What employment supports can the NDIS fund?

The NDIS can fund disability-specific supports to help you prepare for, find and keep work. This includes building skills and confidence, working out suitable work, support to look for a job, and on-the-job support once you are employed. The supports must be reasonable and necessary and address barriers created by your disability.

Does the NDIS pay my wages?

No. Your wages are paid by your employer, just as they would be for any worker. The NDIS funds the disability-specific support that helps you take part in work, such as help to learn tasks or build skills. It does not pay wages or take over the employer's responsibilities in the workplace.

SLES stands for School Leaver Employment Supports. It is designed for young people with disability leaving school, helping them build skills and experience in the years afterwards with a focus on moving towards employment. SLES can include work experience, skill-building and support to explore different kinds of work, tailored to each young person's pathway.

Can the NDIS help me keep a job I already have?

Yes. On-the-job support can help you learn tasks, adjust to the workplace and build the skills and confidence to work more independently over time. It works alongside your employer, who still provides the job and makes reasonable adjustments. The aim is usually to build your capacity so you need less support as you settle in.

How is the NDIS different from Disability Employment Services?

Disability Employment Services (DES) is a separate Australian Government program that helps people find and keep jobs, including job searching and connecting with employers. The NDIS does not replace DES. Instead it funds disability-specific supports that DES is not set up to provide. The two are meant to work alongside each other, not duplicate each other.

What is supported employment?

Supported employment is work in a setting that offers more support than a typical workplace, such as an Australian Disability Enterprise, for people with higher support needs. The enterprise is the employer, while the NDIS can fund the disability-specific support that helps you take part. Whether open or supported employment suits you depends on your needs and goals.

Can I use both the NDIS and DES at the same time?

Yes, many people do. DES can help you find and keep a job, while the NDIS funds disability-specific supports like skill-building or managing disability-related barriers at work. It helps to be clear about who does what so supports do not overlap or leave gaps. Your planner or support coordinator can help you coordinate the two.

How can the NDIS help me at work?

The employment supports the NDIS funds, and how they work alongside other services.

Work matters to a lot of people, and having a disability should not shut you out of it. The NDIS can fund disability-specific supports that help you prepare for, find and keep a job, whether that is in open employment alongside the general workforce or in a supported setting.

These supports sit alongside mainstream employment services rather than replacing them, and they focus on the practical help you need because of your disability. Knowing what the NDIS can and cannot do, and how it fits with other programs, helps you get the right mix.

In this guide

The NDIS can fund disability-specific employment supports to help you prepare for, find and keep work.
On-the-job support can help you learn tasks and build the skills and confidence to stay employed.
School Leaver Employment Supports (SLES) help young people move from school towards work.
The NDIS supports participation in open or supported employment, such as an Australian Disability Enterprise.
It works alongside, but does not replace, Disability Employment Services (DES), and wages are paid by the employer, not the NDIS.

How the NDIS supports employment

The NDIS funds employment supports that are specific to your disability. The idea is to pay for the extra help you need because of your disability so you can take part in work, whether you are just starting to think about a job or already employed and needing support to stay there.

This can include building skills and confidence, help to work out what kind of work suits you, support to look for and start a job, and ongoing help once you are in a role. The common thread is that these supports address barriers created by your disability, and they are tied to your goals around employment.

It is important to be clear about a key boundary. The NDIS does not pay wages. Your pay comes from your employer, just as it would for any worker. The NDIS also works alongside mainstream employment programs and does not replace them. It funds the disability-specific help, while broader job services and the labour market do their part. As with all supports, employment help must be reasonable and necessary, and you can read how this is framed in the NDIS Our Guidelines at ndis.gov.au.

Preparing for and finding work

For many people the journey starts well before a job offer. The NDIS can fund supports that help you get ready for work, such as building everyday work skills, understanding workplaces, developing confidence and working out what sort of job matches your interests and abilities.

This preparation can be especially useful if you have not worked before or have been out of the workforce for a while. It might involve activities that build your capacity to travel to a job, manage a routine, communicate with colleagues, or handle the practical demands of a role.

When you are ready to look for work, disability-specific support can help you with the parts that are harder because of your disability. That said, this is also where mainstream services play a big role. General job-searching, employer relationships and placement are often the work of Disability Employment Services and other mainstream programs. The NDIS is not designed to duplicate those services, so the two are meant to complement each other.

