What counts as a mainstream service
Mainstream services, sometimes called mainstream supports, are the services federal, state and territory governments provide to the whole community. You have the same right to use them as anyone else. The NDIA lists these service systems as responsible for their own areas:
- Health and mental health
- Child protection and family support
- Early childhood development
- School education
- Higher education and vocational education and training
- Employment
- Housing and community infrastructure
- Transport
- Justice
Why the NDIS will not fund mainstream supports
The NDIS is designed to fund the extra support you need because of your disability, not to replace services that every Australian can use. Since 3 October 2024 the NDIS Act has defined what an NDIS support is, and the rules list supports that are the responsibility of other systems. If something falls on that list, it is not an NDIS support and your plan cannot pay for it.
The NDIA is clear that it will not fund a support that should be provided by someone else, even if the other system does not actually provide it. It does not make up for gaps in other services. That can feel unfair, but it is how the law works, so it helps to know where the line sits.
Who funds what: common examples
Federal, state and territory governments agreed on who is responsible for which supports, and the NDIS law sets out that split. Some everyday examples:
- Health: diagnosis, medical treatment, hospital care and rehabilitation after illness or injury are the health system's job. Help to manage a health need because of your disability, such as dysphagia or continence support, can be an NDIS disability related health support
- Mental health: clinical treatment belongs to the health system, through Medicare and state services. The NDIS can fund psychosocial recovery support and capacity building for a psychosocial disability
- School: teaching, learning support and adjustments at school belong to the education system. The NDIS can fund some supports outside the classroom
- Employment: employers make reasonable adjustments, and Inclusive Employment Australia helps people find work. The NDIS can fund supports in employment
- Housing: public and social housing belong to housing systems. The NDIS can fund Specialist Disability Accommodation and home and living supports
Reasonable adjustments
Discrimination law requires schools, employers, health services and other organisations to make reasonable adjustments so people with disability get equal access. That might be a ramp, flexible hours or information in an accessible format. The NDIA must take this into account, and it cannot fund something that should be provided as a reasonable adjustment.
Foundational supports: a new layer
The NDIS Review found too many people had nowhere to go outside the NDIS. Foundational supports are the response: disability supports outside the NDIS, jointly funded by all governments under a national agreement that started on 2 February 2026. They include general supports, like information and peer connection, and targeted supports for people with extra needs who are not in the NDIS.
The first is Thriving Kids, which began rolling out from 1 October 2026 for children 8 and under with developmental delay or autism and low to moderate support needs. Over time, more of what sits between mainstream services and the NDIS will be delivered this way.
What to do when you fall in a gap
If a support is refused because another system is responsible, ask the NDIA to put that in writing and explain which system it means. Then:
- Ask the mainstream service directly, and keep a record of what they say
- Ask your local area coordinator or support coordinator to help you connect with the right service
- If you think the NDIA got the line wrong, you can ask for an internal review of the decision
- Talk to a disability advocate if services keep pointing at each other