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NDIS-funded Therapy in Schools

Policy

This policy outlines how schools can manage requests for National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)-funded therapy delivered on school grounds.

Summary

  • Schools must consider if NDIS-funded therapy at school would be safe, practical and appropriate.
  • The principal decides if NDIS-funded providers can deliver therapy at school. For more information, go to the Guidance tab.
  • NDIS-funded supports help a student with their everyday needs related to their disability. These supports are not for educational purposes. The Department of Education (the department) is responsible for supports for students to access their education. For information on supports for students with disability, including reasonable adjustments, go to the Students with Disability policy.

Details

Background

The NDIS helps Australians with disabilities, their families and carers. The Commonwealth Government is responsible for the NDIS.

The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) runs the NDIS. The NDIA decides who can use the NDIS and what funding they get. This is based on a person’s lifelong functional impairment.

The NDIS does not cover services that are reasonable and necessary for children to take part in education. These remain the responsibility of the department.

For information about accessing the NDIS, visit The NDIS and schools(opens in a new window).

NDIS-funded therapy for students on school grounds

The NDIS allows children with disability and their parents/carers to choose how and when they access disability services and supports. The department is committed to supporting NDIS participants and their families to get the most out of the NDIS.

Parents/carers can ask their school principal to allow an NDIS-funded provider to:

  • deliver therapy to a student on school grounds
  • observe a student in the classroom or school environment
  • attend a Student Support Group meeting to improve the support given to the student.

NDIS-funded therapy can provide valuable benefits and complement holistic student planning and support processes at the school. Victorian government schools are encouraged to accommodate these requests where appropriate to help support students with disability.

Schools must consider a range of factors when deciding whether on-site NDIS-funded therapy would be appropriate to support a student with disability.

Principal decision making

Principals are encouraged to approve requests for NDIS-funded therapy to be delivered on school grounds, unless there are practical, legal or educational reasons to refuse.

Principals must consider:

  • a student’s needs and individual circumstances
  • student access to the curriculum
  • Child Safe Standards and duty of care, including supervision while NDIS-funded therapy is being provided
  • practical and administrative capacity
  • anti-discrimination obligations.

For more detailed information, refer to Key considerations on the Guidance tab.

Principals can permit or refuse entry to any person on Victorian government school premises. The final decision to approve or refuse a request rests with the principal.

Schools must make reasonable adjustments for students with disability under anti-discrimination laws. This is to support students with disability to obtain their education on the same basis as their peers. This is a requirement even if the student does not get NDIS support.

As NDIS-funded therapy does not replace or duplicate the responsibilities for schools to provide reasonable adjustments, there is no legal obligation on principals to approve a request for therapy on school grounds.

For further information, refer to Students with Disability.

Requirements for NDIS-funded therapy

NDIS-funded providers delivering therapy at school must:

  • only observe the student whose parent/carer has given consent
  • only take written notes about the student receiving therapy
  • only take audio recordings, video recordings and photographs of the student receiving therapy and only if they have written consent from the student's parent/carer
  • only use written notes, audio recordings, video recordings and photographs for therapy purposes
  • not take audio recordings, video recordings or photographs of other students
  • follow any reasonable instructions or directions from the school.

School policies

Schools must develop their own policies and procedures to effectively screen, manage and supervise all visitors. These policies apply when NDIS-funded providers visit the school. For more information, refer to the Visitors in Schools policy.

Definitions

Terminology used throughout the policy and guidance is defined below.

Mature minor
A student who the principal has deemed to be mature minor under the department’s Mature Minors and Decision Making policy. A mature minor may also make a request or give consent for themselves.

Parents and carers
A natural or legal parent, a person who has legal responsibility for the student and allowed to make decisions about their health and wellbeing, or an informal carer.

Principal
The school principal. For the purposes of this policy, this may include a principal nominee, such as a member of the school leadership team.

Provider
A therapy provider or practitioner employed by an external disability service.

Relevant legislation

Contact

For general information about the NDIS:

For specific queries about the NDIS and your school, please contact your your senior education improvement leader.

For more information about this policy, contact the Inclusive Education Division team at: ndis@education.vic.gov.au.

Department policy outlining how schools can manage requests for NDIS-funded therapy delivered on school grounds.

Updated

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