NDIS Guides

Complex Care at Home: A Guide for Families

Name: 1 Care Connect
Address: Rosehill, NSW, 2142, AU
Telephone: 1300 264 942

September 2, 2026

Complex care at home is what makes the difference between a hospital bed and your own one. When someone needs clinical support day to day, families are often told very little about what is possible. This guide explains what the NDIS funds for complex care at home, who can carry out clinical tasks, and what to ask before you choose a provider.

Quick summary

The NDIS may fund health supports that help you manage a health condition caused by your disability.
Respiratory care, continence, wound and pressure care and dysphagia are all named on the funded list.
Funding can pay a nurse, and it can pay to train a support worker, family member or friend.
Anyone carrying out a task needs training for it specifically for you, not training in general.
Hospital care, ambulance transport and medicines come from the health system, not the NDIS.
You can ask for these supports at any time, and ask for a review if refused.

What complex care at home usually means

There is no single NDIS definition of complex care at home. Families use the phrase for support that involves clinical tasks. That means help with breathing, feeding through a tube, catheter and bowel management, wounds that heal slowly, or medication that has to be exactly right.

The NDIS covers complex care at home under a category called disability-related health supports. It may fund those to help you manage a health condition caused by your disability. It describes them as equipment, items and services that reduce the impact your disability has on daily life. Our community nursing service is where this sits for us, delivered by registered nurses.

What the NDIS names on its funded list

It is worth reading the actual list rather than guessing. The NDIS may fund supports for:

dysphagia, diabetes management and continence
wound and pressure care for slow to heal wounds
respiratory care and planning to help you breathe properly
nutrition, including meal preparation
podiatry assessment and foot care
seizure monitoring and management
accessing health or mental health services
specialist services following a recently acquired severe condition
training for the people who support you

Equipment can come with it. The NDIS names continence products, dressings, food products for a PEG tube, and assistive technology such as pressure care cushions or a cough assist machine.

One honest note on wording. The NDIS list says “respiratory care”, not “tracheostomy care”. Tracheostomy support sits inside that category, but if you are writing a request, use the language the NDIS uses and let your treating professional describe the specific need.

Who can carry out a clinical task

This is the part families most need explained, and it has a clear answer.

Sometimes the task is done by a nurse. The NDIS gives the example directly: your funding may be for a registered nurse who can change a urinary catheter, or a support worker to provide a feed safely using your PEG.

Sometimes a support worker, family member or friend can do it instead, and the NDIS may fund a qualified practitioner to train them. Its own example is a registered nurse training someone to prevent pressure sores and wounds.

Either way, four conditions apply before that person supports you. They must:

be trained by an appropriately qualified health professional
be trained for that task specifically for you
have experience in that task
be competent to provide the support

Read the second one again. Trained “specifically for you” is not the same as having done a course. Press any provider who cannot explain how a new worker learns your particular needs.

Where the health system takes over

The NDIS states it cannot fund services and supports available through the health system. Its examples are services at public or private hospitals, ambulance transport, medicines, child and maternal health services, and palliative care. Diagnosis and clinical treatment of health conditions also sit outside, including ongoing or chronic conditions.

That boundary is not a loophole to argue with. It is the design. The health system treats illness; the NDIS helps you live with disability. If you need help managing your health, the NDIS says to talk to your doctor first. The full page on disability-related health supports sets it out.

Questions worth asking a complex care at home provider

Complex care at home is where the difference between providers shows up fastest. Before you commit, ask:

Who holds clinical oversight, and is a registered nurse involved in planning my care?
How is a new worker trained for my specific needs before their first shift?
What happens when my regular worker is unavailable at short notice?
Who do I call at 2am, and what actually happens then?
How do you handle a change in my condition, and who reviews the plan?
Can you support me if my needs increase, or would I have to move provider?

A provider that has thought this through answers in specifics. Vague answers about values are an answer too.

When home is not the only question

Sometimes the honest conversation is about where you live, not only what support arrives. For some people with high support needs, supported independent living works better than complex care at home, because support is on hand around the clock. Our current SIL and SDA vacancies show what that can look like in practice.

Others need clinical care layered onto ordinary daily support, which is where in home care and nursing work together. If you want the funding side of nursing explained separately, our guide to NDIS community nursing covers it.

Frequently asked questions

Does the NDIS fund complex care at home?

It may. The NDIS can fund support that helps you manage a health condition caused by your disability, including respiratory care, continence, and wound and pressure care.

Can I have PEG feeding support at home?

The NDIS names both a support worker providing a feed safely using your PEG, and food products for a PEG, as things it may fund. The person doing it must meet the four training conditions.

Can a family member learn to help?

Yes, and the NDIS may fund a qualified practitioner to train them. They must be trained by an appropriately qualified health professional, trained for that task specifically for you, experienced, and competent.

Is tracheostomy care covered?

The NDIS list uses the broader term, respiratory care and planning to help you breathe properly. Ask your treating professional to describe the specific need in your evidence, and use the NDIS’s own wording in the request.

Why will the NDIS not pay for my medication?

Medicines sit with the health system. The NDIS states it cannot fund services and supports you can get through the health system, and lists medicines among its examples.

How do I get complex supports added to my plan?

You can ask at any time. Gather evidence starting with your treating healthcare professional, then submit it through your NDIS partner, your my NDIS contact, the NDIS service hub or by post.

What if my needs change suddenly?

You can request a plan change at any time if your situation changes. If the NDIS refuses a request, you can ask for an internal review of that decision.

How 1 Care Connect can help

1 Care Connect provides complex care at home as a registered NDIS provider and a nurse-led organisation. Clinical judgement shapes how support is planned rather than sitting at the edge of it. Our registered nurses provide ventilator and tracheostomy care, enteral feeding support, urinary catheter management, complex bowel care, continence assessment and medication assistance with clinical oversight. If you are working out whether home is realistic, call 1300 264 942. If we are not the right fit for the level of care needed, we will say so.