DSS consultation on final NDIS Section 10 In and Out Support Lists

Act Now: Advocate for Inclusive NDIS Support! 

The Department of Social Services (DSS) is currently consulting on the final NDIS In and Out support lists, a crucial process that will directly impact the lives of people with disability. This is your chance to make your voice heard and ensure the NDIS truly serves its purpose of empowering individuals.

Touching Base is actively preparing a submission to DSS, drawing on the vital issues you, our members, have raised regarding these support lists. We’ll also be sharing compelling case studies developed with Scarlet Alliance, highlighting the unintended and harmful consequences of the ban on sexual services within the NDIS.

Your Voice Matters: Join the Conversation!

You can make a direct submission to the DSS consultation via this link https://engage.dss.gov.au/ndis-supports-rule/ before the DSS consultation closes on 27 July 2025.

We strongly encourage you to participate and share your concerns, particularly regarding the problem of including sex work on the “out” lists (see more information below). 

Our close ally People With Disability Australia (PWDA) have opened their own consultation to inform their submission on the NDIS Rules and Support Lists. By providing your feedback to PWDA via their survey before Tuesday 10 July, you can amplify our collective message and ensure these critical issues receive the attention they deserve.

You can find their consultation link below:

When providing your feedback, we encourage you to focus on the key consultation question: “Are there any areas of the NDIS Supports rule (or lists) you think need to be changed?”

Why the Exclusion of Sex Work is So Wrong

The current interpretation of “sexual services” by the NDIS is of significant concern. When Senator Ayers introduced the amendment to the NDIS Act, he assured Federal Parliamentarians that sexual services would be narrowly defined, stating: “It does not include, for example, provision of therapy or counselling or other kinds of assistance that a participant or a potential participant could have in their plan now.“

However, the reality is starkly different. Supports such as disability-related sex counselling or therapy, individualised sexual education, assistance with positioning during sex, or the use of adaptive equipment may necessitate the services of a sex worker. This is because support workers or other professionals may be restricted under law or bound by professional codes of conduct from providing necessary hands-on support or instruction.

This issue was raised during earlier DSS consultations on the original transitional NDIS In and Out lists, and it was acknowledged in the final report:

“Respondents said that the blanket exclusion of sex work does not take account of the many reasons people with disability may seek support from a sex worker. Following amendments to subsection 10(9)(a) of the Act, ‘sexual services’ are now excluded from being NDIS supports. The NDIA has committed to working with disability representative and carer organisations, advocacy organisations and the disability community to develop guidance to support participants to understand what is excluded.”

Despite this acknowledgment and commitment, the NDIS website currently states:

Are sexual services an NDIS support?

Under the laws of the NDIS sexual services can’t be funded.

Sexual services is not defined in the legislation but is given its ordinary meaning by the NDIA.

Sexual services are taken to include any sexual conduct undertaken with a participant for payment or reward, including direct physical activity between a participant and another person for the purpose of sexual gratification.

This includes all services that may be provided by a sex worker.

(Website extract dated 1st July 2025)

This narrow definition of “sexual services” that includes all services that may be provided by a sex worker is a major issue. 

In a nutshell

The NDIS’s conflation of “sexual services” and “sex work” is a misrepresentation of the NDIS Act which is deeply problematic. 

It is in denial of the many varied reasons people with disability may seek out sex workers, as a part of disability-related:

  • sex counselling or therapy, 
  • individualised sexual education, 
  • assistance with positioning during sex, or
  • the use of adaptive equipment.

For these reasons sex work must not appear on the NDIS Supports “Out” list.

Take action today! 

Share your experiences and concerns with the DSS and PWDA.

Let’s ensure the NDIS truly reflects the Objects of the NDIS Act and provides disability-related supports for participants based on their personal needs, not unreasonable and unnecessary restrictions.

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Touching Base endorses The Uluru Statement from the Heart and acknowledges First Nations as the traditional custodians of country throughout Australia, their diversity, histories and knowledge, and their continuing connections to land and community. As Australians all, we respect our nation’s First Peoples, their cultures, and Elders of past, present and future generations.