NDIS Guides

NDIS Household Tasks: What the NDIS Funds and What It Does Not

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

October 21, 2026

NDIS household tasks are supports that help with the essential jobs around your home that you cannot do yourself because of your disability, such as cleaning, laundry, meal preparation and looking after the yard. The NDIS sets out what counts, how this help fits into your plan, and what it will not pay for. This guide explains all three in plain English, using only what the NDIS publishes.

Quick summary

Household tasks is one of the 37 categories of NDIS supports.
It covers meal preparation and delivery, house or yard maintenance, and cleaning and laundry.
The task must be one you are not able to do yourself because of your disability.
The NDIS gives household cleaning and preparing meals as examples of what flexible assistance with daily life funding can pay a support worker for.
Groceries, cleaning products and standard home repairs are not NDIS supports.
Your plan says whether your funding is flexible or stated, and that changes how you can use it.

What are NDIS household tasks?

The NDIS publishes a list of supports that are NDIS supports. It has 37 categories, and household tasks is one of them. The NDIS describes this category as supports that provide assistance with essential household tasks that a participant is not able to do themselves because of their disability.

The list gives three examples:

meal preparation and delivery
house or yard maintenance
cleaning and laundry.

However, a support does not need to appear as a specific example to count. According to the NDIS page on what NDIS supports are, it must fit one of the 37 categories and its overall description. It also must not appear on the list of supports that are not NDIS supports.

Equipment sits in a separate category. Assistive products for household tasks are products that help you do domestic jobs in your own home, such as products for preparing food and drink, or for cleaning, gardening or laundry. So the NDIS can fund a person to help with a task, and in some cases a product that helps you do it yourself.

How NDIS household tasks fit into your plan

Your NDIS funding is grouped into support categories. The NDIS describes assistance with daily life as supports to assist or supervise you with your personal tasks during day-to-day life, so you can live as independently as possible. These supports can be provided in a range of places, including your own home.

The NDIS guideline on using your plan gives a clear example. If your plan includes flexible funding for assistance with daily life, you can use it to pay support workers to help you in your daily life. For instance, you may choose support with household cleaning or preparing meals, as long as you buy NDIS supports that are in line with your plan.

Next, check whether your plan describes that funding as flexible or stated. Flexible funding gives you more choice about the supports you buy. Stated funding, on the other hand, must be used in the way your plan describes.

The NDIS also sets three tests for every purchase. You can only use your funding for items that are NDIS supports, related to your disability, and in line with your plan. At 1 Care Connect, cleaning, laundry and household tasks are part of our in home care in Western Sydney, so this help can sit alongside the other support you get at home.

What the NDIS does not pay for

The NDIS also publishes a list of supports that are not NDIS supports. Several items on it sit right next to household tasks, so they are worth knowing before you plan your week:

groceries, including food, drinks, cleaning, household and health products
standard home repairs, home improvements, standard renovations and maintenance
fast food, takeaway and food delivery platforms, except a meal delivery platform where the food and ingredient part can be separately identified from the meal preparation and delivery
standard home security and maintenance costs, fencing, gates and building repairs
household and garden items, appliances, tools and products that are standard, such as a fridge or a washing machine.

In other words, the NDIS can fund a support worker’s time to clean, but not the cleaning products. Likewise, a worker can prepare a meal, but the food itself is a grocery cost.

The NDIS may ask you to pay funding back if you use it for things that are not NDIS supports and not in line with your plan. In limited circumstances, the NDIS may agree in writing that you can spend your funding on a support that is not an NDIS support. This is called a replacement support. It must be on the NDIS list of replacement supports. It must also replace one or more of your NDIS supports, at the same or lower cost.

The support items on your invoices

The NDIS pricing schedule lists support items by name and number, with their maximum prices. Right now, that is the NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27, which took effect on 24 September 2026. Its other labour supports include two household items:

House or Yard Maintenance
House Cleaning And Other Household Activities.

The schedule sets the maximum prices for these items. According to the NDIS, those maximum prices only apply to NDIA-managed and plan-managed participants. This guide does not list prices, because the NDIS sets them and they can change. You can check the current schedule on the NDIS pricing arrangements page.

Getting the most from household tasks support

A few simple steps make household help easier to arrange and easier to use well:

Write down the household jobs you cannot do because of your disability, and how often each one needs doing.
Check your plan to see whether your assistance with daily life funding is flexible or stated.
Ask your provider which tasks they cover, and agree a routine that suits your week.
Keep groceries and cleaning products in your own household budget.
If anything is unclear, ask your my NDIS contact for a plan implementation meeting.

Frequently asked questions

Does the NDIS pay for cleaning?

It can. Cleaning must be an essential household task you are not able to do yourself because of your disability, and the support must be in line with your plan. The NDIS lists cleaning and laundry as household tasks. It also gives household cleaning as an example of what flexible assistance with daily life funding can pay a support worker for.

Does the NDIS pay for gardening or yard work?

House or yard maintenance is one of the household tasks the NDIS lists. So help with yard work you cannot do because of your disability can be an NDIS support. However, standard home repairs, standard home security and maintenance costs, fencing and building repairs are on the list of supports that are not NDIS supports.

Will the NDIS pay for groceries or cleaning products?

No. Groceries, including food, drinks, cleaning, household and health products, are on the list of supports that are not NDIS supports.

Can a support worker cook my meals?

Meal preparation and delivery is one of the household tasks the NDIS lists, while the food itself is a grocery cost. Our NDIS meal preparation service covers meal planning, shopping support, and cooking with you or for you.

Which part of my plan pays for household tasks?

The NDIS uses assistance with daily life as its example: flexible funding in that support category can pay support workers for household cleaning or preparing meals. Your plan shows which support categories you have funding for, and whether each one is flexible or stated.

Is household help the same as personal care?

No. They are separate categories on the list of NDIS supports. Household tasks cover essential jobs around the home. Daily personal activities, by contrast, cover help with things like eating and drinking, dressing, showering, and moving and positioning.

Can the NDIS fund equipment instead of a worker?

Sometimes. Assistive products for household tasks is a separate NDIS support category. It includes products that help you prepare food and drink or do cleaning, gardening or laundry. It also covers the extra cost of upgrading a standard household item to one with accessibility features that meet your support needs. Standard household items and appliances on their own are not NDIS supports.

How 1 Care Connect can help

At 1 Care Connect, cleaning, laundry and household tasks are part of our in home care, and Household Tasks is one of our approved NDIS registration groups. Every service is delivered by our own trained, nurse-led team. We also help with meal planning, shopping and cooking through our meal preparation service. If you live in Blacktown, our page on NDIS home care in Blacktown explains how household help works there.

To talk about the household tasks in your plan, call 1300 264 942, email contact@1careconnect.com.au or send us an enquiry.