Tim Ayres (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

The answer to that is, essentially, yes. If a person is currently engaging with the agency, the answer to your question is yes. There is, of course, an amendment that has been proposed that does provide for the CEO to be able to make a decision to substitute upon application. So, where there is some uncertainty, there is some room for a decision to be made by the CEO if—I just want to get the precise words here. That amendment creates a substitutions process that allows a participant to seek to substitute a support that has been declared not to be an NDIS support for one that is. That amendment responds to community feedback and concerns about the supports that will be prescribed in rules made under section 10(4) not to be NDIS supports. In practice, if a participant considers an item that is excluded from being an NDIS support will be more beneficial for them than an alternative support that is not excluded, then the participant may make an application to substitute that support.