Personal care under the NDIS means hands on help with daily personal activities that you cannot do independently because of your disability. The term gets thrown around a lot, but when it comes to what is actually funded and what a personal care worker actually does, there is more to it than most people expect.
What is included
Showering, bathing, and hygiene. This is the most common personal care support. A worker assists you with getting in and out of the shower, washing, drying, and general hygiene tasks. They use any prescribed equipment like shower chairs or hoists and follow safe manual handling practices.
Dressing and undressing. Help choosing clothes, putting them on, taking them off. Includes buttons, zips, shoes, compression garments, whatever you need help with.
Grooming. Hair care, shaving, oral hygiene, nail care, skincare. Your preferences, your products.
Toileting. Toilet transfers, continence pad management, catheter support (in coordination with a nurse), and maintaining hygiene. This is the most sensitive area of personal care and the one where worker matching matters most.
Meal preparation and feeding. Planning and cooking meals to your dietary and cultural preferences. Feeding assistance if you need physical help to eat. Fluid monitoring.
Mobility assistance. Bed to wheelchair transfers, walking support, repositioning for pressure care, use of mobility aids.
Morning and evening routines. Your complete routine from waking to breakfast, or from dinner to bed. The worker follows your schedule and adapts to your energy level each day.
What is not included
Personal care does not cover clinical tasks like wound care, medication administration, or catheter insertion. Those are nursing tasks. It also does not cover domestic cleaning, cooking for other household members, or gardening. Those fall under different NDIS categories.
How to access it
Personal care is funded under Core Supports, Assistance with Daily Life. If you have funding in this category, you can use it for personal care services. If you do not have enough funding or your plan does not include personal care, you can request a plan review with updated evidence from your doctor or OT explaining your daily care needs.
At Acme, we provide personal care across all six SEQ regions. We match workers to your preferences and keep consistent assignment wherever possible. Call 07 3063 3362.
Need NDIS support in South East Queensland?
Acme Support Services provides nursing, personal care, SIL, and transport across Brisbane, Gold Coast, Logan, Ipswich, Moreton Bay, and Redlands.
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