Nominees, Child Representatives and other contacts in the NDIS.

Contact with the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) can be overwhelming.  You may need help from someone to make decisions on your behalf or help you with the letters and emails you receive from the NDIS.  There are different types of voluntary support available to help with this and it is important that you understand what they are and how they can assist you.

Nominees, Child Representatives and other Contacts

Nominees – are for participants aged 18 years and over

A Nominee is someone who is appointed, usually at your request, and can make decisions on your behalf about:

• you as a participant
• your plan
• your NDIS supports

Your Nominee can be a family member or close friend, an advocate (independent person who supports and speaks up for you) or a guardian or court-appointed decision-maker. Their role as your Nominee will only be for as long as you want it to be, or they do not wish to or are unable to continue as your Nominee.  Your Nominee cannot be anyone under the age of 18 years, the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) or anyone who has not agreed in writing to take on this role.

You will only have a nominee if you can’t or don’t want to make your own decisions about the NDIS.  Decisions that you may not want to deal with are such things as asking for changes to your plan, managing your funding and preparing a new plan.

It is up to you to decide what type of nominee you want.  There are two types of nominees:

• plan nominees; and
• correspondence (letters, emails) nominees

You can ask to have just a plan nominee or correspondence nominee, or you can ask to have both.  You can have the same person as your plan nominee and correspondence nominee or you can ask to have different people. 

Your nominee can also talk to the NDIS for you if you find this hard to do.  If you give consent, they can take any phone calls or attend any meetings.

They must also act in your best interests and their job is to listen to you and to help you build your decision-making capacity.  They make sure that the NDIS understands what you want and they try to make it happen.

Although a nominee can make decisions for you, there are still some decisions that you may need to continue to make yourself such as your goals and the types of providers you want to use.

Child Representatives – are for participants aged younger than 18 years

A Child Representative is someone who is usually automatically appointed to make decisions about the NDIS on behalf of a child participant.  The Representative can be the child’s parent or parents, or another person with parental responsibility such as a grandparent.

The responsibilities and decisions of a Child Representative are generally similar to those of a Nominee as set out above.  You represent your child in the NDIS and work with the NDIS to:

• create your child’s plan and make changes when needed
• communicate with the NDIS and provide information when it is requested
• choose providers to deliver your child’s supports

As a Child Representative, you must always act in your child’s best interests by protecting your child from harm and helping them to grow, develop and become independent.

The role of a Child Representative ends automatically when your child turns 18.  There are some circumstances where this role can end earlier. These include when your child asks the NDIS to do so, or because you are no longer the appropriate person to be a child representative.

Other Contacts

If you are over the age of 18 years (an adult), you may also have someone appointed to assist you when your disability severely impairs your decision-making abilities.

The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) can appoint a Guardian as a substitute decision-maker.

It is important to remember that a Guardian does not automatically become your NDIS nominee.  Even though the NDIA may presume the guardian will be appointed as your nominee, your Guardian will need to agree in writing to be your NDIS nominee 

If you feel you need someone to help you with your NDIS journey then talk to your myNDIS contact or planner or go to https://www.ndis.gov.au/understanding-ndis/people-help-you on the NDIS website for further information.