← NDISmate.ai

NDISmate.ai · guides

What can I spend Core supports on?

Everyday examples, the things Core can't buy, and the rules in plain words · Last updated 2 August 2026

Core supports is the budget most NDIS plans lean on every day. It pays for help with everyday activities and for getting involved in your community — support workers, everyday disability-related items, help to get out and about, and transport. This guide covers what Core money can buy, what it can't, and how to check before you spend.

One thing before we start: every plan is different. What your money can buy always depends on what is written in your own plan. You can see your plan and your budgets in the my NDIS app or the participant portal — and this page is general information, not a promise that any particular thing will be funded for you.

How flexible is Core?

Core is the flexible budget. Unless a support is ‘stated’ — an NDIS term meaning the money is locked to one specific thing written in your plan — you can spend your total Core amount across the Core categories in the way that suits you. Need fewer everyday items this month and more support worker hours? Flexible Core money can move with you.

Two limits sit around that flexibility:

• It only works inside Core. Core money cannot move into your Capacity Building or Capital budgets.
• Stated money stays put. Newer (PACE) plans can also hold stated categories inside Core — such as Home and Living — and stated funding can only be spent on the exact support described in the plan.

Also worth knowing: since May 2025, most new and reassessed plans release funding in instalments called funding periods, usually every 3 months. Your total doesn't change — it just becomes available in parts. Unspent Core money rolls into the next funding period within your plan, but it does not carry over into a new plan. Our guide to understanding your NDIS plan walks through budgets and funding periods in full.

The four Core categories

The NDIS support categories fact sheet lists four flexible Core categories. Your plan may show these slightly differently — newer plans usually put ongoing transport in a separate Recurring budget, and older plans use some older names — so treat this as a map, and check the my NDIS app or portal for your own layout.

1. Assistance with Daily Life. Help with everyday tasks, usually at home. Paying support workers to help with showering, dressing, personal care, cooking, cleaning and yard maintenance all sits here — those are the NDIS's own examples. Two more worth knowing:

• Meal delivery. Core can pay for the preparation and delivery part of a meal delivery service — but never the food itself. Groceries and ingredients are a day-to-day living cost you pay, like anyone else.
• Short term respite. A short stay away from home that gives you and your carers a break. You might see it called Short Term Respite or Short Term Accommodation (STA) — same support. It is usually funded for up to 28 days a year, often used in blocks of up to 14 days, and can be paid from Core.

2. Assistance with Social, Economic and Community Participation. Paying a support worker to help you take part in community life — joining a group or class, getting to an activity, or following a personal interest with support alongside you. Older plans call this ‘Assistance with Social and Community Participation’ — same category, older name.

3. Consumables. Everyday items you use because of your disability. Continence products sit here, and so does low-cost assistive technology — small aids for dressing, eating, drinking or cleaning, or items like a non-slip bathmat. If an item costs under $1,500, relates to your disability, and there is money in your Consumables budget, you can usually buy it directly — no quote, no NDIA approval. Higher-risk items still need written advice from an assistive technology assessor first.

4. Transport. For people who cannot use public transport without substantial difficulty because of their disability. It can pay for taxis, rideshare and other private travel to work, study, day programs and community activities. In most newer plans, ongoing transport money is set up as ‘recurring transport’ in a separate Recurring budget, paid straight into your bank account. There are three yearly levels — about $1,784, $2,676 or $3,456 as at July 2026, depending on how much you work or study — but the amounts depend on your circumstances and do change, so check your own plan.

What Core money cannot buy

Since 3 October 2024, NDIS money can only be spent on things that count as ‘NDIS supports’ under the law. The government publishes two official lists — supports that are NDIS supports, and supports that are not. Before your funding can pay for something, three things must all be true:

1. it is on the NDIS supports list
2. it relates to your disability
3. it is in line with your plan

The ‘not NDIS supports’ list is mostly day-to-day living costs — the things everyone pays for, disability or not:

• rent, rental bonds, mortgage payments, strata fees, utility bills, council rates, insurance, fines, and debt repayments
• groceries — all food and drink
• standard household appliances like fridges and dishwashers, standard phones, tablets and internet devices, streaming subscriptions, and tickets to movies, shows or the footy
• holidays, cruises, airfares and holiday accommodation, buying a car, fuel and rego
• cigarettes, vapes, alcohol, and gambling
• wellness and alternative therapies with no evidence base — crystal therapy, reiki, tarot reading, psychics, cuddle therapy, and life or wellness coaches

Those are examples, not the whole list. The full official lists live on the supports funded by the NDIS page on ndis.gov.au.

And a change worth knowing about: for the first year of these rules, the NDIA generally did not chase small honest mistakes. That grace period ended on 2 October 2025. Now, spending NDIS money on something that is not an NDIS support can create a debt you have to repay — so if you are not sure, check before you buy.

Swapping in something normally excluded

There is one narrow doorway through the ‘not allowed’ list, called a replacement support. You can apply to swap existing funding in your plan for something normally excluded — the common examples are a smartwatch, tablet, smartphone or app used for accessibility or communication.

The order matters. The NDIA must approve the swap in writing, before you buy. The new item must replace a support already in your plan, do the same job or better, and cost the same or less. Buying the tablet first and asking afterwards can leave you with a debt instead of an approval.

The ‘reasonable and necessary’ test in plain words

Every support the NDIS funds has to pass a legal test called ‘reasonable and necessary’. In plain words, a support passes when:

• it relates to your disability
• it helps you work towards your goals
• it helps you take part in social life or work
• it is value for money
• it is likely to actually work — effective and beneficial, based on current good practice
• it takes into account what family, friends and community can reasonably provide

On top of all that, it must count as an ‘NDIS support’ on the official list. And the NDIS will not fund things another system should provide — like the health system, schools, or income support.

A simple check before you spend

Before an unusual purchase, run through three questions:

1. Is it on the NDIS supports list?
2. Is it because of my disability?
3. Is it in line with my plan?

If you are not sure about any of them, ask before you buy — your planner, local area coordinator (LAC), support coordinator or plan manager, or the NDIA on 1800 800 110. If you self-manage, keep every receipt and invoice for 5 years; the NDIA can ask to see them in random checks.

Matey can read your plan with you and help you think a purchase through in plain language — the decision, and the spending, stays yours. And if you think your budgets no longer fit your life, see NDIS plan reassessment: what to expect.