What Assistance with Daily Life can pay for
It funds a person to help with, or supervise, the everyday tasks your disability makes harder, so you can live as independently as you can. Depending on your goals and your plan, that can include:
- Personal care, such as showering, dressing and hygiene
- Preparing meals
- Cleaning, laundry and other household tasks
- Yard maintenance
- Support overnight, where your needs and your plan call for it
What it does not pay for
The funding pays for the support, not your everyday living costs. You still pay for things like rent, groceries, utilities, and phone or internet from your own income. So a support worker's time helping you cook can be funded, but the food itself is not.
How the funding works
Core Supports is generally the most flexible budget in a plan. You can usually use the total across its support categories to work towards your goals, rather than being locked to the amount shown against each one. Check your own plan, because some funding can be stated in a particular way, and transport has its own rules.
If you need more complex help, such as PEG feeding or complex bowel care, that is high intensity support, which needs workers with additional training and clinical oversight. Our guide to NDIS plan budgets explains how Core sits alongside the other budgets.
Who can deliver it
If your plan is agency-managed, you can only use NDIS-registered providers. If it is plan-managed or self-managed, you can use registered or unregistered providers. Either way you have a say in who supports you: our guide to choosing your own support workers sets out your options and what to ask.
Assistance with Daily Life in Newcastle and the Hunter
Care Alliance is a registered NDIS provider delivering in-home support across Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Maitland, Cessnock, Port Stephens and the Central Coast, up to 24 hours a day, with a 24/7 on-call team behind every shift. Every client has an approved team, and we only ever roster from your approved team.
Your support team receives clinical guidance and training from both our registered nurses and our psychologists, so your physical and mental health benefit from great support that is backed by evidence.
Common questions
Is Assistance with Daily Life the same as in-home support?
Nearly. Assistance with Daily Life is the NDIS funding category, and in-home support is what most people call the service it pays for. These supports can also happen in other settings, not only your home.
Is Assistance with Daily Life a Core or a Capacity Building support?
Core. It is a support category in the Core Supports budget of your NDIS plan.
What is the difference between Assistance with Daily Life and Improved Daily Living?
The names are close but they are different funding. Assistance with Daily Life is Core Supports: someone helps you with everyday tasks. Improved Daily Living is Capacity Building: therapy such as occupational therapy or psychology, to build your skills.
Can Assistance with Daily Life pay for cleaning?
It can, where help with household tasks fits your goals and your plan. The NDIS lists cleaning, yard maintenance, cooking and personal care among the everyday tasks this funding can be used for.
Does it pay for groceries or rent?
No. Everyday living costs such as rent, groceries, utilities, and phone or internet are not funded by the NDIS. The funding pays for the support, not the costs of daily life.
This guide is general information about the NDIS, not advice about your individual situation, and scheme rules change over time. For decisions about your plan, check the current guidance at ndis.gov.au or talk to your support coordinator, planner — or call us on 1300 206 309.
