NCCD questions schools actually ask

The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability is an annual count of students who received adjustments because of disability. Every school in Australia collects the same information in the same way. It tells schools, education authorities and governments how many students received adjustments, at what level, and under which broad category of disability. Participation is required under the Australian Education Regulations 2023.

Source NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Section B.1, pp.8–9; Section B.4, p.16.

Yes. Every school that receives Australian Government funding has to report NCCD information to the Australian Government Department of Education each year, under the Australian Education Regulations 2023. That applies whether or not you have students to report.

Source NCCD Portal, Frequently asked questions.

The Disability Standards for Education 2005 sit under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992. Together they require your school to provide reasonable adjustments where a student with disability needs them to access and participate in education on the same basis as everyone else. Those decisions rest on the professional judgement of the school team, made in consultation with the student or their parents, guardians or carers.

The NCCD does not create these obligations. It counts what you are already required to do.

Source NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Section B.1.1, pp.8–9.

The NCCD uses the same meaning as section 3.4 of the Disability Standards for Education 2005. An adjustment is reasonable when it balances the interests of all parties affected. Working out whether a particular adjustment is reasonable means weighing all the relevant circumstances and interests, including the matters set out in subsection 3.4(2) of the Standards.

Source NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Glossary, p.40.

The first Friday in August each year, unless the Minister determines otherwise. The NCCD is collected at the same time as the School Census.

Source NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Section A.3, pp.6–7.

August to August, not by calendar year. Everything you count on Census Day looks back over the previous twelve months, which means evidence from the back half of the previous school year is in scope.

The Guidelines set out eight steps:

Source NCCD Guidelines page (the August-to-August cycle); NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Section C, p.17 (the eight steps).

The principal is responsible for verifying that evidence exists to support every student included, along with the level of adjustment and the category of disability recorded for each one. The Guidelines allow this approval to sit with the principal or the member of the school executive responsible for the accuracy of the data.

In practice the work is shared. The principal or school leadership makes sure teachers have what they need, and moderation is usually collaborative across the school team. Review processes vary between schools and between systems, so check what applies in yours.

Source NCCD Portal, Frequently asked questions ("Who should review this data before it is submitted?"); NCCD Portal, What are my roles and responsibilities?; NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Section C.7, p.28.

You can start twelve months before Census Day, which means evidence from the previous school year can count. Your evidence has to show that reasonable adjustments were provided for at least 10 weeks across that period.

The Guidelines are direct about timing: build evidence collection into your ongoing processes for supporting students, and don't start it in the weeks immediately before Census Day.

Extensive is different. For students at the Extensive level, the adjustments must be provided at all times across 10 consecutive weeks, and your evidence needs to show that. We recommend starting those 10 weeks at the beginning of Term 1, with Term 2 as a back-up if something goes wrong. Census Day is the first Friday in August, in Term 3. The clarifications on Extensive are on the NCCD Guidelines page.

Source NCCD Portal, Frequently asked questions ("When does my school need to start identifying and maintaining evidence for the NCCD?"); NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Section C.5.1, p.25 and Section A.3, p.7; NCCD Guidelines page (Clarification: 10-Week Rule for Extensive Adjustments).

Three things all have to be true. The student has a disability as defined by the Disability Discrimination Act 1992. The student was counted in the school census for that year. And the student received adjustments because of the functional impact of that disability for at least 10 weeks of school education in the twelve months before Census Day.

If any one of those is missing, the student is not counted.

Source NCCD Portal, Frequently asked questions; NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Section B.3, p.13.

No. School teams can use their professional, evidence-based judgement to determine that a student has an imputed disability, meaning a disability attributed on reasonable grounds. What matters is the functional impact on the student's learning and the adjustments you are making in response, not whether a report exists.

Imputing does come with conditions. The team needs reasonable grounds and evidence to support the decision, the student or their parent, guardian or carer must have been consulted, and the team confirms the adjustments are due to disability rather than academic performance, learning difficulties or external factors. See the questions on imputed disability below.

