Disability support providers in Victoria

What disability support services are available in Australia?

Disability support services in Australia cover personal care, household tasks, community participation, supported accommodation, respite, transport, therapy and employment support. Most are funded through the NDIS for eligible people under 65. Others go through state programs, aged care or the Disability Gateway, the Australian Government’s national referral service (Department of Social Services, 2025). Providers range from national organisations to sole traders.

About 5.5 million Australians, 21.4 per cent of the population, live with disability (ABS Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers, 2022). Around 700,000 of them are NDIS participants (NDIS Quarterly Report, 2025); the rest arrange support through aged care, state programs or privately. Carevo lists 28,004 NDIS providers nationally, and across the 4,347 inquiries tracked through the platform, personal care is the single most requested support.

What are the different types of disability services?

Disability services group into five broad types: daily living support, community access, accommodation, respite, and therapy or employment support.

• Daily living support: personal care (showering, dressing, transfers) and household tasks (cleaning, laundry, meals).
• Community access: support to get to appointments, work, study and social activities.
• Accommodation: Supported Independent Living, often paired with Specialist Disability Accommodation for people with very high support needs.
• Respite: short-term accommodation, planned breaks for participants and the families who support them.
• Therapy and employment: allied health such as occupational therapy and physiotherapy, plus supported employment.

Price caps for each sit in the NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27 (effective 1 July 2026).

Who is eligible for disability support services in Australia?

To join the NDIS you must be under 65 when you apply, an Australian citizen, permanent resident or protected SCV holder, and have a permanent and significant disability that affects daily life (NDIS, 2025).

If you are 65 or over and not already a participant, support comes through My Aged Care instead. If you do not meet NDIS criteria, the Disability Gateway lists community and state-run programs, and eligible veterans can use DVA funding.

What does the NDIS cover and fund?

The NDIS funds supports that relate directly to your disability and meet the statutory definition of an NDIS support, introduced on 3 October 2024 under the “Getting the NDIS Back on Track” changes to the NDIS Act. Plans split into Core Supports for daily living, Capacity Building for therapy and skill development, and Capital for equipment and home modifications.

Prices are capped. Under the NDIS Pricing Schedule 2026-27 (effective 1 July 2026), standard weekday Assistance with Self-Care is held at $70.23 per hour and high-intensity self-care at $75.98, both unchanged from 2025-26. The cost section above shows what the caps mean state by state.

How do I access disability services in Australia?

Apply to the National Disability Insurance Agency: call 1800 800 110 or lodge an access request form with evidence from your treating health professionals (NDIS, 2025). If approved, a planning meeting follows and you receive a funded plan.

If you are not NDIS-eligible, call the Disability Gateway on 1800 643 787, or My Aged Care on 1800 200 422 if you are 65 or over.

What is the difference between the NDIS and the Disability Support Pension?

They are separate systems. The NDIS pays for disability supports and services; the Disability Support Pension (DSP) is a fortnightly income support payment from Services Australia, indexed each March and September, with current rates published on the Services Australia website. Each has its own application and eligibility test, so many people receive both. Neither qualifies you for the other automatically, and NDIS funding is not counted as income for the pension.

Turning the rankings into a shortlist

The rankings above come from the methodology explained at the top of this page. Turning them into a shortlist comes down to four checks.

Registration category. Agency-managed participants can only use providers registered with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. Plan-managed and self-managed participants can also use unregistered providers, who are often cheaper but are not audited against the NDIS Practice Standards.

Pricing transparency. A provider should hand over a written rate schedule against the 2026-27 caps without being chased. Vagueness about weekend loadings, travel or establishment fees is a warning sign.

Response time. How a provider communicates before you sign predicts how it communicates after. Across Carevo, 70 per cent of inquiries get a provider response within an hour; slow replies rarely improve later.

Coverage. Ask whether they staff your suburb week in, week out, not just your city. With 28,004 NDIS providers listed, you rarely need to settle for a thin roster.

Questions to ask a provider before signing a service agreement

1. What is your NDIS registration number and which registration groups does it cover? A good answer matches an entry on the NDIS Provider Register.
2. Do all workers who will come to my home hold NDIS Worker Screening clearances? A good answer is yes, verifiable through the NDIS Worker Screening Database.
3. Has the Commission ever taken compliance action against you? A good answer is a straight no, consistent with the Commission’s public compliance register.
4. What are your cancellation terms? A good answer mirrors the current Pricing Arrangements rules, not harsher in-house penalties.
5. Can I choose the gender and language background of the workers who support me? A good answer is yes, written into the service agreement.

Where providers are available

Disability support providers on Carevo cover 4,782 suburbs, with the deepest supply in the capitals: NSW alone has 8,844 listed NDIS providers. The city pages for Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth carry local provider lists, and the suburb directory below covers smaller areas. Many participants combine these supports with in-home disability support from the same provider, so one roster covers care and household.

How this page is compiled

The provider rankings and figures on this page come from Carevo platform records, including provider registrations, measured response times and coverage, together with the cited official sources. Carevo is an Australian platform that connects families with vetted NDIS and aged care providers. Carevo does not deliver care itself.