NDIS and Spinal Cord Injury

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) gives people with a disability direct access to funding, through the creation of an annual plan, to purchase the supports they need to live the life they choose and to achieve their goals.

If you are under the age of 65 and have suffered a spinal cord injury you will most likely be eligible to access this scheme and receive support under it.

NDIS funding for appropriate supports can help you achieve your goals in different aspects of your life, including independence, community involvement, education, employment and health and wellbeing. As an NDIS participant, you decide who provides the help and supports that will help you meet these goals. 

The healthcare professionals treating you in hospital and at rehabilitation, including medical and nursing staff, physiotherapists, social workers, speech therapists, play an important role in this planning process. All can assist you when it comes to deciding what supports you think you’ll need, both now and into the future. This pre-planning process is important as the information you provide to the NDIS will determine what funding you’re likely to receive under the scheme.

The NDIS will fund any supports it considers reasonable and necessary to assist you in leading a normal life as possible and achieve your goals. Support may include modifications to make it ‘wheelchair friendly’, modifications to your car so you can continue to drive, access to rehabilitation programs, help around the home and any assistive devices that may help you in your daily activities. 

Suffering a spinal cord injury is a serious and life-changing event that impacts not only you but also your loved ones. 

Fortunately, treatment and rehabilitation programs are improving all the time and can be accessed through the NDIS. There is also a great deal more community awareness and understanding when it comes to disability and, with appropriate support, many people with spinal cord injury are continuing to live full, productive and relatively independent lives.