NDIS Darwin

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The National Disability Insurance Scheme or the NDIS Darwin has rolled out in Darwin and Australian’s Northern Territory as a whole since July 1st, 2017. This enabled residents of Darwin with a permanent and significant disability to receive support and care for their disability-related needs. The NDIS is ready to help and collaborate with the residents of Darwin to help alleviate the daily challenges that their disability brings.

Since the NDIS has become available to the Northern Territory and its many regions, the latest data has shown that over 3,000 people with a permanent and significant disability have received benefits and funding for much-needed support from the NDIS. Over 1,000 of those participants have reported having received such benefits for the first time.

What is NDIS Darwin?

The National Disability Insurance Scheme, better known as the NDIS, is a scheme developed by the Australian Government to help its citizens and/or residents with a permanent and significant disability living in all of Australia’s states and territories. The NDIS is focused on giving its participants a better quality of life as they live with the everyday challenges that their disability brings.

People who are experiencing an intellectual, physical, sensory, cognitive, or psychosocial disability are welcome to apply for the NDIS, through which they are given an opportunity to have their unique meets addressed and help achieve their personal goals.

The NDIS is also focused on giving its participants early intervention support when it is needed. All to better combat potential intellectual delays and future negative impacts that the disability may bring.

There is also an emphasis on helping the participants gain different skills with the purpose of eventually gaining independence. The NDIS aims to improve its participants’ quality of life to help them live life independently as much as possible and potentially join the workforce.

What Kinds of Support Does NDIS Darwin Provide?

The NDIS is capable of carrying out multiple kinds of support to its NDIS Darwin Participants. Unlike a welfare programme, the NDIS is subscribed to a holistic approach when it comes to the support that it gives to its participants. Each NDIS Darwin Participant is given a customised set of support that would best address their disability needs.

The NDIS Darwin Participants are empowered to collaborate with the NDIS to first identify the needs that they want to meet, their personal short term and long-term goals, and the types of support or services they require to address their needs and goals. All of this information will be needed to help develop the NDIS Participant’s treatment plan or what is called the NDIS Plan.

An NDIS Plan outlines all of the relevant information that participants have given to form a plan of action, including the funding they will use for the support or services they will receive.

NDIS Darwin Participants are also empowered to pick and choose among the list of qualified registered NDIS Providers that they wish to help with seeing to the success of their NDIS Plan. NDIS Participants are allowed to choose the registered NDIS Providers that are available in Darwin.

Types of Support Budgets

The NDIS has developed three types of support budgets that NDIS Darwin Participants can use to fund the support or services they wish to receive. Each support budget is developed to help fund the success of the NDIS Plans and each one is designed to address the different support that the NDIS Participant requires. The support budgets are further divided into categories of support and services that NDIS Participants can fund and receive.

Core Support Budget

The Core Support Budget is used for funding the support for the NDIS Darwin Participant's daily disability-related needs and making progress towards their life goals. This budget is used to make the NDIS Participants live their daily lives as normally as possible. The Core Support Budge is the most flexible support budget that NDIS Darwin Participants can have. They can move their funding across the different four categories of this support budget.

The Core Support Budget’s four categories are:

Assistance with Daily Living;
Consumables;
Assistance with Social & Community Participation; and
Transport.

Capacity Building Support Budget

The Capacity Building Support Budget is used for funding the NDIS Plan of NDIS Darwin Participants that have goals to build different life skills and gain independence. This support budget is also meant to help NDIS Participants reach their long-term goals. Unlike the Core Support Budget, NDIS Participants cannot move their funding across the nine categories of the Capacity Building Support Budget.

The Capacity Building Support Budget’s nine categories are:

Support Coordination;
Improved Living Arrangements;
Increased Social & Community Participation;
Finding & Keeping a Job;
Improved Relationships;
Improved Health & Wellbeing;
Improved Learning;
Improved Life Choices; and
Improved Daily Living.

Capital Support Budget

The Capital Support Budget is used to fund the NDIS Darwin Participant’s NDIS Plan that requires a one-off higher-cost product (i.e. equipment, assistive technology, and home or vehicle modifications). The purchased product that this support budget funds will help the NDIS Participant alleviate the challenges that their disability brought. Funding for the Capital Support Budget should only be used for its agreed-upon purpose.

The Capital Support Budget’s two categories are:

Assistive Technology; and
Home Modifications.

How to Become an NDIS Darwin Participant

There are over 4.5 million people living with a disability all over Australia. The NDIS aims to give the proper support that will help as many people with a permanent and significant disability where the NDIS is available.

The NDIS is available in Darwin, however, not every resident with a disability are eligible to receive support for their disability needs from the NDIS. The NDIS is exclusively giving its support to people living with a permanent and significant disability that is impacting their daily lives. For applicants wanting to become an NDIS Participant, the NDIS has put forth an eligibility checklist that applicants can adhere to.

Must be between the ages of 7 and 64 years old;
Must be an Australian citizen, Permanent Visa holder, or Special Category Visa holder and living in Australia;
Must need support from another person because of a permanent and significant disability;
Must need special equipment because of a permanent and significant disability; and
Must require current support to reduce the need for future support.

To be eligible to become an NDIS Darwin Participant, applicants must meet the first two criteria of the list above and one of the last three criteria. This eligibility checklist is for applicants in every state and territory where NDIS is available, including applicants living in Darwin.

If you have not passed the eligibility checklist, the Australian Government has other programmes that may be a better fit to address your needs.

If you have met all the criteria put forth in the eligibility checklist, you can apply to be an NDIS Participant by calling the NDIA Office at 1800 800 110 to make a Verbal Access Request. This is the first step in the process to become an NDIS Darwin Participant and receiving support for your disability needs.