The NDIS Supports Lists Explained: Funded and Not Funded

The NDIS marks out what it funds with two lists: one describing supports that count as NDIS supports, and one naming supports that never do. Together they draw the outer boundary of what NDIS money can buy. Inside that boundary, your own plan and goals decide what actually sits with you, and a separate rule about replacement supports lets you swap an everyday item in for something already funded.

Get these two lists straight and a lot of guesswork disappears, because you can check any item against a clear edge before you ever raise it with the people who manage your funding.

The list of what counts

The first list, “Supports that are NDIS supports”, describes the goods and services that can be funded. It is written broadly on purpose. Rather than naming every possible product, it groups supports into thirty-seven categories, and an item counts if it fits one of those category descriptions even when it is not listed as an example.

That breadth is a feature. Because the categories are general, you keep flexibility over the exact item and provider you choose, instead of being tied to a fixed catalogue. The trade-off is that fitting a category is necessary but not sufficient. An item still has to clear the second list, and then still has to be reasonable and necessary for your goals, before it belongs in your plan.

The list of what never counts

The second list, “Supports that are not NDIS supports”, is the firm edge. It holds fifteen categories of goods and services that NDIS money can never be used for. These cover everyday living costs that people meet regardless of disability, anything unlawful, supports that another government system or community service should provide, and a small set of specific exclusions.

This list wins. If an item sits on it, no plan and no goal brings it back inside the scheme, however useful the item might be. The consequence for getting this wrong is real: if NDIS money is spent on something that is not an NDIS support, or that does not line up with your plan, the NDIA may ask you to repay it. Checking both lists before a purchase is a few minutes well spent.

Reading the two lists together

The two lists work as a pair, and the order matters. Start by asking whether an item fits one of the thirty-seven funded categories. If it does not, stop there. If it does, check it against the fifteen excluded categories. Only an item that sits inside the first and stays off the second reaches the next question at all.

That next question is the reasonable and necessary test, which looks at you rather than the product. The NDIS funds supports it decides are reasonable and necessary for your goals. The same item can be approved for one participant and not another, so no list or website can tell you what your plan will include. The lists set the boundary; your plan decides what falls inside it.

Replacement supports: swapping for an everyday item

There is a useful exception worth knowing. A replacement support is an everyday item a participant uses instead of an NDIS support already in their plan, not an extra support on top. It lets you swap, for example, a standard household appliance or a mainstream device in for a funded support, where that item does the job better or more simply.

Replacement supports come with firm conditions and a required approval step. The item has to replace a support already in your plan, help you the same or more than the support it replaces, appear on the pre-approved replacement supports list, and cost the same or less than what it replaces. Approval has to come in writing from the NDIA before you buy, and the application explains what the item is, which support it replaces, how it helps, and how it delivers the same or better value. No extra assessments or reports are required, though you can include a quote.

Putting it to work

Use the two lists as your first filter and the replacement-supports rule as a handy side door. Check an item against both lists, connect it to a goal, and raise anything uncertain with the people who manage your funding before you commit.

For the test that decides what falls inside the boundary, what the NDIS pays for covers reasonable and necessary in full, and the What’s Covered guide collects verdict-first answers on specific items. How NDIS funding works sets out the budgets these supports draw from, and the support item search puts the current catalogue a click away.

Whether a particular purchase can be claimed depends on your individual plan, your goals, and how your funding is managed. Your plan manager or support coordinator can confirm what applies to you.