What can I spend my NDIS consumables budget on?
This is a comprehensive guide to help you navigate one of the NDIS Core budget categories: Consumables. Understanding what your budget can cover is important to make sure you make the most of your allocated funding. So let’s take a closer look at what you can spend your consumables funds on.
What is the NDIS consumables budget?
Consumables fall under the Core Supports NDIS budget, which is intended to help you fund everyday items and activities. The Core budget is the largest of all NDIS budgets, and the majority of NDIS participants will have Core Supports allocated in their plan.
Consumables are part of the Core budget because these are everyday products and devices that you might need because of your support needs, for example, continence products, wound care or even low-cost assistive technology. The vast majority of Consumables are ‘off the shelf’ items with a small exception for Auslan training or translation services, which are also covered in this category, even though they are services.
There are two key facts to remember about your Consumables budget:
- It’s intended for low-cost everyday items - you can buy reasonable and necessary items that support your everyday needs and are valued up to $1500.
- It’s up to you how you spend it - your Consumables budget is flexible, meaning you get to choose how you’d like to spend it as long as it is used for items that are reasonable and necessary for your everyday support.
What is covered by a NDIS consumables budget?
The items you can purchase with your Consumables budget range from wound care to low-cost assisted technology. Below is a list of specific items and two services you might be able to fund using your Consumables budget:
- Continence products
- Disposable pads and pants
- Catheters
- Compression stockings
- Personal care and safety products
- Wound and skincare
- Eating and drinking aids, for example, modified cups
- Food preparation products
- Modified eating aids
- Home Enteral Nutrition (HEN) equipment
- Specialised food supplements
- Chair and bed protectors
- Specialised mattresses and pillows
- Vision or hearing-related low-cost technology
- Auslan or sign English training
- Translating or interpreting support
As a rule, you cannot use your budget to fund general-use items such as groceries, toiletries or cosmetics as these are unrelated to your support needs. Another product group that is also not funded by NDIS is vitamins, medicines and prescription medications. An exemption is nutritional supplements related to your disability and prescribed by a health professional.
Libby says “My advice is to make sure whatever [you] buy to make sure it meets the NDIS reasonable and necessary criteria. Everyone should learn the six points of ‘reasonable and necessary’. If it is a bit iffy, get a supporting letter from a therapist.”
Can I use the consumables budget to buy nappies for a child?
Since the Consumables budget does not cover general use items, whether you might be able to use your funds to purchase nappies for a child will depend on their age and circumstances.
If the child is under five, you may be able to use the NDIS budget to cover nappies, wipes and other continence products only if they have higher needs for these products because of their circumstances or if they use catheters.
If the child is over five, these products will only be funded by NDIS in cases when continence support is still required because of the child’s needs linked to their disability.
Where can I use my consumables budget?
You can buy your consumables at any retailer - chemist, supermarket, hardware store, as well as online. Some consumable providers are registered with NDIS, but some are not. It is important to note that if you are agency-managed, you can only purchase your Consumables from registered providers, while those who self-manage or choose plan management can use any provider they wish.
When buying low-cost assisted technology for low-risk items, NDIS recommends seeking advice from an assisted technology advisor. However, for high-risk items, you will be required to obtain written advice from an assisted technology assessor before you can go ahead with your purchase.
Another important suggestion from Libby is “The other thing is it is all related to people’s goals. How you write your goals is really important. One of the main parts of the reasonable and necessary criteria is that it helps you meet your goals. One thing I often suggest to clients is that before they write their goals, they list all the funded supports that they want and make sure the first couple of goals cover what they need and do it backwards to make sure they meet the criteria.”