What Can You Spend Your NDIS Daily Living Budget On? (2025 Full List)

You've got a Core Supports budget in your NDIS plan. But staring at a line that says "$24,000 — Assistance with Daily Life" doesn't tell you much about what you can actually use it for.

Can you use it for meal delivery? What about a cleaner? Can a support worker take you grocery shopping? What about help with the kids?

Getting it wrong can mean paying out of pocket for supports your NDIS funding was supposed to cover — or worse, being asked to repay money you've already spent. Here's the full breakdown.

The One Rule That Covers Everything

Your NDIS Daily Living budget covers supports that directly help you manage day-to-day life because of your disability. If a support worker or service helps you do something your disability makes harder — and it wouldn't be needed otherwise — it's likely claimable.

The NDIS calls this the reasonable and necessary test. Keep it in mind for every claim you make.

What Is Definitely Covered

Personal Care and Hygiene

• Showering, bathing, and washing hair
• Dressing and undressing
• Grooming — shaving, nail care, hair care
• Oral hygiene assistance
• Toileting and continence support
• Skin care and basic wound care (non-clinical)
• Assistance with prosthetics or orthotic devices

Meal Preparation

• Support to plan and cook meals at home
• Assistance with meal preparation for safety (hot stoves, sharp objects)
• Help with feeding if needed
• Grocery shopping assistance (support worker accompanies you)

Household Tasks

• Vacuuming, mopping, sweeping
• Bathroom and kitchen cleaning
• Laundry — washing, drying, folding, ironing
• Changing and washing bed linen
• Dishes and general tidying
• Taking bins out

Daily Routines and Safety

• Morning and evening routine support
• Help getting in and out of bed safely
• Medication prompting (reminding, not administering — unless specifically trained)
• Overnight support — active nights or sleepover shifts
• Support to manage complex care needs (bowel care, catheter management)

What's Probably Covered (Situation-Dependent)

These supports are claimable in most situations but depend on whether they are specifically in your plan and whether they meet the reasonable and necessary test for your circumstances:

• Assistance with parenting tasks — if your disability directly affects your ability to parent, this needs to be specifically addressed in your plan
• Pet care assistance — if your pet is part of a formal therapeutic support arrangement
• Support with managing correspondence, forms, or appointments — if linked to your disability
• Assistance to attend social events as part of building independence

What Is NOT Covered — Common Mistakes

These are the most common incorrect claims participants make. The NDIA can request repayment if funds are misused.

• Day-to-day living expenses everyone pays (food, rent, utilities, phone bills)
• Medical treatment, clinical nursing, or GP visits — these are health system responsibilities
• Supports that primarily benefit other household members (e.g. cleaning that serves your whole family, not specifically you)
• Activities unrelated to your disability or NDIS goals
• Alcohol or entertainment
• Gym memberships (the membership itself — though a support worker's time to support you at the gym may be claimable)

The Grey Areas — What to Do When You're Unsure

When something is unclear, the safest approach is:

1. Check your plan's support purpose statements for the relevant budget line.
2. Ask your Support Coordinator or LAC — they know what the NDIA considers acceptable.
3. If you have a plan manager, email them the specific question — their answer creates a paper trail.
4. For complex situations, contact the NDIS Contact Centre directly.

Not sure exactly what's in your plan or how your budgets are split? Upload your plan PDF to the free PlanMind Plan Decoder — it reads your actual plan and tells you what each line covers.