NDIS daily living support: personal care and community access
Our Guide to Daily Living and Access
By Tristram Peters · Originally published 30 August 2018
Original article
Tristram Peters is a writer, editor, and disability advocate with a keen passion for sport. He recently represented Australia at the powerchair football world cup and sits on the sport’s executive board for the Asia Pacific Oceania zone. Most importantly, he’s part of the Clicka-family.
If you asked me what my favourite TED talk was, I’d quickly reply that it’s the great, late Stella Young’s TED talk on ‘inspiration porn’. Stella’s humour is perfect and she captivates the enthralled audience with every purposeful word. For me though, the most amazing thing about the talk is that it introduced me to the social model of disability.
I agree with it, this idea that I’m disabled more by society than by my diagnosis. I can’t do a lot by myself. I can’t shower myself, dress myself, feed myself. The list goes on. But with a bit of support within society, I can do everything I need to. And for me, supports like personal care is the helping hand I need to get out and about and live the life I want to live.
In this super guide to daily living and access, we’re going to unpack all the personal care and attendant support, assistance with community access, and travel supports listed on our website. We’ll even explain the different ways you can get care: direct employment or agencies. Because all these things are the tools I use to make society more accessible.
The truth is, we have so many top-notch service providers in this space that we can’t possibly list them all here! But never fear, we have an insanely easy way for you to find those in your area.
Simply head to the Clicka homepage, tick ‘personal care’ in the category field, enter your postcode, and search for whatever your heart desires. It’s as easy as pie. Alternatively, just click here to view them all!
However, while we’re here, it’s the perfect opportunity to talk about the two different ways you can access personal care and attendant support: employing them yourself or using those that are managed by an agency.
The benefit to employing them yourself? It gives you complete control over who you work with, their roster, and more. But it’s only an option if you self-manage your NDIS funding, a task that you might consider a lot of effort.
[Clickability update, October 2026: This excludes another current arrangement. NDIA guidance on directly employing workers describes using self-managed or plan-managed funding. Direct employment still brings employer obligations; it is different from engaging a contractor.]
You can explore the benefits and processes of self-management on our blog here, but it’s important to remember that for direct employment, you’ll have responsibilities around withholding PAYG tax, superannuation guarantee, workers compensation insurance, public liability insurance and more. The NDIS has you covered with this super guide.
The other thing to remember is that you don’t have to directly employ all your staff who deliver your NDIA funded supports. You can do it in combination with ‘using self-employed contractors or other service providers’. It’s worth mentioning that many services will also work as an intermediary.
However, you might simply want to have all your staff managed by an agency. In good news, these agencies can be amazingly flexible. They want to ensure you get what you need and want, with many allowing you to hire through them, but offering the capacity for you to manage your own rostering.
We have numerous agencies on our site, as well as service providers to assist with self-management, so search away – and please review any you have used!
Your personal care and attendant support might be sorted, but you could also be looking for specific community access options, including getting into the community or taking part in specific activities. Good news, we’ve got all the options.
Again, head to the Clicka homepage, but this time tick ‘assistance with community access’ and enter your postcode. Or, just click here. You’ll find a diverse array of services.
For instance, Assisted Outing is an online platforms that allows you to go on bespoke private outings with someone who will meet you at your travel destination. Shopping, painting, hiking, gigging and more. How cool is that?!
Community access might also be about finding work – and you can gain assistance in this area from a multitude of service providers on Clicka. Go on, take a look…
[Clickability update, October 2026: Check the actual route and access arrangements before travelling. The historic transport and holiday listings do not establish current availability or NDIS funding. NDIS support rules still apply.]
Sometimes, a little bit of help is needed to get from A to B. Thankfully, public transport is becoming increasingly accessible, including trains, buses and a whole lot more. I can even hop onto some of Melbourne’s trams without a ramp! #magic (Although word to the wise, definitely check online beforehand…)
If these options aren’t your preferred mode of transport, Clickability also has a host of taxi services listed. (You guessed it, just tick the ‘transport’ category.) We’ve even got TaxiBus Melbourne‘s Ali Warsame to offer some friendly advice for catching cabs over on our blog.
Many service providers also offer transport supports, such as Like Family! So if you’re looking at signing up with a new service, be sure to ask if they’ll assist with taxi cards and vouchers, transporting yourself to appointments or to the shops.
But why stop there?! If you want to go further afield, check out our holiday category, with many services helping arrange transport! Just pack me in your suitcase too…
What do YOU want to do?
That’s it! Our mega-guide to daily living and supports bundled up into an easy-to-read portion. If you have any questions, contact us and don’t forget to review a service! It takes two minutes, if that, and will help others choose their perfect service provider.
Clickability editorial update: October 2026
Choose the working arrangement as well as the service
Write down when help is needed, which tasks are involved and how you want support delivered. Then ask a provider who manages rostering, absences and a replacement worker. Personal care also needs an explicit conversation about privacy and your preferred way of doing things.
If considering direct employment, read NDIA employment guidance and check the responsibilities before hiring. For agency services or other arrangements, compare support work options and ask what control you have over worker selection and schedules.
Plan continuity around the participant’s preferences
Discuss what should happen if a worker is absent or transport falls through. Ask which changes the participant is comfortable with and which need their approval. A contingency plan should not assume family can always fill a service gap.
For community activities, confirm the practical details: accessible entry, toilets, transport and the assistance required during the outing. Keep ordinary activity costs separate from disability-related support and check the individual funding arrangement before committing.
Questions readers ask
Is direct employment only available with self-managed funds?
No. Current NDIA guidance also describes plan-managed arrangements. Employer responsibilities still apply. Official guidance
Does a directory listing confirm accessibility or availability?
No. Confirm those details directly for the service and occasion you need.
Find support that fits your daily life
Use Clickability to describe your personal care or community access needs. Search reviewed and rated profiles across 5,000+ vetted providers and ask about continuity and worker choice.
