While navigating your way through the disability sector you are likely to come across more acronyms than you thought possible. Remembering and understanding what each acronym stands for and how it applies to you can be confusing and time consuming. From LAC to AT, we have created a cheat sheet to have you speaking the language in no time. We hope the list of acronyms below helps - if you have any that we may have missed, we’d be glad to hear from you.
NDIS Plan Management
Acronym: NDIS
Stands for: National Disability Insurance Scheme
Description: The NDIS is a new way of providing individualised support for people with disability, their families and carers. The NDIS will provide all Australians with a permanent and significant disability, aged under 65, with the reasonable and necessary supports they need to live an ordinary life.
Acronym: NDIA
Stands for: National Disability Insurance Agency
Description: The governing agency that implements and manages the NDIS.
Acronym: LAC
Stands for: Local Area Coordinator
Description: Local Area Coordinators help people understand and access the NDIS, work with participants to develop and use their NDIS plan, and help develop links within the community.
Acronym: SC
Stands for: Support Coordination
Description: Support coordination helps participants to:
- Connect to NDIS and other supports
- Broker supports and services in line with a participant’s wishes and their plan budget
- Monitor plan budgets and support effectiveness
- Build capacity and capability to understand their plan, navigate the NDIS and make their own decisions
Acronym: DSW
Stands for: Direct Support Worker/Disability Support Worker
Description: A Direct Support Worker provides care and support for people living with a disability. This can include movement, domestic duties, mealtime support, medication administration and personal care.
Disability Housing Support
Acronym: SIL
Stands for: Supported Independent Living
Description: SIL is support with daily tasks to help NDIS participants live as independently as possible. SIL happens within your home and includes things like personal care tasks or cooking meals.
Acronym: SDA
Stands for: Specialist Disability Accommodation
Description: SDA is a range of housing designed to enable eligible NDIS participants to receive the support they need to live within the community. The housing is modified to suit tenants who require high levels of support.
Acronym: ILO
Stands for: Individualised Living Options
Description: ILO is an NDIS support that lets you choose the home you live in and set up supports in the way that best suits you. An ILO is a package of supports that can help you live how you want in the home environment you have chosen. It’s not the home itself.
Acronym: STA
Stands for: Short Term Accommodation
Description: STA is funding for temporary accommodation that is designed to provide care for both the participant and their support persons. It was previously known as respite care.
Therapies & Allied Health
Acronym: AT
Stands for: Assistive technology
Definition: Assistive Technologies are physical supports that help you do something more easily or safely, or something you otherwise couldn’t do due to your disability. These can include an app to help you speak, non-slip mats, modified forks, and wheelchairs and adjustable beds.
Acronym: OT
Stands for: Occupational Therapist/Therapy
Description: Occupational Therapists provide ongoing assessments and intervention for people living with a disability. The primary goal of occupational therapists/therapy is to enable people to participate in the activates of everyday life, including self-care, working, interests and hobbies.
Acronym: PT
Stands for: Physiotherapy
Description: Focusing on physical activity, physiotherapists work with people through physical rehabilitation to help regain or improve your body function, and prevent loss in mobility or function.
Acronym: SP
Stands for: Speech Pathology
Description: Speech and language pathologists can provide therapy and support for people experiencing difficulties with communication, literacy, speech and language development, and mealtimes.
While this list is a good way to get started, there are many more you may come across along the way. We would love to hear from you – how have you found understanding the NDIS language? Do you have any tips or tricks for people new to the experience? Let us know: [email protected]
