NDIS Glossary

NDIS glossary terms

NDIS

Australia's national scheme that funds support for people with permanent and significant disability.

Plan

Your personal document setting out your goals and the funding you've been given to reach them.

Participant

A person who has an approved NDIS plan. If you have a plan, that's you.

Core Supports

The most flexible budget - everyday help like personal care, household tasks and getting out into the community.

Capacity Building

Funding to build your skills and independence over time, like travel training or managing money.

Capital Supports

Funding for higher-cost items like equipment, assistive technology or home modifications.

Assistance with Daily Life

A Core Supports category covering help with everyday personal tasks - showering, dressing, meals and routines.

Support Coordinator

Someone funded to help you understand your plan and connect with the right providers. They don't deliver hands-on care. TrueSide provides Level 1 and Level 2 support coordination for plan-managed and self-managed participants.

Plan Manager

Someone who handles the money side - paying your providers and tracking your budget - so you don't have to.

Self-Managed

When you (or a family member) manage your own NDIS funding and pay providers directly. You can negotiate rates.

Plan-Managed

When a plan manager pays your providers from your budget and keeps track of spending for you.

NDIA-Managed

When the NDIA manages that funding. For supports that are NDIA-managed, participants must use registered providers; TrueSide is currently unregistered.

NDIA

The government agency that runs the NDIS and approves plans.

Service Agreement

A simple agreement between you and a provider that sets out what support you'll get and what it costs.

Provider

An organisation or person who delivers the supports in your plan - like TrueSide.

Reasonable & Necessary

The test the NDIS uses to decide what to fund - supports that genuinely relate to your disability and goals.

Plan Reassessment

A regular check-in (once called a plan review) where your plan is updated to make sure it still fits your life.

Item Code

The NDIS code for a specific support that appears on your invoice, e.g. 01_011_0107_1_1 for weekday self-care.

Price Guide

The NDIS document that sets the maximum prices providers can charge for each support. From 2026-27 it is called the NDIS Pricing Schedule (it used to be the Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits).

Short-Notice Cancellation

A cancellation made within the notice period that applies under the current NDIS claiming rules and your service agreement. Whether a cancellation can be claimed depends on the support and the applicable conditions.

SIL

Help with daily tasks for people in shared or supported housing. (Out of TrueSide's scope.)

SDA

Funding for specially designed housing for very high support needs. (Out of TrueSide's scope.)

Assistive Technology

Equipment or tools that help you do things more easily and independently.

LAC

A person who helps you understand the NDIS and put your plan into action in your local area.

Goals

What you want to achieve - written into your plan, and what your supports work towards.

GST-Free

Some NDIS supplies can be GST-free when the requirements in the GST law are met. It is not an automatic rule for every service or transaction.