Capacity Building — Improved Daily LivingOccupational Therapist

Occupational Therapy — Capacity Building (Improved Daily Living)

OT services delivered to NDIS participants under Capacity Building — Improved Daily Living. Covers functional capacity assessment, intervention, assistive-technology assessment, home-modification assessment, and training of carers and support workers.

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What this support covers

Functional Capacity Assessment (FCA) reports for plan reviews.
Intervention to build self-care, household, and community-access skills.
Assistive technology assessment and prescription.
Home modification assessment.
Training of family, carers, and support workers in safe manual handling and routine implementation.

Eligibility to claim

1Participant has Capacity Building — Improved Daily Living funding (or AT funding for AT-specific work).
2OT involvement is recommended in plan goals, FCA, or AT/HM report.

Your notes must show

Documentation tests — what notes need to demonstrate to satisfy the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission and survive plan review.

Date, start time, end time, and total face-to-face duration.
NDIS plan goal(s) addressed.
NDIS functional domain targeted (mobility, communication, social interaction, learning, self-care, or self-management).
Specific examples of capacity — what the participant can / cannot do, with which supports.
Standardised assessment scores when used (e.g. AMPS, COPM, Vineland-3, FIM, WHODAS 2.0).
Intervention delivered, dose, and rationale.
AT or HM trial outcomes when applicable, including device / modification names and results.
Capacity-building outcomes — measurable change in independent functioning.
Plan for next session and review trigger.

Reasonable and necessary criteria

Section 34 of the NDIS Act 2013 — every funded support must satisfy these tests. Documentation should make each test self-evident.

Linked to disability-related functional impact, not general health rehabilitation.
Effective and beneficial — evidence base for the OT intervention.
Value for money relative to alternatives.
Most appropriately funded by the NDIS rather than the health system.
Takes account of informal supports.

Common audit failures

Patterns the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission and NDIA plan reviewers flag.

Reports lack domain-by-domain functional capacity detail — planners cannot size supports.
Assessment findings recorded without standardised scores or specific examples.
Intervention notes describe activities without linking them to functional capacity goals.
AT recommendations without trial data or feature-matching rationale.
Home-modification recommendations without an alternatives analysis.

Related NDIS items

Psychology — Capacity Building (Improved Daily Living)

Speech Pathology — Capacity Building (Improved Daily Living)

Physiotherapy — Capacity Building (Improved Daily Living)

Support Coordination — Capacity Building (Choice and Control)

Templates for NDIS providers

Note templates inside Grounded Scribe that produce NDIS-aligned documentation — progress reports, plan-review summaries, functional capacity assessments, behaviour support plans, and session notes that meet Practice Standards.

Browse all NDIS templates

In-depth reading in the Library

NDIS Assistive Technology Assessments: Writing Reports That Justify Equipment Funding

Assistive technology reports for the NDIS can take two to four hours to write and must justify equipment costing thousands of dollars. This guide covers the structured approach to functional assessment, equipment trial documentation, feature matching, and cost-effectiveness arguments that get AT funding approved.

NDIS Documentation with AI: Writing Compliant Reports Faster

NDIS documentation is notoriously time-consuming. AI clinical documentation tools can help allied health practitioners write compliant progress notes, functional assessments, and plan review reports in a fraction of the time.

NDIS Plan Reassessment Reports: An Allied Health Guide

NDIS plan reassessments hinge on demonstrating progress toward goals and identifying continuing functional need. This guide outlines the report structure NDIA decision-makers expect and the common failure modes that result in reduced funding.

NDIS Functional Capacity Assessment Reports: An OT and Allied Health Guide

NDIS Functional Capacity Assessments (FCAs) test access to the scheme and inform funding decisions. The report structure must satisfy the access criteria under s 24 of the NDIS Act and the early-intervention criteria under s 25, while providing the granular detail planners use to size supports.

Source authority

Documentation tests on this page reference the descriptor conditions and Practice Standards covered in our existing Library guides. Always confirm current rules against the official NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Practice Standards.

NDIS Pricing Arrangements NDIS Practice Standards

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