Access request

What is an NDIS access request?

An NDIS access request is the application a person makes to the NDIA to become an NDIS participant. The NDIA uses it to decide whether the person meets the access requirements: being under 65 when they apply, living in Australia with the right residency status, and meeting either the disability or the early intervention requirements. If the request is approved, the person becomes a participant and moves on to planning.

"Access" is the NDIA's word for eligibility. When people search "NDIS eligibility" or "who is eligible for the NDIS", the answer is the access requirements in sections 21 to 25 of the NDIS Act 2013, which the NDIA explains in its Applying to the NDIS guideline. The request can be made by the person, or by someone on their behalf such as a parent of a child or a guardian.

The access request is a decision about whether you can join the scheme. It is not a decision about how much funding you get. That comes later, when the NDIA builds your NDIS plan using the reasonable and necessary criteria.

Who is eligible: the NDIS access requirements

To meet access, a person must satisfy the age and residence requirements and either the disability requirements or the early intervention requirements.

The NDIA treats an impairment as permanent when there are no known, available and appropriate evidence-based treatments likely to remedy it. It doesn't mean nothing will ever change. A substantial reduction in functional capacity generally means the person usually needs disability-specific support to take part in or complete activities in at least one of the six areas, not just that a task takes longer.

Conditions that are episodic or fluctuating, such as many psychosocial disabilities, can still meet the permanence test. The NDIA looks at the impairment over time, not only on a good or bad day.

Disability requirements vs early intervention requirements

The two pathways answer different questions. The disability requirements ask whether a permanent impairment already substantially reduces the person's functional capacity, so that they are likely to need NDIS supports for life. The early intervention requirements look forward: they don't require a substantial reduction in functional capacity now, but ask whether providing supports early is likely to change the person's trajectory, for example by reducing the support they will need later.

Early intervention is most often used for young children with developmental delay or disability, but adults can also meet the early intervention requirements, for example soon after an impairment that is likely to be permanent. Participants who join through early intervention can expect the NDIA to check over time whether early intervention supports are still the right fit, or whether they now meet the disability requirements instead.

If you're unsure which pathway applies, you don't have to choose. Send the evidence you have, and the NDIA will consider both sets of requirements.

How to make an NDIS access request

There are several ways to apply. The NDIA's applying and evidence pages describe them:

• By phone: call the NDIA on 1800 800 110 and make a verbal access request.
• With a form: complete the Access Request Form, with Section 2 filled in by a treating health professional or with existing reports attached, and send it to the NDIA.
• In person or with help: contact your local NDIS office or a partner, such as a local area coordinator.
• For young children: families of children younger than 6 with developmental delay, or younger than 9 with disability, should contact an early childhood partner through the early childhood approach.

What evidence to include

Evidence is the part that decides most access requests. The NDIA needs to understand the impairment, whether it's permanent, and how it affects daily life.

Recent reports from a treating professional who knows the person well are generally more useful than older or one-off reports. If the NDIA needs more, it may ask your treating professional to complete a Supporting Evidence Form or ask you to attend an assessment.

Access request timeframes

The NDIS Act sets deadlines for both sides. After receiving an access request, the NDIA has 21 days to either make a decision or ask for more information or an assessment. If it asks, you have 90 days to provide the information, unless the NDIA agrees to an extension; otherwise the request is treated as withdrawn. Once the information arrives, the NDIA has 14 days to decide.

If the NDIA doesn't decide within the required time, the request is treated as a decision that you don't meet access, which you can then have reviewed. Keep a record of the date you sent your request and any information, so you can track these deadlines.

After the access decision

If you meet access, you become a participant and receive an NDIS number. The NDIA then works with you to develop your first plan.

If you don't meet access, the decision letter explains why. You can:

1. Ask for an internal review within 3 months of the decision. Someone not involved in the original decision looks at it again (NDIA: how to request a review).
2. Apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal, generally within 28 days of the internal review decision.
3. Make a new access request later, for example when you have new evidence or your circumstances change.

Not meeting access doesn't mean no support. Mainstream services, community programs and state-funded supports still apply, and for many young children Thriving Kids is being rolled out as a support pathway outside the NDIS.

Access request vs plan, reassessment and review

These steps are often confused. The access request decides whether you're in the scheme. Planning decides what is funded. A plan reassessment revisits the plan later. An internal review challenges a specific decision, including an access decision.

Changes to NDIS access (2026–2028)

NDIS access is changing, but not straight away. The NDIS Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Act 2026 received assent on 20 August 2026. The government has said there will be no changes to NDIS access arrangements before 1 January 2028 (NDIA: Securing the NDIS for future generations).

From 1 January 2028, people who apply will be assessed under new access rules, which include a standardised, evidence-based assessment of functional capacity, with access based on a significant reduction in functional capacity that affects day-to-day living. Diagnosis lists will no longer be the way into the scheme. Existing participants are to be reassessed against the new criteria over a transition period of about three years. The details are being set in rules, so check the NDIA and Department of Health, Disability and Ageing pages before you rely on them.

Common mistakes with access requests

• Sending a diagnosis without functional impact. A diagnosis alone rarely shows a substantial reduction in functional capacity. Describe what the person can't do without support.
• Using old reports. Evidence should reflect the person's current situation.
• Missing the 90-day window. If the NDIA asks for more information and you don't respond or get an extension, the request is treated as withdrawn.
• Not addressing permanence. Evidence should say whether treatment options have been tried or are available, and what the expected course is.
• Assuming "not met" is final. You can ask for a review or make a new request with new evidence.
• Treating access as funding. Meeting access gets you into the scheme; the plan decides what's funded.

Providers who already support a person, for example through state-funded or private services, can help by supplying factual records of the support they give. They shouldn't promise that a request will succeed.