Source NCCD Portal, Frequently asked questions ("Does a child need a formal diagnosis...?" and "What is imputed disability?"); NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Section C.4.2, p.24.

Functional impact is how the disability actually affects the student at school. The Guidelines point to communication, mobility, curriculum access, personal care and social participation, and note that for some students you might also consider safety, motor development, emotional wellbeing, sensory needs and transitions.

It matters because functional impact is the trigger. Where you have documented evidence that a student received adjustments addressing that impact for at least 10 cumulative weeks in the twelve months before Census Day, and the student is counted in the school census, the student must be included. A diagnosis on its own doesn't bring a student into the count. The adjustments and the evidence do.

Source NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Glossary, p.38; Section B.2, p.11; Section B.3, p.13.

They can be, on the same test as anyone else. The student needs to meet the broad definition of disability under the DDA, and the condition needs to have a functional impact on their schooling. The DDA definition covers a disorder, illness or disease affecting a person's thought processes, perception of reality, emotions or judgement, or resulting in disturbed behaviour. As with any student, you also need documented evidence of adjustments for at least 10 weeks in the twelve months before Census Day.

A health or other condition that does not affect the student's ability to participate on the same basis as their peers does not bring them into the NCCD.

Source NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Glossary, p.37; Section B.3, p.13; NCCD Portal, Frequently asked questions.

Yes, where the behaviour is a symptom or manifestation of a disability. The DDA definition says so explicitly.

The plan itself is not the evidence of disability. A behaviour management plan or a personalised learning plan does not establish that a student has a disability, but it can point to an imputed disability when it documents the teaching and learning adjustments being made so the student can access the curriculum.

Source NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Glossary, p.37 (behaviour as a symptom or manifestation of disability); NCCD Portal, Frequently asked questions ("What is imputed disability?") and Definitions of disability and the NCCD categories (plans as an indicator, not evidence, of disability).

Where no medical or allied health diagnostic report is available, the school team can attribute a disability to a student who is receiving educational adjustments, based on the DDA definition. An imputed disability is an undiagnosed disability the team considers the student to have. The team needs reasonable grounds for that judgement and evidence to support it. The school must also consult with the student or their associate when imputing a disability.

Source NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Section C.4.2, p.24.

When there is no diagnostic report, the student is receiving educational adjustments, and the team has reasonable grounds and supporting evidence. You must also consult with the student or their associate.

Before you impute, confirm that the adjustments are being made because of disability rather than because of academic performance, learning difficulties or external factors. That confirmation step is one of the updates in the 2026 Guidelines.

Source NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Section C.4.2, p.24; NCCD Guidelines page (Key Updates to Know).

Where the difficulty is not disability. Some students receive adjustments for circumstances that have nothing to do with disability: limited school attendance, a refugee background, family disruption, ineffective prior instruction, transience, or English language acquisition. On those grounds alone a student is not included, even though the school is genuinely adjusting to support their learning.

Source NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Section C.4.2, p.24.

To count a student, you need documented evidence, physical or digital, that adjustments addressing the functional impact of their disability were provided for at least 10 cumulative weeks of school education in the twelve months before Census Day.

For every level except Extensive, any amount of adjustment within a school week makes that a week for NCCD purposes.

Source NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Section C.3.1, p.22.

Not for QDTP, Supplementary or Substantial. Those weeks can be non-consecutive and can be split across terms. Extensive is the exception. See the next question.

Source NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Section C.3.1, p.22.

Yes. Extensive requires 10 consecutive weeks of extensive targeted measures and sustained, intensive support provided at all times. The flexibilities that apply to the other levels do not apply here.

Unplanned absence is treated differently from a gap in support. Where a student is away through illness or hospitalisation, adjustments can continue to be recorded at the Extensive level. The level should be reviewed if the absences form a regular or predictable pattern, or run over a period the school can reasonably predict, so that Extensive adjustments are no longer being delivered at all times. A student enrolled full-time who attends part-time should not be reported at Extensive for the same reason.

Source NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Section C.3, p.21 and Section C.3.1, p.22; NCCD Guidelines page (Clarification: 10-Week Rule for Extensive Adjustments).

