NDIS glossary
Short meanings for NDIS words used on this site. They follow the NDIA's own descriptions. Where a word is tied to a change dated in 2026 or later, the meaning says so and links to the official page.
Dated changes are listed on the NDIS changes timeline. Last reviewed 19 October 2026.
0–9
90-day claiming rule
From 1 December 2026, an NDIS claim must be made within 90 days of the day the support is delivered. Until then the limit is two years, which started on 3 October 2024. The claim is made by whoever manages that funding: the plan manager, the self-managed participant or their nominee, or the provider for NDIA-managed supports.
90-day claiming rule articleDepartment of Health, Disability and Ageing: About the changes to the NDIS (last updated 2 October 2026)
B
Budget
The amount of NDIS funding in a plan for a group of supports. Plans usually have separate budgets for Core, Capacity Building and Capital. Funding in one budget cannot automatically be used for a support in another.
C
Capacity Building
Supports that build a participant's skills and independence, including therapies, employment support and improved daily living.
Capital supports
Funding for higher-cost items, including assistive technology and home or vehicle modifications. Capital funding is usually tied to the item it was approved for.
Claim
A request for the NDIA to pay for a support that has been delivered. Who makes the claim depends on how that part of the plan is managed. From 1 December 2026 the claim must be made within 90 days of the support.
90-day claiming rule articleNDIS: Securing the NDIS for future generations (accessed 19 October 2026)
Core supports
Funding for everyday activities. Core includes assistance with daily life, consumables, assistance with social, economic and community participation, and transport. It is generally the most flexible budget in a plan.
G
Goals
What a participant wants their NDIS plan to help them do. Goals are written in the plan and are part of how funded supports are decided and later reassessed.
I
Improved daily living skills
A Capacity Building category, also known by the older name capacity building daily activities. From 1 October 2026, funding for these supports is reduced by 10% as plans are created, reassessed or renewed. Some subgroups inside the category are protected.
Budget resets and plan renewalsDepartment of Health, Disability and Ageing: Funding changes for NDIS supports (accessed 19 October 2026)
Improved Life Choices
The Capacity Building category that funds plan management. Plan management is funded by the NDIS in your capacity building supports budget, at no cost to you. Plan-managed participants can use registered or unregistered providers, unlike agency management.
Invoice
The bill a provider sends for supports they have delivered. A plan manager needs a valid invoice, including the participant's name and NDIS number, the provider's ABN, the support item number, the dates of service and the price, before the claim can be made.
N
NDIA
The National Disability Insurance Agency. It runs the NDIS: it makes access decisions, approves plans and pays claims.
NDIA-managed
Also called agency-managed. The NDIA pays registered providers directly for those supports. The participant uses registered providers, and the provider makes the claim. Maximum NDIS prices apply.
NDIS
The National Disability Insurance Scheme. It funds reasonable and necessary supports for people who meet the access requirements.
NDIS Commission
The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. It registers providers, sets practice standards, and handles complaints about NDIS providers and their workers.
NDIS number
The unique number the NDIA gives a participant. It is required on an invoice so the claim is matched to the right plan.
NDIS plan
The document that sets out a participant's goals, the supports the NDIS will fund, the budgets, and the plan dates.
New framework plan
A new type of NDIS plan. Participants aged 18 and over start moving to new framework plans from 1 April 2027, through to 31 December 2030. The 2026–27 budget reset does not apply to new framework plans.
Budget resets and plan renewalsDepartment of Health, Disability and Ageing: New framework planning (accessed 19 October 2026)
Nominee
A person the NDIA appoints to act for a participant. A plan nominee can do things related to the plan. A child representative acts for a child participant. The NDIS website lists a 5-year record-keeping period for nominees.
NDIS: Securing the NDIS for future generations (accessed 19 October 2026)
P
PACE
The NDIA's computer system for newer NDIS plans and provider payments. A participant with a PACE plan views it in the my NDIS portal, and providers claim through the PACE payment process.
Participant
A person who meets the NDIS access requirements and has an NDIS plan.
Plan continuation
The current way a plan can roll on with the same supports when it reaches its reassessment date. From 1 February 2027, plan renewals replace plan continuations.
Budget resets and plan renewalsDepartment of Health, Disability and Ageing: About the changes to the NDIS (last updated 2 October 2026)
Plan management
A way of managing NDIS funding. A registered plan manager receives provider invoices, checks them against the plan and NDIS pricing, claims from the NDIA and pays the provider. The participant keeps choice of providers, including unregistered providers where the rules allow it. Plan management is funded in the plan, so there is no cost to you.
What is plan management?Plan management — managing your NDIS plan
Plan management panel
The list of plan managers the NDIA says it will approve. The NDIA has published a launch date of 1 October 2027, with a 6-month transition. From April 2028, the NDIA says participants who use plan management must use a plan manager from the panel. The deed topics are in the NDIS Act, Schedule 2 Part 6 (section 73EA): integrity and governance, staff and key personnel, how claims are checked and submitted, information and communications technology, and related parties and conflicts of interest. That part has not commenced. It starts by proclamation, or on 1 September 2028 if it is not proclaimed within 24 months of Royal Assent on 20 August 2026. No providers have been selected yet. Being a registered plan manager today is not a place on this panel.
