Changes to the Becoming a Participant Rule
The 2019 review of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (NDIS Act) recognised the challenges people with psychosocial disability had in accessing the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) (recommendation 8).
This is due to a lack of clarity in the law around how a psychosocial disability should be considered as a permanent disability. The treatment of a psychosocial disability can differ from a physical or neurological disability because treatment is largely focused on recovery and improvement. Further, psychosocial disabilities are often fluctuating and episodic in nature which has made it challenging for individuals with a psychosocial disability to provide evidence of permanency to access the NDIS.
What is changing
The changes to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (Becoming a Participant) Rule 2016 will clarify when a person’s impairments are, or likely to be permanent, for the purposes of the disability or early intervention access requirements. The Rule will ensure people with psychosocial disabilities are supported to access and test their eligibility for individually funded supports under the NDIS, by recognising that some psychosocial conditions may be episodic and fluctuating in nature. The revised Rule will also reflect best practice drafting standards.
What you should read
You can read the following document to understand the changes to the Rule:
- Explanation of the Becoming a Participant Rule PDF [417 kB] | DOCX [152 kB] |
Listen to PDF - The revised Becoming a Participant Rule PDF [216 kB] | DOCX [157 kB] | Listen to PDF
If you want more information, you can also read the:
- NDIS Act review report for the full recommendations and the reasons for them
- Government’s response to the NDIS Act review report
- Easy Read summary of the report, recommendations and response
- Implementing the recommendations of the 2019 NDIS Act review
- Summary of the NDIS Bill and changes to NDIS Rules.
Have your say
You can have your say on the revised Becoming a Participant Rule by making a submission.