Frequently Asked Questions

• NDIS participant spending is broken down across 12 categories. These categories group the NDIS registration groups for simplicity and modelling robustness. Details on which registration group maps to which website service type can be found on the NDIS Registration Groups page.
• Most NDIS participants receive supports in more than one service type so summing the type counts will result in double counting. The number of individuals being supported in the specified region is available at the top of the ‘current’ data section.

• Currently there isn’t any data on the number of jobs or workers in the NDIS to inform workforce forecasts and future planning. To produce this forecast, the model estimates the NDIS workforce through analysis of participant spending and assumptions on the portion of NDIS payments paid as labour costs.
• Workforce estimates are provided for occupation groups. Some occupations with low numbers and/or more uncertainty about the specific occupation have been grouped together. For example, "other worker" includes occupations such as domestic cleaners, garden labourers and interpreters.
• To estimate workforce, the model calculates the full-time equivalent (FTE) workforce through analysis of scheme expenditure at the line-item (detailed service description) level.

• The NDIS forecast demand model for the Care Sector Demand Map incorporates participant forecasts by category type (i.e. age, disability, and Supported Independent Living (SIL) status) and Statistical Areas Level (SA3s).
• The participant categories align with the NDIA’s Annual Annual Financial Sustainability Review (AFSR) , including population growth and forecasts.
• The most recent financial year data of participants in the scheme is then weighted to account for participant growth in future years.
• Budgets are inflated in future years consistent with NDIA’s Annual Financial Sustainability Review (AFSR) to incorporate increases in wages and capital costs and any other movements.
• Analysis on current expenditure by participant category then converts demand for NDIS supports into monetary demand by service type.
• To ensure forecasts reflect future demand rather than likely expenditure and usage, adjustments are made for areas with low utilisation (where participants have spent less of their NDIS funding than expected). These adjustments are informed by analyses of expenditure and workforce usage (e.g. physiotherapy) against the same participant groups in mature and metropolitan regions.

Location data is based on the home address of the NDIS participant. For some support categories, participants are likely to travel to other areas whilst others may be provided in their home.

• NDIS providers are individuals or organisations (i.e. ABN’s) that deliver a support or service to a participant of the NDIS.
• For the purposes of the Care Sector Demand Map, an ‘active’ provider delivered at least one service to a participant during the year.
• Providers can be registered with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (NDIS Commission) or unregistered.
• Counts of registered and unregistered providers who have provided a service in the area are provided by service type in the Care Sector Demand Map. Providers delivering services across multiple types will be counted more than once in the provider table.
• Unregistered provider counts should be treated with caution due to possible inaccuracies in ABN information entered for plan and self-managed participants.

• Aged Care data can be broken down by the different care types or programs. The current Aged Care data covers the following three care types:
  • Home support (Commonwealth Home Support Programme or CHSP), which provides entry-level services focused on supporting individuals to undertake tasks of daily living to enable them to be more independent at home and in the community.
  • Home care (Home Care Packages Program), which is a more structured, more comprehensive package of home-based support, provided over 4 levels.
  • Residential aged care, which provides support and accommodation for people who have been assessed as needing higher levels of care than can be provided in the home, and the option for 24-hour nursing care. Residential care is provided on either a permanent, or a temporary (respite) basis.
• For more information on aged care services in Australia see theReport on the Operation of the Aged Care Act, or visit theDepartment of Health and Aged Care website.

• A provider (or organisation) manages an aged care service. Providers may operate a number of different services, sometimes across different aged care programs. A service is a facility that provides aged care, such as residential care or home care. A service can also be an outlet that provides home support (CHSP). The Australian Government provides funding for those services that it has approved.
• An active service or provider is determined as “operational” and is either ready to supply care, or is currently providing care to recipients.
• Current Aged Care data is limited to providers and services which had at least one person in care at any time throughout the year.
• For more information on aged care providers and services in Australia see the Report on the Operation of the Aged Care Act, or visit the GEN Aged Care website.

• Location data is based on the physical location of the Aged Care provider and service, with the exceptions of CHSP clients, where the location data is based on the physical location of the client.
• It is important to note for home care and home support, the location of the service is a base from which care is delivered, so services in these care types can deliver care some distance away from the physical location of the service.
• Data limited to locations where CHSP, Home Care and residential care services are physically located, other postcodes, LGA’s or SA’s are excluded if there were no active services in these areas.

• An aged care recipient is counted if they received care at any time during the year.
• An aged care recipient may receive care in different care types/programs (i.e. CHSP and Home Care) throughout the year. Data are presented at the care type level only. An individual may receive services under more than one aged care program throughout the year, therefore the number of unique individuals accessing aged care cannot be determined.
• An aged care recipient may receive care at different aged care services in different locations throughout the year (i.e. in ACT and then NSW), these recipients will be counted once at each of the corresponding locations.
• People from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds are identified as those who were born overseas in countries other than main-English speaking countries (United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, and United States of America).
• The number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander recipients is based on self-identification of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status. Therefore, these figures may not accurately represent the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander recipients.
• For more information on people in Aged Care in Australia see theReport on the Operation of the Aged Care Act, or visit the GEN Aged Care website.

• Current Aged Care expenditure data covers aged care services subsidised by the Australian Government under the Aged Care Act 1997, including: Residential Care and Home Care.
• It also includes services granted funding under the Commonwealth Home Support Programme.
• Expenditure data is for services which operated at any time during the year.
• For more information on spending on aged care providers and services in Australia see the Report on the Operation of the Aged Care Act, or visit the GEN Aged Care website.