualifications.

How old should your evidence be?

How old should your evidence be to confirm your permanent impairment?

We need evidence from your doctor or specialist to confirm your permanent impairment. You can give us evidence confirming this from any age. However, evidence about how your impairment impacts your functional capacity should be from the last 12 months.

How old should your evidence be to confirm your functional capacity?

Generally, we need evidence about how your impairment impacts your functional capacity from the last 12 months. This is because your functional capacity may change over time, even if your impairment doesn’t. It’s important that we have evidence of your current circumstances to ensure we understand your support needs.

If you give us more than one type of evidence, we might weigh the newer evidence over the older evidence. If you give us older evidence, we will generally give this less weighting when we make our decision. In these cases, we will generally ask for more information. If this is not provided, we may decide you aren’t eligible for the NDIS.

How old should your evidence be to confirm you need early intervention?

We need evidence from your doctor or specialist to confirm your permanent impairment and that you need early intervention.

Generally, we need evidence about that confirms you need early intervention from the last 12 months. This is because your functional capacity may change over time — even if your impairment does not. It’s important that we have evidence of your current circumstances to ensure we understand your support needs.

Who should provide evidence?

We generally prefer evidence that comes from a treating professional who:

  • is the most appropriately qualified person to provide evidence of your primary disability
  • has treated you for a significant period of time (at least six months)
  • is registered to practise in Australia or New Zealand
  • provides disability evidence (such as a medical report) that is original, genuine and specific to you.

Depending on your situation, you might get your evidence of permanent impairment from a different treating professional than your evidence of functional capacity.

If you need help to get your evidence together, your local area coordinator or early childhood partner can help you.

Who should provide evidence of your permanent impairment?

We generally prefer evidence from your doctor or specialist to confirm your permanent impairment.

Examples of common doctors or specialists include:

  • General Practitioner (GP)
  • Paediatrician
  • Orthopaedic surgeon
  • Neurologist
  • Psychiatrist.

Who should provide evidence of your functional capacity?

We generally prefer evidence from a doctor, specialist, allied health or other medical professional for confirm how your permanent impairment impacts your functional capacity.

In addition to doctors and specialists, examples of common allied health or other medical professionals include:

  • Occupational Therapist
  • Speech Pathologist (Therapist)
  • Psychologist
  • Physiotherapist.

Who should provide evidence that you need for early intervention?

We generally prefer evidence from your doctor or specialist to confirm your permanent impairment.

Whereas a doctor, specialist, allied health or other medical professional can give us evidence to confirm you need early intervention.

In addition to doctors and specialists, examples of common allied health or other medical professionals include:

  • Occupational Therapist
  • Speech Pathologist (Therapist)
  • Psychologist
  • Physiotherapist.

Health professionals registered to practise in Australia and New Zealand

We strongly prefer evidence of your disability to come from a registered Australian or New Zealand health professional. Most Australian health professionals are registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).

We will still consider evidence from non-Australian or New Zealand health professionals, or unregistered health professionals. However, this evidence will be given less weight.

If we cannot confirm the registration of your health professional, we will ask you (and your health professional) for more information in the first instance. If we still cannot confirm their registration, we will likely decide that you are not eligible for the NDIS.

Reference list

1 NDIS Act s 24(1)(e). 2 NDIS Act ss 22-23. 3 NDIS Act s 24. 4 NDIS Act s 25. 5 NDIS Act s 28(1). 6 NDIS Act s 22. 7 NDIS Act s 23(1)(b)(i). 8 NDIS Act s 23(1)(b)(ii). 9 NDIS Act s 23(1)(b)(iii). 10 NDIS Act s 23(1)(a). 11 NDIS Act s 23(2). 12 NDIS Act s 23(2)(f). 13 NDIS Act s 23(2)(a). 14 NDIS Act s 23(2)(b). 15 NDIS Act s 23(2)(c). 16 NDIS Act s 23(2)(d). 17 NDIS Act s 23(2)(e). 18 NDIS Act s 24. 19 NDIS Act ss 24(1)(a); 25(1)(a). 20 NDIS Act ss 24(1)(a); 25(1)(a)(ii). 21 NDIS Act ss 24(3) 22 NDIS (Becoming a Participant) Rules rr 5.4, 6.4. 23 NDIS (Becoming a Participant) Rules rr 5.6, 6.6. 24 NDIS (Becoming a Participant) Rules rr 5.5, 6.5. 25 NDIS Act s 25(3). NDIS (Becoming a Participant) Rules r 6.8. 26 NDIS Act s 24(1)(d). 27 NDIS Act s 24(1)(e).

28 NDIS Act s24(3) 29 NDIS Act s 24(2). 30 NDIS Act ss 25(1)(a)(i)-(ii). 31 NDIS Act s 25(1)(a)(i). 32 NDIS Act ss 25(1)(a)(i)-(ii). 33 NDIS Act s 25(1)(a)(ii). 34 NDIS Act s 25(1)(b). 35 NDIS Act s 25(1)(c). 36 NDIS (Becoming a Participant) Rules r 6.9. 37 NDIS Act s 25(1)(d) 38 NDIS Act s 25. 39 NDIS Act ss 9 (definition of ‘developmental delay’), 21(1)(c), 25(1)(a)(iii). 40 NDIS Act s 23(1)(a). 41 NDIS Act s 23(1)(b). 42 NDIS Act ss 9 (definition of ‘developmental delay’), 25(1)(a)(iii). 43 NDIS Act ss 9 (definition of ‘developmental delay’), 25(1)(a)(iii). 44 NDIS Act s 9 (definition of ‘developmental delay’ para (a)). 45 NDIS Act s 9 (definition of ‘developmental delay’ para (b)). 46 NDIS Act s 9 (definition of ‘developmental delay’ para (c)). 47 NDIS Act s 25(1)(d); NDIS (Becoming a Participant) Rules rr 6.1, 8.4. 48 NDIS Act s 19(1)(a). 49 NDIS Act s 19(1)(b). 50 NDIS Act s 19(1)(c). 51 NDIS Act s 197(1). 52 NDIS Act s 74(1)(a). 53 NDIS Act s 74(1)(b). 54 NDIS Act s 20. 55 NDIS Act s 26(2)(d). 56 NDIS Act s 26. 57 NDIS Act s 26(3) 58 NDIS Act s 26(2). 59 NDIS Act s 21(3). 60 NDIS Act s 100(5)(b). 61 NDIS Act s 28(1). 62 NDIS Act s 28(2). 63 NDIS Act s 32BA(1). 64 NDIS Act s 32BA(3). 65 NDIS Act s 32BA(2)(c). 66 NDIS Act s 32BA(5). 67 NDIS Act s 32BA(4). 68 NDIS Act s 7(2). 69 NDIS Act s 100(2). 70 NDIS Act s 100(2). 71 NDIS Act s 19(2). 72 NDIS Act s 19(2)(c). 73 NDIS Act s 102. 74 NDIS Act s 19(2)(d).