How to apply for the NDIS — the full process

The NDIS application has five stages. Under 9, your Early Childhood Partner handles most of it with you. Over 9, you drive it yourself, often with your paediatrician's support. Either way, the steps are the same. The variable is how much you do versus how much the Partner or Local Area Coordinator does alongside you.

Stage 1 — The decision to apply

Before you do anything, sit with one question: is the NDIS the right lane for what we're dealing with? There are good reasons to apply, and there are situations where another system is a better fit.

Reasons to apply

• Your child's development is significantly tracking outside the usual range, and a paediatrician or allied health clinician has said so.
• The supports your child needs (therapy, behaviour support, assistive tech) aren't fully covered by Medicare, school, or the public system.
• Your out-of-pocket costs for therapy are already substantial and likely to be ongoing.
• Your child has a diagnosis on List A (severe autism, intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, etc.) — access is usually straightforward.

Reasons to hold off or choose a different lane

• Your child has a mild, transient, or age-typical issue that a few months of Medicare-funded allied health is likely to resolve.
• The primary issue is ADHD without significant co-occurring functional impairment — NDIS won't fund it, and you'll spend months on an unsuccessful application.
• You haven't yet had a paediatric or allied health assessment. Get that first — it will either clarify whether NDIS is warranted or give you the evidence you need to apply.

Stage 2 — Gather your evidence

This is the biggest single determinant of application success. The NDIA can only decide on the basis of the evidence you provide. Good evidence is specific, recent, and speaks directly to the access criteria.

Minimum evidence pack

1. 1A letter from your paediatrician (or psychiatrist) stating the diagnosis or developmental delay, its likely permanence, and the functional impact on daily activities.
2. 2Allied health reports where relevant — a speech pathology report for communication delay, an OT report for motor or sensory, a psychology report for behaviour or psychosocial.
3. 3For under-9s without a diagnosis, standardised assessment results (e.g. ASQ, Bayley, CELF, BOT-2, Vineland) showing where the child sits against typical norms.
4. 4Functional observations — what the child can and can't do in real daily life. Structured examples: 'At dinner, my child can … but cannot …'; 'At kinder drop-off, my child …'.

We go much deeper on evidence in the next chapter. The short version: the NDIA reads dozens of applications a day. Yours needs to be specific, functional, and named. Generic letters ('this child has autism and would benefit from therapy') do less than specific ones ('this child has autism and, as a result, cannot currently participate in group play, respond to safety instructions in public settings, or complete self-care tasks age-appropriate for a five-year-old').

Stage 3 — Complete the Access Request

There are three ways to submit an Access Request. Pick whichever works for your situation.

Option A — Phone (simplest)

Ring the NDIA national contact centre on 1800 800 110, 8am–8pm weekdays. Tell them you're making an Access Request for your child. A planner will take the information verbally and log a Verbal Access Request. They'll tell you what evidence to submit next. This is the fastest front door. Keep a note of the reference number.

Option B — Access Request Form

Download the Access Request Form from ndis.gov.au. It has two parts — one you fill in, one your GP or specialist fills in. Email the completed form (with your evidence pack) to NAT@ndis.gov.au. Under 9, your Early Childhood Partner will usually submit this for you.

Option C — Via a Partner or LAC (supported)

If you're working with an Early Childhood Partner (under 9) or Local Area Coordinator (over 9), they can submit on your behalf with your consent. This is the path most under-9 families use. It's slower by a week or two but usually smoother.

Stage 4 — The access decision

Once the NDIA has a complete Access Request, they have 21 days to make a decision. In practice, this clock often pauses — a delegate will write back asking for more evidence, restarting the clock.

You'll receive one of three decisions in a letter:

• Access met — your child is a scheme participant. Next step: planning meeting within 28 days.
• Not yet eligible / more information needed — the NDIA wants specific additional evidence. Respond within the stated period.
• Access not met — your child does not meet the criteria. You have 90 days to request internal review. We have a full chapter on this.

Stage 5 — The planning meeting

Once access is granted, a planner contacts you to book a planning meeting. This is usually over the phone or at a Partner / LAC office. It typically runs 60–90 minutes. You go in with goals; you come out (a few weeks later, after a drafting period) with a plan — a funded budget across the three categories we'll cover in the plan-budget chapter.

The planning meeting deserves its own chapter. For now: do not go in cold. Preparation is the difference between a plan that actually works and a plan that feels like it was written for a different child.

Typical timelines

Real families usually go through the process in this rough timeline:

• Stage 1 (decision): 1–2 weeks.
• Stage 2 (evidence): 2–6 months. This is where most of the time goes. Allied health waitlists, paediatric waitlists, getting letters written. Start this the moment you decide you're likely to apply.
• Stage 3 (submission): 1–2 hours of your time, 1 week of NDIA processing.
• Stage 4 (decision): 21–90 days, including any back-and-forth for more evidence.
• Stage 5 (first plan): first planning meeting within 28 days of access being granted, written plan usually within 4–6 weeks after the meeting, funding goes live on the plan start date.
• Total, first contact to funded plan: 3–12 months. Under 9 tends to be faster (Partner-led). Over 9 tends to be slower.