Frequently Asked Questions

• NDIS registration groups, which categorise NDIS participant spending, are grouped into 12 NDIS service types for simplicity and data modelling robustness. Details on which registration groups map to which service type can be found on the NDIS Registration Groups page.
• Most NDIS participants receive supports in more than one service type, meaning summing participant counts across service types will result in double counting. The number of individuals being supported in the specified region is available at the top of the ‘current’ data section.

• Currently, there is not any data on the number of jobs or workers in the NDIS to inform workforce forecasts and future planning. The forecast model estimates NDIS workforce by analysing participant spending and making assumptions on the portion of NDIS payments paid as labour costs.
• Workforce estimates are provided for occupation groups. Some occupations with low numbers and/or more uncertainty about the specific occupation have been grouped together. For example, "other worker" includes occupations such as domestic cleaners, garden labourers and interpreters.
• To estimate workforce, the model calculates the full-time equivalent (FTE) workforce through analysis of scheme expenditure by line-item (detailed service description).

• The NDIS forecast demand model for the Care Sector Demand Map incorporates participant forecasts by category type (i.e. age, disability, and Supported Independent Living (SIL) status) and Statistical Areas Level (SA3s).
• The participant categories align with the NDIA’s Annual Financial Sustainability Review (AFSR) , including population growth and forecasts.
• The most recent financial year data of participants in the scheme is then weighted to account for participant growth in future years.
• Budgets are inflated in future years consistent with NDIA’s Annual Financial Sustainability Review (AFSR) to incorporate increases in wages, and capital costs and any other movements.
• Analysis on current expenditure by participant category then converts demand for NDIS supports into monetary demand by service type.
• To ensure forecasts reflect future demand rather than likely expenditure and usage, adjustments are made for areas with low utilisation (where participants have spent less of their NDIS funding than expected). These adjustments are informed by analyses of expenditure and workforce usage (e.g. physiotherapy) against the same participant groups in areas with more data over a longer period of time 

Location data is based on the home address of the NDIS participant. For some support categories, participants are likely to travel to other areas whilst others may be provided in their home.

• NDIS providers are individuals or organisations (i.e. ABN’s) that deliver a support or service to NDIS participant(s). 
• For the purposes of the Care Sector Demand Map, an ‘active’ provider delivered at least one service to a participant during the financial year.
• Providers can be registered with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (NDIS Commission) or unregistered. 
• Counts of registered and unregistered providers who have provided a service in the area are displayed by service type in the Care Sector Demand Map. Providers delivering services across multiple service types will be counted more than once in the provider table.
• Unregistered provider counts should be treated with caution due to possible inaccuracies in data entry. 

• Aged Care data can be broken down by care types or programs. The current Aged Care data covers the following three care types:
  • Home support (Commonwealth Home Support Programme or CHSP), which provides entry-level services focused on supporting individuals to undertake tasks of daily living to increase independence at home and in the community.
  • Home care (Home Care Packages Program), which is a more structured, more comprehensive package of home-based support, provided over 4 levels.
  • Residential aged care, which provides support and accommodation for people who have been assessed as needing higher levels of care than can be provided in the home, including the option for 24-hour nursing care. Residential care is provided on either a permanent, or temporary (respite) basis.
• For more information on aged care services in Australia, please see the Report on the Operation of the Aged Care Act, or visit the Department of Health and Aged Care website.

• An aged care service is managed by an organisation. 
• A provider (or organisation) manages an aged care service. Providers may operate several different services, sometimes across different aged care programs. A service is a facility that provides aged care, such as residential care or home care. A service can also be an outlet that provides home support (CHSP). The Australian Government provides funding for approved services.
• An active service or outlet is determined as “operational”, meaning it is either ready to supply care, or is currently providing care to recipients.
• Current Aged Care data is limited to services and outlets which had at least one person in care at any time throughout the financial year.
• For more information on aged care providers and services in Australia, please see the Report on the Operation of the Aged Care Act, or visit the GEN Aged Care website.

• Location data is based on the physical location of the Aged Care service, with the exceptions of CHSP clients, where the location data (postcode, LGA, SA2, SA3 and participant counts) is based on the physical location of the client. Note: when counting aged care services, CHSP uses outlets instead of services (these data are separate from the CHSP client’s address).
• It is important to note for home care and home support, the location of the service or outlet is a base from which care is delivered, so services in these care types can deliver care some distance away from the physical location of the service or outlet.
• Data limited to locations where CHSP, Home Care and residential care participants and services or outlets are physically located, other postcodes, LGA’s or SA’s are excluded if there were no participants or active services or outlets in these areas.

• An aged care recipient is counted if they received care at any time during the year.
• Data are presented at the care type level only. An individual may receive services under more than one aged care program throughout the year, therefore the number of unique individuals accessing aged care cannot be determined.
• An aged care recipient may receive care at different aged care services in different locations throughout the year (i.e. in ACT and then NSW), these recipients will be counted once at each location.
• People from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds are identified as those who were born overseas, excluding countries where English is spoken as a main language (i.e. United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, and Unites States of America).
• The number of First Nations recipients is based on self-identification, meaning numbers may not be accurate. For more information on people in Aged Care in Australia, please see the Report on the Operation of the Aged Care Act, or visit the GEN Aged Care website. 

• Aged care recipients can only receive one care type at a time but may move between care types during the year. The Care Sector Demand Map reports data by financial year, so recipients are counted in each care type they access during that period.
• The Demand Map contains bespoke aged care data for this product, meaning the total count of recipients by location is not expected to match published data sources elsewhere, such as the Aged care data snapshot—2025 and Report on the Operation of the Aged Care Act.

• Current Aged Care expenditure data covers aged care services subsidised by the Australian Government under the Aged Care Act 1997, including Residential Care and Home Care.
• It also includes services granted funding under the Commonwealth Home Support Programme.
• Expenditure data is for services which operated at any time during the year.
• For more information on spending on aged care services in Australia see Report on the Operation of the Aged Care Act, or visit the GEN Aged Care website.