You will meet the age requirements if you are under 65 years of age, at the time you apply for the NDIS.

You will meet the residence requirements if you live in Australia, and are either an Australian Citizen, holder of a permanent visa or a special category visa (SCV) holder who is a protected SCV holder.

If you have an average hearing loss that is moderately-severe (65 decibels or more) in your better ear, you may meet the eligibility criteria for the NDIS.

If your hearing loss is below this average, but you have other permanent impairments e.g. vision or cognitive impairments, or significant difficulty with understanding speech, you may be eligible for the NDIS.

To apply for the NDIS you will need to complete an Access Request form, which can be requested by:

• Calling the NDIA on 1800 800 110
• Using the NDIA teletypewriter (TTY) service on 1800 555 677
• Phoning the National Relay Service, 1800 555 727
• Telephone Interpreting Service, 131 450
• Completing an online contact form
• Emailing NAT@ndis.gov.au
• Visiting a local office
• Posting a letter to the National Disability Insurance Agency, GPO Box 700, Canberra ACT 2601.

To support your access request, you will need to provide the NDIA with evidence of your age, residence and disability.

Evidence of your hearing loss will include your latest hearing test results (audiogram), or if your hearing loss is below the requirement, an audiogram and a report from your audiologist.

NDIS participants aged between 21 and 26 years of age can choose to receive their services from HEARING SAVERS or any other contracted hearing service provider.

New to the Hearing Services Program

If the NDIA identifies that you need hearing services, they will refer you to the program by completing the Hearing Services application form. You will need to get your medical practitioner (or GP) to complete the medical certificate section. Once your NDIS Planner has submitted the completed Hearing Services application form, you will be sent a welcome pack. Please read your welcome pack and contact HEARING SAVERS on 1800 00 4327 to make an appointment.

Already a client of the Hearing Services Program

If you're already a client of the program, you will still need to complete the Hearing Services application form and your NDIS planner will submit the completed form to hearing@health.gov.au. You do not need to complete the medical certificate section.

There is a wide range of fully-subsidised hearing aids available under the program. These hearing aids are provided FREE to you and contain a range of beneficial features to help you manage your hearing loss.

The annual maintenance fee for your hearing devices will be included as part of your NDIS plan.

Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) gold or white cardholders are excluded from paying any maintenance costs, as DVA will pay this on your behalf.

Depending on your hearing loss and listening needs, you may benefit from partially-subsided hearing aids, which have extra technological features to suit certain lifestyles, e.g. direct sound streaming from your mobile, TV and computer, rechargeable batteries and more advanced background noise reduction.

In exceptional circumstances, the NDIA may consider paying the gap for partially-subsidised hearing devices if they are reasonable and necessary.

The program will continue to fund hearing services for NDIS participants until 30 June 2020. After 30 June 2020, NDIS participants in the program will have their hearing services funded through the NDIS (not the program) and will need to see a hearing service provider who has registered with the NDIS. The program will continue to provide services to eligible clients who are not NDIS participants.