NDIS Nominees and Decision-Making Support: What Families Should Know

What an NDIS nominee actually is

A nominee is a person appointed to make decisions on behalf of an NDIS participant who is unable to make those decisions themselves, or who has chosen not to for certain matters. This is different from a support coordinator or plan manager, who help with practical tasks but do not have formal decision-making authority in the same way.

Being appointed as a nominee is a role with real responsibility, since a nominee is expected to act in the participant’s best interests, not according to their own preferences or convenience. It is also a voluntary role, meaning nominees are not paid for taking it on.

The two types of nominee

Plan nominees make decisions about a participant’s plan, including requesting changes, managing funding decisions, and preparing for a new plan. This is the broader of the two roles, covering substantive decisions about how the plan works.

Correspondence nominees can request information about the participant, or on their behalf, and receive letters, emails, texts and other notices sent by the NDIS. This role is narrower, focused on communication rather than plan decisions themselves.

A participant can have one type of nominee, both types, or neither, depending on their circumstances and the level of decision-making support they need.

Who can become a nominee

A nominee is generally someone close to the participant, such as a family member, close friend, or in some cases a professional such as a public guardian, where no suitable informal option exists. The NDIA considers the proposed nominee’s relationship with the participant and their ability to act appropriately in that role.

Nominees apply for participants aged eighteen and over. Participants younger than eighteen instead have a child representative who makes decisions on their behalf, which works somewhat differently to the nominee arrangement.

How a nominee is appointed

1. Discuss with the participant, where possible, whether a nominee arrangement is appropriate and who might take on the role.
2. Contact the NDIA to begin the formal nomination process for either a plan or correspondence nominee.
3. Provide any requested information supporting the appointment, such as evidence of the participant’s decision-making support needs.
4. Confirm with the NDIA once the nominee has been formally recorded against the participant’s record.

What a nominee is responsible for

• Acting in the participant’s best interests at all times, not their own convenience or preference.
• Consulting the participant about decisions wherever possible, respecting their will and preferences.
• Keeping the participant informed about decisions made on their behalf.
• Understanding the limits of their role, and not making decisions outside what has been formally appointed.

Decision-making support short of a formal nominee

Not every participant who benefits from help with decisions needs a formal nominee. Many participants make their own decisions with informal support from family, friends or a support coordinator, without any formal nominee arrangement in place.

This kind of supported decision-making respects the participant’s right to make their own choices while still providing practical help understanding options, weighing information, and communicating a decision clearly.

Common mistakes with nominee arrangements

• Assuming a family member automatically has nominee authority without a formal appointment.
• A nominee making decisions based on their own preferences rather than the participant’s best interests.
• Not keeping the participant informed about decisions made on their behalf.
• Confusing a nominee role with guardianship, which is a separate legal arrangement.

Questions worth asking about a nominee arrangement

• Does this participant actually need a formal nominee, or would informal support be enough?
• Should the nominee be a plan nominee, a correspondence nominee, or both?
• How will the participant still be consulted and kept informed under this arrangement?
• What happens if the nominee is no longer able or willing to continue in the role?

Nominee, guardian and power of attorney compared

These three roles are often confused, but they serve different purposes. A nominee is specific to NDIS decisions, appointed through the NDIA. A guardian is appointed under state or territory law and can cover broader personal and lifestyle decisions beyond the NDIS. A power of attorney covers financial and legal decisions, and is established through a separate legal document.

A participant may have more than one of these roles in place at the same time, held by the same person or different people, depending on their circumstances and the decisions involved.

Changing or removing a nominee

A nominee arrangement is not necessarily permanent. If a nominee is no longer able or willing to continue, or if the participant’s circumstances change such that they want to resume making decisions themselves, the arrangement can be reviewed and changed with the NDIA.

This process generally involves discussing the change with the NDIA, confirming whether a new nominee is needed, and updating the participant’s record accordingly, rather than the original nominee simply stepping back informally.

How nominees and support coordinators work together

Where a participant has both a nominee and a support coordinator, the two roles generally work together rather than in competition, with the support coordinator handling the practical connection to providers and the nominee handling formal decision-making authority.

Clear communication between a nominee and a support coordinator helps avoid situations where the participant receives mixed messages about who is responsible for which decisions.