Support on the job

Getting a job is one thing; keeping it is another, and this is where on-the-job support can make a real difference. The NDIS can fund support to help you learn your tasks, adjust to the workplace and build the skills and confidence to work more independently over time.

This might look like a support worker helping you learn a new task, working out strategies to manage parts of the job that are affected by your disability, or supporting you through changes at work. The goal is usually to build your capacity so that, where possible, you need less support as you become more established.

On-the-job support is designed to work with your employer, not to take over their responsibilities. Employers still provide the job, pay wages and make reasonable adjustments as any employer would. The NDIS focuses on the disability-specific help that sits on top of that. This kind of support can be valuable in both open employment and supported settings, depending on your needs and goals.

SLES and supported employment

Young people leaving school often need a bridge into working life, and School Leaver Employment Supports, known as SLES, are designed for exactly that. SLES helps school leavers with disability build skills and experience in the years after school, with a focus on moving towards employment rather than staying in day activities.

SLES can include things like work experience, skill-building and support to explore different kinds of work, tailored to each young person. It is about developing a pathway, so the transition from school does not become a dead end.

Alongside open employment, some people work in supported employment, for example at an Australian Disability Enterprise. These are workplaces set up to employ people with disability with higher support needs, offering more support than a typical workplace. The NDIS can fund the disability-specific support that helps you take part, while the enterprise operates as the employer. Whether open or supported employment is the better fit depends on your needs, and it can change over time as your skills and confidence grow.

How this fits with DES

Disability Employment Services, or DES, is a separate Australian Government program, not part of the NDIS. DES providers help people with disability find and keep jobs, including support to look for work, prepare applications, connect with employers and settle into a role. Many people with disability use DES whether or not they are NDIS participants.

The NDIS is meant to work alongside DES rather than replace it. Broadly, DES handles the mainstream job-services role, while the NDIS funds the disability-specific supports that DES is not set up to provide. In practice, a person might use DES to find a job and receive NDIS-funded support to build the underlying skills or manage disability-related barriers on the job.

Because there are two systems, it helps to be clear about who is doing what, so supports do not overlap or leave gaps. Your planner or support coordinator can help you understand how your NDIS supports and DES work together for your situation. Since program rules can change, it is worth checking current information from official sources, including ndis.gov.au, and the government's employment services information for DES.

Frequently asked questions

What employment supports can the NDIS fund?: The NDIS can fund disability-specific supports to help you prepare for, find and keep work. This includes building skills and confidence, working out suitable work, support to look for a job, and on-the-job support once you are employed. The supports must be reasonable and necessary and address barriers created by your disability.
Does the NDIS pay my wages?: No. Your wages are paid by your employer, just as they would be for any worker. The NDIS funds the disability-specific support that helps you take part in work, such as help to learn tasks or build skills. It does not pay wages or take over the employer's responsibilities in the workplace.
What is SLES?: SLES stands for School Leaver Employment Supports. It is designed for young people with disability leaving school, helping them build skills and experience in the years afterwards with a focus on moving towards employment. SLES can include work experience, skill-building and support to explore different kinds of work, tailored to each young person's pathway.
Can the NDIS help me keep a job I already have?: Yes. On-the-job support can help you learn tasks, adjust to the workplace and build the skills and confidence to work more independently over time. It works alongside your employer, who still provides the job and makes reasonable adjustments. The aim is usually to build your capacity so you need less support as you settle in.
How is the NDIS different from Disability Employment Services?: Disability Employment Services (DES) is a separate Australian Government program that helps people find and keep jobs, including job searching and connecting with employers. The NDIS does not replace DES. Instead it funds disability-specific supports that DES is not set up to provide. The two are meant to work alongside each other, not duplicate each other.
What is supported employment?: Supported employment is work in a setting that offers more support than a typical workplace, such as an Australian Disability Enterprise, for people with higher support needs. The enterprise is the employer, while the NDIS can fund the disability-specific support that helps you take part. Whether open or supported employment suits you depends on your needs and goals.
Can I use both the NDIS and DES at the same time?: Yes, many people do. DES can help you find and keep a job, while the NDIS funds disability-specific supports like skill-building or managing disability-related barriers at work. It helps to be clear about who does what so supports do not overlap or leave gaps. Your planner or support coordinator can help you coordinate the two.

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