Mainstream & Community Supports
Mainstream and community supports are supports available outside the NDIS. They’re intended to be available to everyone in Australia, whether or not they have a disability. Mainstream supports are provided through other government-funded services (such as health or education), and community supports are provided through community organisations and local services (such as local councils or charities).
Supports that should be funded by mainstream or community systems aren’t “NDIS supports”, which means it can’t be funded by the NDIS in your NDIS plan.
Understanding the boundaries between NDIS supports and mainstream and community supports is one of the most practical skills for NDIS planning. It helps you and your family focus NDIS requests on disability-related supports that the scheme can fund, while also actively using the broader network of supports that are often essential for daily life.
Mainstream Supports
Mainstream supports are supports delivered by government services that are designed for the general community. Mainstream service systems that commonly intersect with disability supports include health, mental health, early childhood development, child protection and family support, education, employment, housing, transport, justice, and aged care.
Everyone uses mainstream services in some way (for example, public hospitals and schools). When a person has a disability, mainstream services are expected to provide access on an equal basis, including through “reasonable adjustments” in many settings.
The NDIA uses examples like ramps and other accessibility changes as reasonable adjustments that a mainstream service may need to provide.
Community Supports
Community supports are supports delivered through local community services and organisations. These include community groups, non-government organisations, sporting clubs, local councils, and charities.
These services can include practical help, information, advice, social opportunities, and family supports. Community services may also need to make reasonable adjustments so that people with disability can access activities and services.
In practice, community supports often fill gaps that aren’t “NDIS-shaped” problems such as connection, belonging, routine, local participation, and informal learning opportunities.
NDIS Funding
All supports funded in your NDIS plan must meet the NDIS funding criteria and must be an “NDIS support.” The NDIA can’t fund supports that are appropriately funded or provided by:
Other general systems (e.g. workers compensation schemes)
Universal service obligations (e.g. public hospitals and schools)
Reasonable adjustments required under discrimination law (e.g. making venues accessible)
It’s important to remember that the NDIS can’t fund supports that mainstream or community systems should provide, even if those systems don’t actually provide the support. The NDIA doesn’t “make up” for failures in other systems by funding supports that sit outside NDIS responsibility.
Determining Responsibilities
The NDIA describes using to guide decisions about who is responsible for different supports:
NDIS laws and rules
Government agreements made when the NDIS was created
Newer agreements made through disability reforms
One of the foundational documents used across systems is the “Applied Principles and Tables of Support to determine the responsibilities of the NDIS and other service systems” (often shortened to APTOS).
APTOS sets out responsibility areas across service systems. The NDIA also publishes lists that clarify:
Supports that are NDIS supports
Supports that are not NDIS supports
A replacement supports list (where the NDIA may agree in writing to replace an NDIS support with certain non-NDIS supports)
Overlapping Supports
Some supports exist in both mainstream and NDIS contexts. NDIA guidance provides an example using physiotherapy:
Physiotherapy needed to recover from surgery is generally a health/Medicare responsibility; and
Physiotherapy may be considered for NDIS funding where it’s disability-related therapy intended to improve or maintain functional capacity (not to treat a health condition), and where it meets all NDIS funding criteria
If a person claims support through another service system, they generally can’t use NDIS funding to claim the same support again. For example, using NDIS funding for Medicare gap payments for the same service.
Connecting Participants to Mainstream & Community Supports
The NDIA describes helping participants link to mainstream and community services that can support goals and inclusion. Early childhood partners, Local Area Coordinators (LACs), and support coordinators can help identify what services exist locally, connect you to the services, and coordinate how mainstream/community supports interact with funded NDIS supports.
It should be noted that LACs and early childhood partners work with mainstream and community services to improve inclusion and accessibility over time.
Real World Examples
The NDIA include category-level examples with the full guideline providing detailed lists by service systems. A few high-level patterns are consistent across systems:
Health
The health system is responsible for diagnosing and treating health conditions, hospital services, medicines, and rehabilitation related to medical events. NDIS responsibility is generally framed around ongoing disability-related supports that help with daily life and functional capacity (where you meet NDIS funding criteria).
Mental Health & Psychosocial Disability
The mental health system is typically responsible for clinical treatment and clinical services. The NDIS is responsible for non-clinical supports focused on functional capacity, independence, and social/economic participation (where criteria are met).
Education & Employment
Schools, tertiary providers, and employers are responsible for education delivery, workplace obligations, and reasonable adjustments within those environments. The NDIA generally positions NDIS supports as the extra disability-related supports that sit beyond those responsibilities (where criteria are met).
These distinctions are why, for example, tutoring or tuition fees aren’t typically considered NDIS supports, while personal care or disability-related capacity supports may be considered in some circumstances (subject to criteria and plan context).
What if I disagree with a decision?
If the NDIA decides a support isn’t an NDIS support because it’s appropriately funded or provided by another system, they won’t include the support in the plan. The NDIA can still assist by connecting you to the responsible mainstream/community service, or by considering whether a different support is more appropriate before the plan is approved.
If you disagree with a decision made by the NDIA, you can request an internal review. The NDIS states a person can ask for a review within 3 months from the day they received the decision.
Mainstream and community supports are a deliberate part of how the NDIS is designed to work. The NDIS funds disability-related supports that meet NDIS funding criteria, while other government systems and community organisations remain responsible for universal services and reasonable adjustments. Knowing the difference helps you ask clearer questions during planning, reduce time spent pursuing supports the NDIS can’t fund, and strengthen outcomes by using the full mix of supports available across systems.
Get the Support You Need with Purple Leopard Plan Management
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For more information on your NDIS Access Request visit: ndis.gov.au
Or Call the NDIS
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