Example scenario

Consider a participant who has a significant cognitive disability and is not able to manage plan-related decisions independently. A family member is appointed as plan nominee, working closely with a support coordinator to make funding and provider decisions in the participant’s best interests.

The participant is still consulted on day-to-day preferences, such as which activities they enjoy and which providers they feel comfortable with, even though the formal plan decisions sit with the nominee.

Over time, as the participant’s circumstances and confidence change, the nominee and support coordinator periodically revisit whether the current arrangement still reflects the right level of decision-making support, rather than treating it as fixed indefinitely.

This is a general illustration only. Whether a nominee is appropriate, and what type, depends on the participant’s own circumstances and decision-making support needs.

Respecting will and preference, not just best interest

Modern approaches to nominee and decision-making support increasingly emphasise the participant’s own will and preferences, not only an outside judgement of their best interests. This means a good nominee tries to understand what the participant would likely choose, based on their history, values and expressed wishes, rather than simply deciding what seems safest or easiest.

This distinction matters in practice. Two decisions can both technically serve a participant’s best interests, but one may align far more closely with what the participant has consistently expressed wanting, and that option is generally preferred wherever safely possible.

Why informal family support is not the same as a nominee role

Family members often provide extensive informal support to a participant, helping with appointments, paperwork and everyday decisions, without ever being a formally appointed nominee. This is completely normal and does not require any formal arrangement in most cases.

The distinction matters most when a formal decision needs to be made on the participant’s behalf, such as requesting a plan change, where the NDIA needs to know whether it is dealing with the participant directly, an informally supportive family member, or a formally appointed nominee with defined authority.

How a nominee differs from a support coordinator

A nominee and a support coordinator play different roles. A nominee has formal authority to make certain decisions or receive correspondence on a participant’s behalf, as recorded with the NDIA. A support coordinator, by contrast, helps a participant understand and implement their plan but does not have decision-making authority themselves, even where they work closely with a nominee.

Both roles can exist for the same participant at the same time, and it is worth being clear with providers about who holds which role so that communication is directed appropriately.

Reviewing a nominee arrangement over time

A participant’s need for a nominee, or the scope of a nominee’s authority, can change over time as circumstances change. The NDIA can review an existing nominee arrangement, including at the request of the participant, the nominee, or another interested party, if there is a reason to believe the current arrangement no longer reflects what is appropriate.

Informal family support compared with a formal nominee

Many families provide day-to-day informal support and advice without ever being registered as a formal nominee, and this is entirely normal. A formal nominee arrangement generally becomes relevant when a participant needs someone with recognised authority to make certain decisions or manage correspondence, rather than simply someone who helps them think things through.

Important terms to understand

Cultural and family considerations in decision-making support

Decision-making support does not happen in a vacuum. For many families, decisions are naturally shared across parents, siblings or extended family in ways that a formal nominee arrangement needs to accommodate rather than override unnecessarily.

A thoughtful approach to nominee arrangements takes the time to understand how a specific family already makes decisions together, and builds the formal arrangement around that reality wherever it can safely align with the participant’s best interests and preferences.

How this applies locally

Participants in Canberra and Queanbeyan considering a nominee arrangement can discuss options with the NDIA directly, and a local support coordinator can help explain how a nominee would work alongside day-to-day support arrangements.

CCS works respectfully with nominees and participants together, keeping the participant’s own preferences central wherever possible.

For families across Belconnen, Woden, Tuggeranong and Gungahlin, this often means coordinating conversations between the nominee, the participant and any providers so that everyone understands both the formal decision-making arrangement and the participant’s own preferences.

Related CCS Guides and Services

• Understanding the NDIS Complaints Process
• Participant Rights When Buying NDIS Supports
• Conflict of Interest in the NDIS: What Participants Should Watch For
• What Does an NDIS Support Coordinator Actually Do?
• Support coordination in Canberra
• Contact CCS

Official NDIS References

• What is a nominee

Signs a formal nominee may not be necessary

Not every participant who receives help from family needs a formal nominee. If a participant can understand information, weigh options and communicate a decision, even with support to do so, informal assistance is often enough without a formal arrangement.

A formal nominee becomes more relevant where a participant genuinely cannot make certain decisions even with support, or where a formal decision-maker is specifically required for a particular process, such as signing certain documents on the participant’s behalf.

Frequently Asked Questions