Informal supports — the help you get from family, friends, and community without anyone being paid — are something NDIA considers when planning your supports. That can feel threatening. Will they reduce my funding because my family helps me? Here's how informal supports actually work in practice.

What informal supports are

Informal supports are unpaid help. Specifically:

A parent helping with personal care.

A spouse doing household tasks.

An adult child providing emotional support and company.

Friends offering transport or company at appointments.

Neighbours checking in or running errands.

Volunteers from religious or cultural community organisations.

These are supports that don't appear on an invoice. They're the everyday give-and-take of family and community life.

NDIA considers informal supports during planning because the scheme is intended to fund what informal support can't reasonably provide. If your sister is willing and able to drive you to appointments, NDIA may not fund taxi rides. If your husband helps you with showering, NDIA may fund less personal care.

How NDIA considers them in planning

Informal supports come up in two ways at planning:

What you tell them. Planners ask about who's in your life and what help you currently receive. Your answers shape their assessment of your support needs.

What's "reasonable" to expect. NDIA applies the seven criteria for reasonable and necessary, one of which is whether informal support could reasonably provide what's being requested.

The "reasonable" judgement is subjective. Two planners can look at the same situation and reach different conclusions. What's reasonable for an able-bodied 35-year-old partner is different from what's reasonable for a 75-year-old parent.

When informal supports affect your funding

Informal supports usually reduce funding when:

A family member or partner is providing significant care that would otherwise need to be paid.

The family member/partner is presumed to be available based on their living arrangements (e.g. living in the same house).

Cultural assumptions about family responsibility apply (NDIA sometimes makes assumptions about family willingness that don't match reality).

Informal supports usually don't reduce funding when:

The informal supporter has their own significant burdens (illness, work, other caring responsibilities).

The informal supporter is not in the same household or readily available.

The support being requested is specialised (medical, behavioural, complex).

The support involves intimate care that the participant prefers not to receive from family.

The support is needed during hours when the family member isn't available (e.g. work hours, sleep).

What to say about informal supports at planning

The instinct, especially for many families, is to underplay how much help you give. People say "we're managing fine" when they're not. They feel embarrassed asking for paid support when family is already helping.

Don't underplay. NDIA needs the truth about what's sustainable.

Useful framings:

"My partner currently helps me with X, but it's not sustainable because Y." (Y might be: she has full-time work, her own health is declining, her chronic pain limits what she can do, she has other caring responsibilities, the relationship is strained.)

"My mother visits twice a week, but she lives 45 minutes away and she's 70 herself. She can't do more than that." (Specifies what's actually available.)

"I've been managing because my family has, but my mother is going back to work next month and we can't continue this way." (Anticipates upcoming changes.)

"My partner does X, but I would prefer not to rely on him for personal care. It affects our relationship." (Addresses the appropriateness question, not just availability.)

"My family is willing to help with social and emotional support, but I need professional support for my personal care needs." (Separates types of support.)

When informal supports break down

Informal supports are inherently fragile. People age. Relationships end. People get their own illnesses. Children grow up and move away. People have to work more hours.

If your informal supports change significantly during a plan period, that's a change of circumstances and grounds for an unscheduled plan review.

Specific events that warrant a review:

Death or serious illness of a primary informal supporter.

Relationship breakdown or partner moving out.

Adult child relocating for work.

Primary informal supporter taking on new caring responsibilities (their own children, grandchildren).

Decline in informal supporter's own health.

When informal support disappears, the gap can be sudden and significant. Don't wait for the next scheduled review — request an unscheduled review.

Carer support

The other side of the informal support conversation: NDIS doesn't fund carers themselves, but it can fund supports that help carers. Specifically:

Respite care (formal short-term replacement of informal care, giving carers a break).

Carer counselling and support, sometimes via Capacity Building.

Programs that build capacity for sustained caring (carer training, peer networks).

Carers Queensland and Carer Gateway are external programs offering further support, advice, and respite. They're not part of NDIS but worth knowing about.

Frequently asked questions

If I say my family helps a lot, will my funding be cut?

Possibly, depending on what they help with and what's "reasonable." This is why honest framing matters — describe what's sustainable and what's not, not just what's currently happening.

Does NDIS expect partners to provide intimate personal care?

Generally, yes — though this is contested. Many participants and partners feel this expectation is inappropriate and undermines relationships. You can argue this at planning by being explicit about why partner-provided personal care isn't appropriate for your situation.

Can my family be paid for the help they give?

In some self-managed arrangements with specific NDIA approval, yes. This is the exception, not the rule. Most family-provided support remains unpaid informal support.

What if my family suddenly can't help anymore?

Request an unscheduled plan review. Document what's changed and what your needs are now.

If you're navigating questions about informal supports — whether you're a participant or a family carer — Seareal can help. Talk to us about how to frame your situation at planning meetings.