NDIS funding, explained plainly
Sometimes, and it depends on the plan. This page explains how cleaning is actually funded, the two tests that decide it, and who to ask for a decision on a specific plan.
Sometimes, and it depends on the plan. Cleaning is not its own standalone category in the NDIS. It sits inside Assistance with Daily Life, which is part of Core Supports. The NDIS describes Assistance with Daily Life as help "with everyday tasks in your home ... such as cooking and cleaning" (ndis.gov.au, Guide to your NDIS home and living options). For a look at what that kind of support covers in practice, see NDIS cleaning.
That means whether house cleaning is funded for a particular participant is not a yes or no answered by a general rule. It depends on what is actually in that person's plan, and whether the specific support meets the two tests set out below. Nothing on this page should be read as confirming that any individual plan includes cleaning: only the participant's plan itself, and the people who manage it, can confirm that.
This also means the question "does the NDIS pay for cleaning" and the question "does my plan pay for cleaning" are different questions with different answers. The first is about what the scheme allows for in principle. The second is about what has actually been written into one person's plan, which depends on their own circumstances, their goals, and the evidence provided at planning or review. This page can only answer the first question.
Whether a support, including house cleaning, can be funded under a plan comes down to two tests that the NDIA applies:
Both tests are applied by the NDIA, informed by evidence from the participant's treating team, support coordinator or occupational therapist, not by a cleaning provider. Meeting one test without the other is not enough. This is a description of how the tests work, not a claim that any specific plan or participant will meet them.
One thing most guides like this one skip is what happens when a participant lives with other people: a partner, family, housemates. The honest answer is that NDIS funding relates to the participant's own disability-related needs. It is not funding for the whole household's general housework.
As a general pattern, that often looks like a cleaning support scoped around the tasks the participant cannot safely or independently do because of their disability, rather than the full weekly clean of a shared home, though that is an observation about how things tend to play out, not a rule the NDIA applies. Exactly how that line is drawn for a shared household, and how it is written into a specific plan, is a conversation for the participant's support coordinator or plan manager. We are not in a position to draw that line on anyone's behalf, and we would rather say that plainly than let a participant assume more coverage than a plan actually provides.
This is the one distinction on this page that is not a matter of judgment: it is regulatory, and it is set out directly by the regulator, the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission.
On provider registration, the Commission states: "Only participants who self-manage or plan-manage their NDIS funding can choose to get supports and services from unregistered providers." It also states the reverse: "You must be registered to provide: ... supports or services to NDIS participants with NDIA-managed funding" (NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, provider registration).
Put plainly: if a participant's funding is agency-managed (NDIA-managed), they can only use a registered provider for that support. If they are self-managed or plan-managed, they can choose either a registered or an unregistered provider.
One Call is a registered NDIS provider, 4-KMM12U1. That means participants on any of the three management types, self-managed, plan-managed or NDIA-managed, can engage One Call for cleaning that falls within its registration.
Whichever management type applies, the choice of provider still matters. See choosing an NDIS cleaner for what to look for.
This page is general information, not financial or plan advice: it cannot confirm whether cleaning is funded in a specific plan. For that, the right people to ask are:
Get a decision from one of those three before assuming a support is covered or booking work against a plan. A cleaning provider, including One Call, can explain what it offers and what it is registered to deliver, but not what a specific plan includes. For the practical steps of turning a decision into cleaning that is actually in a plan, see how to get NDIS cleaning.
Five common questions on this topic are answered below. For more, see the NDIS cleaning FAQs.
No. It depends on whether a plan includes Household Tasks, and whether the support meets the two tests: relating to the participant's disability, and being reasonable and necessary. A support coordinator or plan manager can confirm what is actually in a given plan.
The NDIA makes that call at planning or plan review, usually informed by a support coordinator, occupational therapist or other allied health professional. It is not a decision a cleaning provider can make on a participant's behalf.
Generally no. Funding relates to the participant's own disability-related needs, not the whole household's general housework. Where a home is shared, a support coordinator can advise how that is usually approached for a specific plan.
It matters for which providers you can use. Self-managed and plan-managed participants can choose an unregistered provider. Participants with NDIA-managed (agency-managed) funding must use a registered provider. One Call is registered (4-KMM12U1), so participants under any of the three management types can engage it.
No. This page is general information only. For a decision about a specific plan, speak to a support coordinator, plan manager or the NDIA directly.
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