Plan management panel articleFederal Register of Legislation: NDIS Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Act 2026, section 2 and Schedule 2 (as made, 20 August 2026)
Plan manager
A registered provider who delivers plan management: checking invoices, making claims, paying providers and showing the budget. A plan manager does not choose the participant's supports. That role is separate from a support coordinator.
What does a plan manager do?Plan management — managing your NDIS plan
Plan reassessment
When the NDIA looks at a plan again and decides the funding in the next plan. From 27 August 2026, an unscheduled reassessment can be requested only by the participant, their plan nominee or their guardian/child representative, and only where there is a significant and ongoing change. The NDIA has 90 days to decide.
Budget resets and plan renewalsDepartment of Health, Disability and Ageing: About the changes to the NDIS (last updated 2 October 2026)
Plan renewal
From 1 February 2027, a plan that reaches its reassessment date is either reassessed or renewed with the same supports. A renewed plan is set at the assessed level, adjusted for current prices. Unspent funds are not carried over. Plan renewal replaces plan continuation.
Budget resets and plan renewalsNDIS: Securing the NDIS for future generations (accessed 19 October 2026)
Plan variation
A change to the current plan that is smaller than a reassessment. A variation can be requested in a crisis or emergency, or where there has been fraud. From 1 October 2026 there is also a variation pathway for participants with high support needs who need continuous 24-hour care.
Budget resets and plan renewalsNDIS: Securing the NDIS for future generations (accessed 19 October 2026)
Price limits
The maximum prices in the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits. The pricing determination that took effect on 24 September 2026 applies those maximum prices to NDIA-managed and plan-managed participants.
NDIS pricing arrangements explainedNDIS: New price limits set for NDIS supports (24 September 2026)
Pricing Arrangements
The NDIA document that sets price limits, which supports can be claimed, and the rules for claiming them. The 2026–27 NDIS pricing schedule and SDA pricing schedule took effect on 24 September 2026.
Provider registration
Registration with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. Some supports can only be delivered by a registered provider. Mandatory registration for SIL and platform providers started on 1 July 2026, and expands to further higher-risk supports from 1 July 2027.
Provider registration requirementsDepartment of Health, Disability and Ageing: About the changes to the NDIS (last updated 2 October 2026)
R
Reasonable and necessary
The test the NDIA uses when it decides whether to fund a support. From 1 February 2027, new reasonable and necessary criteria apply to new entrants, and then to existing participants as their plans are reassessed.
Record keeping
Keeping evidence of NDIS claims and the supports those claims relate to, where the record is of a kind the NDIS rules prescribe. Under section 45B of the NDIS Act, an NDIS provider, including a registered plan manager, keeps those records for 7 years from the day the claim is made. A participant who makes the claim keeps them for 3 years. Another person who makes the claim, such as a nominee, keeps them for 5 years. The rules can set a shorter period.
90-day claiming rule articleFederal Register of Legislation: NDIS Act 2013, section 45B (compilation in force 1 October 2026)
Registered provider
A provider registered with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. NDIA-managed supports must be delivered by a registered provider. Plan-managed participants can also use unregistered providers where the rules for that support allow it.
S
Self-managed
The participant, or their nominee, pays providers and then claims the money back from the NDIA. They can use registered or unregistered providers where the rules allow it, and they keep the records and receipts.
Service agreement
A written agreement between a participant and a provider. It sets out the supports to be delivered, when they will be delivered, and how they will be paid. The NDIA recommends having one.
Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA)
Housing for people who need a specialist home because of very high support needs. The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing lists SDA as a critical support that is not part of the 2026–27 budget reset.
Support catalogue
The NDIA list of support item numbers used to describe and claim a support. The 2026–27 Support Catalogue has been published.
NDIS: What is the NDIS Support Catalogue? (accessed 19 October 2026)
Support categories
The groups of funded supports inside a plan. The main budgets are Core, Capacity Building and Capital, and each of those contains categories such as daily activities, improved daily living, or assistive technology.
Support coordinator
A person funded in a plan to help a participant find providers, connect supports and use the plan. Support coordination is not plan management, and a plan manager does not do that work. From 1 July 2028, a commissioned support coordination and connection service is due to start, and support coordination will not be funded in individual plans.
Plan manager and support coordinator rolesDepartment of Health, Disability and Ageing: About the changes to the NDIS (last updated 2 October 2026)
Support item number
The code from the NDIS Support Catalogue that identifies a support on an invoice and on a claim. It lets the plan manager check the claim against the right category and price limit.
U
Unregistered provider
A provider that is not registered with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. Plan-managed and self-managed participants can use unregistered providers where the rules for that support allow it. NDIA-managed supports are limited to registered providers.
Social, economic and community participation
A Core support category, also known by the older name social, civic and community participation. From 1 October 2026, funding for these supports is reduced by 50% as plans are created, reassessed or renewed. Some subgroups are protected, and critical supports are not part of this reset.
Budget resets and plan renewals · Department of Health, Disability and Ageing: Funding changes for NDIS supports (accessed 19 October 2026)