25 NDIS Terms Every Victorian Participant Should Know

Published by SESI Care Services · Updated August 2026 · 2-minute summary

Quick answer: The NDIS has its own language, and most of it comes down to 25 terms. The ones that affect your money are Core, Capacity Building, Capital, stated supports and funding periods. The ones that affect your rights are reasonable and necessary, plan reassessment, internal review and nominee. The ones that affect who you can use are registered provider, plan-managed and service agreement. Each is explained below in one short paragraph, with the official NDIS meaning and what it looks like in real life.

The 25 terms at a glance

Term	In one line
Access request	Your application to join the NDIS
Assistive technology (AT)	Equipment that helps you do things — from a shower chair to a power wheelchair
Capacity Building	Funding for skills, therapy and coordination that build your independence
Capital	Funding for equipment, home modifications and specialist housing
Core	Funding for everyday support — support workers, household help, transport, consumables
Choice and control	Your right to decide who supports you and how
Early childhood approach	How the NDIS works with children under 9
Foundational supports	New supports outside the NDIS, starting with Thriving Kids
Funding periods	Instalments your plan funding is released in, often every three months
Functional capacity	What you can and cannot do day to day — the basis of eligibility and funding
Informal supports	Help from family, friends and community that is not paid
Local Area Coordinator (LAC)	A partner organisation that helps you apply, plan and connect
Mainstream supports	Services everyone uses — health, education, housing, justice
NDIA	The agency that runs the NDIS
NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission	The regulator for providers and workers
NDIS Support Lists	The official lists of what the NDIS does and does not fund
Nominee	A person appointed to act for a participant
PACE and my NDIS	The NDIA’s current computer system and participant portal
Plan reassessment / plan variation	A new plan, or a change to the current one
Plan management	The three ways funds are managed: agency, plan-managed, self-managed
Price limits	The most a provider can charge for each support
Reasonable and necessary	The test every funded support has to meet
Registered provider	A provider audited by the NDIS Commission
Service agreement	The written agreement between you and a provider
Stated supports	Funding that can only be used for the thing it names

A–C

Access request. Your application to become a participant. You need to be under 65 when you apply, live in Australia as a citizen, permanent resident or Protected SCV holder, and have a permanent and significant disability or meet the early intervention requirements. The NDIA must make a decision, or ask you for more information, within 21 days of receiving a complete request. See the NDIA’s Am I eligible page.

Assistive technology (AT). Equipment or devices that help you do something you otherwise could not, or could not do safely — continence products, a shower chair, a communication device, a power wheelchair. Low-cost items may come from Core consumables; higher-cost items come from Capital and usually need an assessment, often from an occupational therapist.

Capacity Building. One of the three budget types. It funds supports that build your skills and independence: therapy (Improved Daily Living), support coordination, employment support, and plan management (Improved Life Choices). Capacity Building money can only be spent within the category it is allocated to.

Capital. The budget for big one-off items: assistive technology, home modifications and Specialist Disability Accommodation. Capital funding is always stated — it can only be used for the item it was approved for.

Core. The budget for everyday support: assistance with daily life (support workers, household tasks, personal care), transport, consumables and social and community participation. Core is flexible — you can generally move money between these four areas — but it cannot be moved into Capacity Building or Capital.

Choice and control. The principle, written into the NDIS Act, that you decide which providers you use, how supports are delivered and who is involved in your planning. In practice: you can change providers, you do not have to accept a provider a planner suggests, and a service agreement can be ended.

D–H

Early childhood approach. The way the NDIS supports children under 9. Early childhood partners work with families on developmental concerns, sometimes without the child becoming a participant. From 1 October 2026, children aged 8 and under with lower support needs start moving to the Thriving Kids program — read our Thriving Kids guide.

Foundational supports. Supports delivered outside individual NDIS plans, through mainstream and community settings, agreed by the Commonwealth and the states after the NDIS Review. Thriving Kids is the first phase. Foundational supports are meant to be in place before NDIS access rules change from 2028.

Funding periods. Newer plans release funding in instalments rather than all at once — commonly every three months, sometimes monthly for some supports. If your plan shows a smaller figure than you expected, check whether you are looking at the current period or the annual total. Unspent funding from one plan no longer rolls over into the next.

Functional capacity. What you can and cannot do in everyday life — showering, moving around, communicating, managing routines — and how much help you need to do it. The NDIA is moving to assess eligibility and funding on functional capacity rather than diagnosis, with the main change to access rules planned for January 2028. Our 2026 NDIS changes guide explains what is known so far.

