Reasonable and necessary, what you should know?
𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐲, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰?
We are all aware of the fact that only “𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐲” services and items can be claimed under NDIS funds, but who can define exactly what does “𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐲” mean?
As we all know NDIS funds cover a range of supports and services including education, employment, social participation, independence, living arrangements, and health and wellbeing.
They are deemed to be “𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐲” in term of:
1) 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐭’𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲: The participant needs the services/product due to his disability. For example: if your kid is slow in speaking, you want to take him to a speech therapist, you should be able to claim that service with NDIS.
2) 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲-𝐭𝐨-𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬: as everyone needs to pay their own living expenses, such as groceries, rents, or house mortgages. NDIS does not deem those expenses reasonable.
3) 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲: NDIS purchases should have a reasonable price or value for money. That means if there is another cheaper option that serves the same purpose, you should go with it. For example, if an iPad is required to attend an online appointment with therapists, you shouldn’t buy the advanced one; yet you should choose the basic one which is functioned with video calls/conferences.
4) 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐭: Those services or products must help participants to improve their disability situation. For example, hearing aids can help a participant to involve more in community activities.
5) 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐒 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲: You might be eligible for other government, or community supports, so you should consider those supports first before claiming the services/products with NDIS.
The claimable supports should help participants to:
• pursue their goals, objectives, and aspirations
• increase their independence
• increase community and workplace participation, and
• develop the capacity to actively take part in the community.
If you try to claim something that is neither reasonable nor necessary, you can be audited by NDIS later on, and if they decide that it’s not right for you to claim, it can affect your funds in the future. So we strongly advise that you should discuss with us if you are unsure whether something is claimable.
If you need more information on this matter, do not hesitate to contact us.