Yes, where a term is shorter than 10 weeks. The weeks can run across two terms separated only by school holidays, as long as they remain consecutive. Week 10 of Term 1 followed by weeks 1 to 9 of Term 2 works.

School-based activities during the holidays, such as a camp or excursion where the school is providing adjustments, can count towards the 10 weeks. Non-educational support during holidays, such as outside school hours care or a holiday program, cannot.

Source NCCD Guidelines page.

Where a student has been provided different levels of adjustment for the minimum of 10 weeks in the twelve months before Census Day, report the highest level of adjustment the student was provided.

Source NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Section C.3, p.21.

Support that is supplementary to the strategies and resources already available to all students in the school, for particular activities at specific times through the week. The descriptors give examples such as adapted and additional instruction in some or many learning areas, personalised and explicit instruction to support communication, planned health, personal care or safety support in addition to active monitoring, specialised technology, and support or close supervision in the playground. The distinguishing feature is that the adjustment is additional and occurs at particular times, not constantly.

Source NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Section C.3, p.21; Selecting the level of adjustment, NCCD Portal.

Essential adjustments and considerable adult assistance, at most times on most days. The descriptors give examples such as additional support or individualised instruction in a highly structured manner across most courses and assessments, planned health, personal care or safety support or intervention, specialised equipment, closely monitored playground supervision, and regular support from specialist staff. The student needs help to participate across the ordinary run of the school day rather than at set points in it.

Source NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Section C.3, p.21; Selecting the level of adjustment, NCCD Portal.

Extensive targeted measures and sustained levels of intensive support, at all times. These adjustments are highly individualised, comprehensive and ongoing. The descriptors give examples such as intensive, individualised instruction or support in a highly structured or specialised manner for all courses, activities and assessments, intensive individualised instruction to support multiple areas of communication, highly specialised or intensive health, personal care or safety support, highly modified classroom or school environments, and extensive support from specialist staff. Where Substantial is most times on most days, Extensive is all the time, and the 10 weeks of evidence must be consecutive.

Source NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Section C.3, p.21; Selecting the level of adjustment, NCCD Portal; NCCD Guidelines page (Clarification: 10-Week Rule for Extensive Adjustments).

Where the team is unsure, the Guidelines direct you to four things: the frequency, intensity, duration and range of the adjustments and support being provided.

If it is still unclear, your approved authority, system office or state Association of Independent Schools can help.

Source NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Section C.3, p.21.

On the adjustments. The level is based on the professional judgement of teachers and school teams about the adjustments actually being provided as part of day-to-day practice, not on the diagnosis.

Schools must be able to show that the level recorded for each student is supported by documented evidence.

Source NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Section C.3, p.21; Selecting the level of adjustment, NCCD Portal; Strategies to support decision-making, NCCD Portal.

The NCCD uses four broad categories. Each one maps to parts of the definition of disability in the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, and some parts of the definition sit under more than one category.

Choose the category that is the main driver or focus of the adjustments you are providing. The category may change over time.

Source NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Appendix 3, p.35; Section C.4, p.23; NCCD Portal, Definitions of disability and the NCCD categories.

Pick one. Where a student has multiple disabilities, or does not sit neatly in a single category, the school team uses professional judgement and documented evidence to select the category requiring the greatest extent of adjustment.

Source NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Section C.4.1, p.24.

No. Category selection does not follow the medical diagnosis. It follows the school team's professional judgement about which disability has the greatest impact on the student's education and is the main driver of the adjustments being provided.

Source NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Section C.4, p.23 and Section C.4.1, p.24; NCCD Portal, Definitions of disability and the NCCD categories.

Evidence about the personalised adjustments and supports your school is providing, drawn from your own context and your own learning and support processes. It has to relate to the individual student, and it comes from four areas: the student's assessed needs, the adjustments provided, monitoring and review of those adjustments, and consultation and collaboration. The next question sets these out.

Source Examples of evidence to support a student's inclusion in the NCCD, NCCD Portal.

