Personal care is one of NDIS's most commonly funded supports, and one of the most intimate. Help with showering, dressing, and daily hygiene involves a level of trust that takes time to build. This guide walks through what personal care under NDIS actually covers, who it suits, and what to look for in a provider.
If you've never had paid help with personal routines before, the idea takes some getting used to. Most people feel awkward about it at first. That's normal. Good support workers know this and don't make a thing of it. Within a few weeks, the awkwardness usually fades and the support just becomes part of your routine.
What personal care includes
NDIS personal care covers what's known in the system as Daily Personal Activities — Registration Group 0107. The core activities are:
Showering, bathing, and personal hygiene assistance. This is the most common request. A support worker helps you in and out of the shower safely, washes your hair if needed, and helps you dry off and dress. For people who can't safely shower alone — because of mobility issues, balance problems, cognitive impairment, or fatigue — this is the support that lets them stay independent at home.
Dressing and grooming. Help getting clothes on and off, putting on shoes, doing up buttons or zips, brushing hair, applying deodorant or makeup if that's part of your routine.
Toileting and continence support. Help getting on and off the toilet, managing continence aids, cleaning up after accidents. This is delivered with as much privacy and dignity as the situation allows.
Eating and meal assistance. Help with cutting food, opening packaging, eating, or feeding for participants who can't manage this independently.
Mobility support around the home. Help getting from bed to bathroom to kitchen, transferring in and out of chairs, using equipment.
Medication prompting. Reminding you to take medication at scheduled times. Note: workers don't generally administer medication unless they have specific training and the medication is in a webster pack or similar dosing aid. Insulin, injections, and complex medication regimes usually need a registered nurse.
Morning and evening routines. Putting all of the above together into a structured shift that gets you up and ready for the day, or settled at night.
Who it's for
Personal care is funded for participants who can't safely or independently manage self-care because of their disability. That includes:
People with physical disabilities affecting mobility, dexterity, or strength.
People with significant fatigue or pain conditions where personal care tasks are exhausting.
People with cognitive impairment, intellectual disability, or acquired brain injury where memory, sequencing, or judgment is affected.
People with mental health conditions where motivation, executive functioning, or hygiene maintenance is impaired.
People with sensory impairment (e.g. severe vision impairment) where some personal care tasks are unsafe alone.
People recovering from surgery, illness, or hospital stays who need temporary personal care support.
The funding is allocated based on the time and frequency of support needed. Someone needing a 30-minute shower assist three mornings a week will have a different allocation from someone needing two-hour morning and evening shifts every day.
What it doesn't include
Some things people sometimes assume personal care covers but doesn't:
General companionship without a personal care function. If you want someone to come and chat or keep you company, that's social participation, not personal care.
Beauty treatments, cosmetic procedures, hairdressing at salons, manicures. NDIS doesn't fund these as personal care.
Medical procedures. Wound care, catheter changes, medication administration, injections, and similar tasks generally require a nurse or trained clinical staff. They sit outside standard personal care.
Childcare. NDIS doesn't fund care for your children, even if you have a disability that makes parenting harder. Some related supports (e.g. capacity building around parenting skills) may be possible but are separate.
Personal services for housemates, partners, or family. Workers are there for the funded participant, not the household.
How it's funded in your plan
Personal care funding sits in your Core Supports budget — specifically under Assistance with Daily Life. The funding is shown in your plan as a dollar amount per plan period.
The standard NDIS hourly rate for personal care in Queensland in 2025–26 is $70.23 weekday, with higher rates for evenings, weekends, and public holidays. Saturday rates are around $99 per hour, Sunday closer to $128. Public holidays are higher again.
Your plan budget translates into a number of hours per week or fortnight. If your plan funds $30,000 a year for personal care, that's roughly eight hours a week of weekday support. If you need evening or weekend coverage, the same dollar value buys fewer hours.
Most participants don't realise how much weekend and evening rates eat into their budget. If your support pattern includes Saturday and Sunday shifts, talk to your plan manager about how the higher rates affect your projected hours.
What a good support worker looks like
A few things to look for, beyond the basics of being qualified and screened:
Reliability. The single most important thing. A worker who shows up consistently, on time, every week is worth more than a more skilled worker who's unpredictable.
Communication. Workers who explain what they're doing, ask before they touch you, and listen to your preferences are easier to live with.
Discretion. Workers see you in vulnerable moments. Discretion about what they observe — your home, your habits, your appearance, your relationships — is non-negotiable.
Patience. Personal care can take time, especially on bad days. Workers who rush you make the support harder.
Respect for your routine. You're the expert on how you want things done. Good workers learn your routine and follow it, rather than imposing their own preferences.
Cultural and language fit. If English isn't your first language, or if you have specific cultural practices around bathing or dressing, ask for workers who match.
Same-gender preference if it matters to you. Many participants prefer same-gender workers for personal care. Most providers can match this.
Questions to ask a provider
Before signing on with a provider for personal care:
How do you handle worker no-shows? Sickness, holidays, sudden departures — what's the backup plan?
Can I meet workers before they start? You should be able to.
How do you handle worker changes if a match isn't working? You should be able to request a change without explaining yourself.
How is communication handled if there's a problem? Do you have a local coordinator I can call, or is everything routed through a head office?
Do workers have ongoing training, especially in areas like manual handling and complex care?
How do you handle incidents and complaints? What's the process and timeline?
Are workers Seareal employees or contractors / labour-hire? Direct employment usually means more accountability.
What happens to my support if my worker is on leave for a few weeks?
Frequently asked questions
Can I have the same support worker every shift?
Mostly, yes. Good providers prioritise consistency — meaning two or three regular workers rather than rotating through the whole team. You'll have backup workers for when your primary is unavailable, but the core relationship is consistent.
What if I don't get along with my worker?
You can request a change at any time without giving reasons. Compatibility matters too much to push through a bad match.
Do I have to be home for the shift?
Yes — personal care is delivered in your home (or another agreed location). You need to be present for it.
Can a family member be paid to do this?
In specific circumstances, yes — but it's complicated. Self-managed plans have more flexibility around informal carers being paid. Agency-managed and plan-managed setups generally don't allow it.
How do I increase my personal care hours if my needs change?
Talk to your support coordinator or LAC. If your needs have substantially increased, you can request an unscheduled plan review. If the change is small, you might be able to redistribute existing Core funding (between household help and personal care, for example).
If you're looking for personal care support across Queensland, contact Seareal. We work in Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, and the Sunshine Coast, and we take time to match workers to participants properly.