I–N

Informal supports. Help you get from family, friends, neighbours and community that is not paid for. The NDIA takes informal supports into account when deciding what is reasonable and necessary, which is why it matters to describe honestly what a family member can and cannot sustain.

Local Area Coordinator (LAC). A partner organisation, not the NDIA itself, that helps people aged 9 and over apply, prepare for planning, understand their plan and connect with community and mainstream services. LACs do not make funding decisions; the NDIA does.

Mainstream supports. Services every Australian uses — GPs and hospitals, schools, public housing, Centrelink, justice. The NDIS funds disability-specific supports; it does not replace these systems. Disputes about which system should pay are common, and a support coordinator is often the person who sorts them out.

NDIA. The National Disability Insurance Agency — the Commonwealth agency that runs the NDIS, decides access, approves plans and pays providers. When people say “the NDIS decided”, they usually mean the NDIA. Phone 1800 800 110.

NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. The national regulator. It registers and audits providers, runs the NDIS Worker Screening Check, handles complaints about providers and enforces the NDIS Code of Conduct, which applies to all providers and workers, registered or not. Website: ndiscommission.gov.au.

NDIS Support Lists. Since 3 October 2024, two official lists set out what counts as an NDIS support and what does not. Everyday living costs — groceries, rent, standard household appliances — are not NDIS supports. The lists matter because spending on something that is not an NDIS support can be treated as a debt. See What does the NDIS fund.

N–P

Nominee. A person appointed to act for a participant — a plan nominee for decisions about the plan, or a correspondence nominee to receive letters and notices. Nominees are usually appointed when a participant cannot make decisions for themselves; an adult participant with capacity can manage their own plan with support instead.

PACE and my NDIS. PACE is the NDIA’s current computer system, fully rolled out in 2024. Participants use the my NDIS portal and app to see plans, budgets and claims. Under PACE, agency-managed participants record their chosen providers as “my providers”; providers cannot claim until they are recorded.

Plan reassessment and plan variation. A reassessment is a full new plan, usually at the end of the current plan or when your circumstances change significantly. A variation is a change to the current plan without starting over — for example adding funding for a piece of equipment. These terms replaced “plan review” in the 2024 changes to the NDIS Act. If you disagree with a decision, you can ask for an internal review within three months, then apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal.

Plan management. How your funds are managed: agency-managed (the NDIA pays registered providers directly), plan-managed (a plan manager pays invoices and you can use unregistered providers), or self-managed (you pay and claim). Plan management as a service is funded separately when you ask for it. Our guide to support coordination vs plan management goes through the differences.

Price limits. The maximum a provider can charge for each support, set each year in the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits. They are not a bill you pay — they cap what is claimed from your plan. The 2026–27 limits started on 1 July 2026; see what the new prices mean.

R–S

Reasonable and necessary. The legal test every funded support must pass. A support must relate to your disability, help you pursue your goals, be value for money, be likely to work, and not be something that family, community or mainstream services should provide. When a planner says no, this is the test they are applying — and it is the test to argue against in a review.

Registered provider. A provider that has been audited against the NDIS Practice Standards and registered by the NDIS Commission. Agency-managed participants must use registered providers; plan-managed and self-managed participants can also use unregistered ones. SESI Care Services is a registered NDIS provider (provider number 4050144347).

Service agreement. The written agreement between you and a provider that sets out what will be delivered, how much it costs, how to cancel and how to raise a problem. The NDIS does not require a particular form, but a good agreement names the budget line, the price limit and the notice period. Read it before you sign, and keep a copy.

Stated supports. Funding that can only be used for the specific thing named in the plan — most Capital items and some Capacity Building lines. The opposite is flexible funding, which you can move within a budget. If the plan says “stated”, treat the amount as locked to that purpose.

Four terms that are easy to confuse

• Support coordinator vs LAC. Both help you use your plan. A support coordinator is funded in your plan and works with you over time; an LAC is a partner organisation available to all participants.
• Plan reassessment vs internal review. A reassessment looks at your needs and makes a new plan. An internal review challenges a specific decision you disagree with.
• Agency-managed vs plan-managed. Both mean someone else pays the invoices. Only plan-managed lets you use unregistered providers.
• Core vs Capacity Building. Core is the support you need now; Capacity Building is the support that changes what you can do next year.

Frequently asked questions

Talk to SESI

If any of these terms is standing between you and the support you need, our support coordinators explain plans in plain language — by phone and video anywhere in Australia.

Tell us what’s going on: sesi.com.au/referral · Call: 1800 017 374

This glossary is general information based on the NDIS Act 2013 as amended in 2024, NDIA guidance and the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits 2026–27, current at August 2026. The official NDIS glossary is the authoritative source.