The Guidelines put the third area more precisely: evidence that at least 10 weeks of adjustments have been provided to address the student's assessed needs, and evidence to justify the level reported.

Source NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Section C.5.1, p.25; NCCD Portal, What evidence is the NCCD based upon?; Examples of evidence to support a student's inclusion in the NCCD (PDF), p.3.

Use what you already have. Schools are not required to create new or additional evidence for the purposes of the NCCD, and the evidence you hold will be contextual and reflect your own learning and support processes.

Records that can support inclusion include an individual learning plan or similar, timetables showing adjustments or specialist support being delivered, emails to parents, carers or associates showing consultation, notes from the school team showing monitoring and review, and functional needs checklists.

Case study examples can provide guidance. They are located at https://www.nccd.edu.au/resources-and-tools/case-studies.

Source NCCD Portal, What evidence is the NCCD based upon?; NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Section B.1.1, p.9 and Section C.5.1, pp.25–26; NCCD Portal, Case studies.

No. The Portal's evidence templates are optional. Schools can use them as a suite, use individual templates, fold them into existing processes, or not use them at all.

Teacharo was built for schools that want a lighter way to do this: capturing the adjustment, the consultation and the review as part of the day's work, rather than filling in templates afterwards. teacharo.com

Source NCCD evidence templates (optional), NCCD Portal.

Enough to show adjustments were provided for the minimum 10 weeks in the twelve months before Census Day. For QDTP, Supplementary and Substantial, where the weeks are not consecutive you need cumulative evidence equivalent to at least 10 weeks, reflected in your day-to-day planning and monitoring. For Extensive, the 10 weeks must be consecutive and the evidence needs to show support at all times.

Where a school does not hold evidence of at least 10 weeks of adjustments, the student must not be counted.

Source NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Section C.5.1, pp.25–26 and Section C.3.1, p.22; NCCD Guidelines page (Clarification: 10-Week Rule for Extensive Adjustments).

Seven years at least. The approved authority must ensure the records supporting NCCD information are kept for that period, held either at the authority or at the school. If the authority does not hold them directly, it needs arrangements for the records to be kept securely elsewhere for the full period, with full access available to the authority. The department may also require access.

Some records fall under your jurisdiction's own records management rules, which can require longer than seven years, so check those too.

Source NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Section C.5.2, pp.26–27.

No. Consent is not required, because the collection is required and authorised by law. Parents and carers are also not required to disclose information to the school for NCCD purposes.

If your school holds information about a student's adjustments and category of disability, you must provide it to the Australian Government Department of Education. If you do not hold it, you must make all reasonable efforts to obtain it. Where someone responsible for a student objects, and the objection cannot be resolved through discussion, the approved authority is still required by law to include that student.

Source NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Section C.7.2, pp.29–30; NCCD Portal, Frequently asked questions ("Do schools need to obtain consent...?").

Yes. Under the Disability Standards for Education 2005, schools must consult with the student or an associate of the student (such as a parent, guardian or carer) before deciding on any adjustment. In most cases, it is good practice to consult both the student and their parents/carers. However, consultation may occur with only the student or only their associate, depending on what is most appropriate for the student's circumstances. If consultation with a parent/carer does not occur before adjustments are made, the school must record the reason.

Source NCCD Portal, Frequently asked questions ("Is it mandatory to consult with the student or their associate, parents, guardians or carers before making adjustments?"); NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Section C.2.3, pp.20–21.

Document the reason. A file note in the student record, an individual learning plan or similar, or a parent-teacher communication book are all acceptable places to record it.

Source NCCD Guidelines page (Key Updates to Know: Parent Consultation Documentation); NCCD Portal, Frequently asked questions ("Is it mandatory to consult...?").

Anything that shows the conversation happened. Individualised planning documents, including education, learning, curriculum, communication, behaviour and transition plans, or goals and strategies within program planning. Notes or minutes from meetings, phone calls and conversations with parents, carers or allied health professionals. Student plans signed by a parent, carer or the student. Records of formal parent-teacher interviews. Parent-teacher communication books. