Some participants need far more than help with daily tasks. A person who is fed through a PEG, needs regular suctioning, lives with frequent seizures or is at high risk of pressure injuries relies on support that sits between disability care and health care. Families often call this complex care, and they quickly find that working out who funds what can be confusing.
The NDIS can fund many of these supports, but not all of them, and the line between the NDIS and the health system matters. Understanding it helps you ask for the right supports in your plan, choose the right team and avoid gaps when someone moves between home, a short stay and hospital.
This guide explains what the NDIS calls disability-related health supports, the types it may fund, where that care is delivered and what a provider should have in place.
What the NDIS Means by Disability-Related Health Supports
“Complex care” is not a formal NDIS term. The NDIA talks about disability-related health supports instead. According to the NDIA, it may fund these supports to help you manage a health condition caused by your disability, as long as the support relates to your disability and is not something the health system should provide.
The health system remains responsible for hospital services, ambulance transport, medicines, palliative care, and the diagnosis or clinical treatment of health conditions. The NDIS focuses on ongoing, everyday support that lets a person live safely at home and in the community, such as a registered nurse who changes a urinary catheter or support workers trained to manage a feeding tube.
Some of these tasks are also classed by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission as high-intensity daily personal activities, including enteral feeding, tracheostomy management and complex bowel care. Registered providers can only deliver the high-intensity supports they are registered for.
For families looking for NDIS complex care Brisbane services, this distinction is the starting point. Knowing which needs belong in an NDIS plan, and which belong with your GP, specialist or hospital team, makes planning conversations much clearer.
Health Supports the NDIS May Fund
The NDIA lists several areas where it may fund disability-related health supports. Funding can cover support from a nurse or qualified therapist, training for the people who support you, and equipment or consumables.
- Swallowing and mealtime support. People with dysphagia may need texture-modified food, positioning and close supervision at meals. A speech pathologist usually writes a mealtime plan, and workers need training to follow it exactly to reduce the risk of choking or aspiration.
- Nutrition and tube feeding. Where a person cannot eat enough by mouth, the NDIS may fund nutrition supports, including food products for a PEG. Workers who manage enteral feeding need training for that person’s tube, pump and feeding regimen.
- Respiratory care. Some participants need help with breathing, such as suctioning, tracheostomy care or a cough assist machine. These are high-risk tasks, so training and clinical oversight are essential, along with clear steps for what to do if breathing changes.
- Continence and bowel care. Supports can include continence products, urinary catheter care and complex bowel routines. A nurse may change catheters, while trained workers follow the person’s written routine every day.
- Wound and pressure care. People who spend long periods in a bed or wheelchair can be at high risk of pressure injuries. Funding may cover equipment such as pressure care cushions, dressings and trained support to reposition, check skin and follow a wound care plan.
- Diabetes management. Where diabetes management is affected by a person’s disability, workers may help with blood glucose monitoring, meal planning and following the diabetes plan set by their health team.
- Seizure management. People with epilepsy need a written seizure management plan and workers trained to recognise seizures, respond safely and give emergency medication where the plan allows.
Podiatry and support to access health services are also on the NDIA’s list. Where family, friends or support workers deliver these supports, the NDIA expects them to be trained by a qualified health professional for the specific task, with the experience and competence to do it safely.
Where Everyday Health Support Happens
Disability-related health supports follow the person, so the same care has to work wherever they are.
At home, nurses often visit for clinical tasks while trained support workers cover daily routines. This works best when everyone follows one written plan. In supported independent living, a trained worker for each health task needs to be on every shift, including overnight, and the roster should plan for leave and sickness.
Short term accommodation gives participants a change of scene and family carers a genuine rest. For families comparing NDIS STA Brisbane options, the key question is whether the team can carry the same health routines safely for the whole stay, with the right equipment, consumables and trained workers on every shift.
Hospital admissions are common for people with complex health needs, and the move home is a high-risk moment. Ask the hospital’s discharge planner to involve your provider early, so updated care plans, equipment and trained workers are ready on the first day home.
Whatever the setting, the NDIA needs evidence before it can fund these supports. Ask treating health professionals for reports that explain the health need, how it relates to the disability, which tasks are needed, how often and what training workers need. Clear, specific evidence makes plan conversations far easier.
What a Well-Prepared Team Has in Place
Health-related support is only as safe as the systems behind it. Before choosing an NDIS complex care provider Brisbane families can rely on, look for these signs that the team is genuinely ready for the work.
- Registration that matches the supports. High intensity supports must be delivered by a provider registered for those specific supports. You can check a provider’s registration and approved supports on the NDIS Commission’s provider register before you sign anything.
- Clinical leadership you can reach. Registered nurses or a clinical lead should oversee complex tasks, guide support workers and review care when health changes. Ask who the clinical lead is and how they can be reached after hours.
- Training to recognised standards. The NDIS Commission’s High Intensity Support Skills Descriptors set out what workers need to know for tasks such as enteral feeding and catheter care. Workers should be trained against them and signed off as competent for each participant, not just for the task in general.
- Care plans built with the treating team. Plans should be written with the participant, their family and their GP, specialists and allied health professionals. They should also say what triggers a review, such as a hospital admission or a change in medication.
- A stable team with trained backup. Consistent workers notice small changes in health early. Ask how many trained workers are matched to the participant and how shifts are covered when someone is sick or on leave.
- Smooth handovers between settings. The provider should be able to join discharge meetings, read hospital handover notes and update care plans quickly.
- Support for family carers. Families often deliver part of the care themselves. A good provider shares plans with them, involves them in training where appropriate and listens when they notice something is not right.
How Royalty Healthcare Supports Participants With High Health Needs
Royalty Healthcare (ABN 35 654 251 519) is a registered NDIS provider certified by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission and has supported participants since 2019. From our office in Strathpine, we work with participants across Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast.
Our complex care team includes registered nurses, enrolled nurses and high-intensity support workers. We support needs such as enteral feeding, tracheostomy care, ventilator support, urinary catheter care, complex bowel care, wound care, diabetes management and epilepsy management. Our staff are trained against the NDIS High Intensity Support Skills Descriptors and signed off as competent, with ongoing competency reviews.
Every care plan is developed with the participant, their family, GP and allied health team, and reviewed as needs change. Support can be delivered in your own home or in supported independent living, scaling from a few hours of nursing a week to 24/7 cover, with an on-call clinical lead. We also offer short term accommodation for planned breaks, and our team can join pre-discharge meetings to prepare for a safe return home from hospital.
Final Thoughts
When health and disability overlap, good support depends on knowing who is responsible for what. The NDIS can fund many disability-related health supports, while the health system keeps responsibility for hospital care, medicines and clinical treatment. Gather clear evidence from your treating team, plan for every setting the person moves between and choose a provider with the registration, clinical leadership and trained workers the care requires.
Disclaimer: This article provides general information about the NDIS and is not medical, legal or financial advice. Always follow the advice of the participant’s treating health professionals, and check current NDIS guidance at ndis.gov.au or with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission.
