Have you heard of or got your head around IMPAIRMENT NOTICES? 

With the introduction of new NDIS legislation, we are looking at a new term that has been added to the ever-expanding NDIS dictionary: Impairment notices.

If you are thinking ‘huh?”……. Relax! We have done some reading and put together a summary for you. Grab a cup of tea and try to hold on to your sanity.

Here goes:

From the 1st January 2025, all new NDIS participants have received an impairment notice when they access the NDIS.  Existing NDIS participants will receive their impairment notices “over time”. (I read that as “maybe we’re busy” – NDIS)

But they are rolling out and there is no escaping them.

So…….

Instead of focusing on a disability diagnosis, impairment notices focus on the impairment(s) that makes someone eligible for the NDIS.

What’s included in the impairment notice?

An impairment notice will detail:

• Whether a person meets the disability, or early intervention, pathways
• The impairment categories a person meets.

Supports purchased using NDIS funds must align with the impairments listed on the Impairment notice.

Why this change?

The shift from diagnosis-based assessments to impairment-based notices acknowledges that two people with the same diagnosis may have very different needs.

The six categories are:

• Intellectual
• Cognitive
• Neurological
• Sensory
• Physical
• Psychosocial.

A notice may include one or more of these categories.

For example, you might have both physical and intellectual impairments and require distinct and different supports for each.

A participant with multiple sclerosis may have an impairment that makes them unable to walk and, therefore, they require a powered wheelchair. If that physical impairment is recognised by NDIA in their impairment notice, the request for a powered wheelchair ticks the first criteria of Reasonable and Necessary. However, if the same participant also had a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, but the NDIA hadn’t recognised a psychosocial impairment, the participant would not be able to access supports relating to the impact of their bipolar disorder.

The NDIS Act (Section 34) now dictates that all NDIS supports must directly relate to needs arising from an eligible impairment listed in the Impairment Notice.

This is a significant shift from previous interpretations, which allowed for broader connections to a participant’s diagnosis and goals. This change acts as a hard boundary, meaning that a clear, demonstrable link between the support and the specified impairment is now required.

Consequences for Providers

This new requirement grants the NDIA greater control over billing compliance and budget management. The NDIA can now refuse to fund or reimburse services that they deem are not directly linked to the Impairment Categories in a participant’s notice.

This raises the bar for getting supports approved and funded within a plan.

To prepare for these changes, participants, their support team and providers should:

• Map service provision to impairments: Clearly demonstrate how services directly relate to a participant’s listed impairments.
• Facilitate conversations: Discuss with participants what services can and cannot be delivered based on their Impairment Categories.
• Utilize the NDIA’s “Can I Buy It” checklist: This tool aligns with the new legislative requirements.
• Make sure to document everything. Keep records of service planning and delivery, making sure they clearly refer to the Impairment Notices. Also, ensure any supporting documents, like medical reports or allied health assessments, match the listed impairment categories.
• Educate the disability community to ensure everyone understand the crucial link between Impairment Notices and service provision.
• For new participants, focus on clearly documenting the functional impacts of their disability. For existing participants, link requested supports to their impairments as closely as possible.

Ultimately, Impairment Notices are not just a minor bureaucratic addition but a significant tool for the NDIA to control how NDIS plans are spent and to limit fund flexibility.

Service providers must be aware of the impairment notices of each participant and proactively plan, prepare, and align their service practices to these new requirements.

Fun times.

We will get our heads around this. But we need to kick off first by just knowing that they are a thing and what that means to us.

Reach out to anyone in our Able2 team if your head is exploding. We are all in this together.