Can the NDIS pay for help with cooking?
Yes. The NDIS can fund a worker to help you prepare meals, or support to build your own cooking skills. The food cost, though, is yours.
Yes. The NDIS can fund a support worker to help prepare your meals under **Core** (Assistance with Daily Life), and it can fund support to build your *own* cooking skills under **Capacity Building** (Improved Daily Living). What it doesn't cover is the **cost of the food** — that's an everyday living expense you pay yourself.
The short answer
How the NDIS decides
What's covered — and what isn't
How to ask, and what evidence helps
A realistic picture
Frequently asked questions
Does the NDIS pay for the food when a worker cooks for me?
No. A support worker preparing your meals is funded, but the ingredients are an everyday living cost you pay yourself. The NDIS covers the disability-related help, not the food that everyone has to buy.
What's the difference between cooking help and cooking skills?
Cooking help is a worker preparing meals with or for you, funded from Core. Cooking skills is support to learn to cook independently, funded from Capacity Building. One meets the need now; the other reduces it over time.
Can I have both a worker and skills-building?
Yes. Many plans include hands-on help for safety now plus capacity building to grow independence. Talk to your planner or OT about the right balance for your goals and situation.
Will the NDIS buy me kitchen appliances?
Ordinary household appliances aren't funded. However, if an OT identifies specific assistive technology that helps you cook safely because of your disability, that's assessed separately as an AT need, not as cooking help.