What a correspondence nominee does
Some participants make their own decisions but want help with the paperwork and phone calls that come with the NDIS. A correspondence nominee fills that gap. Under section 79 of the NDIS Act, they can do anything you could do under the Act, except for a short list of things reserved for you or a plan nominee.
Any notice the NDIA must give you is also sent to your correspondence nominee. When they reply to a request for information within the time allowed, it counts as if you replied.
What a correspondence nominee can and cannot do
- Can: receive NDIS letters and notices for you
- Can: talk to the NDIA, make requests on your behalf and give information or documents the NDIA asks for
- Can: help you keep track of dates, such as review deadlines
- Cannot: prepare, vary, reassess or replace your plan
- Cannot: manage the funding for supports in your plan
- Cannot: withdraw you as a participant
- Cannot: do something the NDIA has asked you to do personally
Correspondence nominee vs plan nominee
A plan nominee can do the plan related things a correspondence nominee cannot: help prepare, vary or reassess your plan and manage its funding. A plan nominee is a bigger step, used when someone needs another person to make decisions about their plan.
You can have a plan nominee, a correspondence nominee or both, and one person can hold both roles. For many people a correspondence nominee is enough: you keep making your own plan decisions while someone you trust helps with the admin.
Their legal duties
Every NDIS nominee has the same core duty under section 80 of the NDIS Act: to find out your wishes and act in a way that promotes your personal and social wellbeing. Nominees must tell the NDIA about changes that affect their ability to act.
Since the 2026 reforms it is an offence for a plan nominee or correspondence nominee to use their position, influence or information dishonestly to gain a benefit or cause harm, with a penalty of up to 120 penalty units.
How to appoint one
Most correspondence nominees are appointed because the participant asks. Contact the NDIA, tell them who you want and what you want them to do. The person must agree in writing, and the NDIA must take your wishes into account and consider whether the person can meet a nominee's duties. The appointment can be ongoing or for a set period.
The NDIA can also appoint a nominee on its own initiative, but its guidelines say it will only do so when that is the only option for making decisions about your NDIS business.
Changing or cancelling a correspondence nominee
If you asked for the nominee, you can ask the NDIA to cancel the appointment at any time, and it must do so. The request does not have to be in writing. If the NDIA appointed the nominee on its own initiative, it has 14 days to decide whether to cancel when you ask.
A nominee can also step down by telling the NDIA in writing. The NDIA can suspend a nominee immediately if it believes they have caused, or are likely to cause, physical, mental or financial harm.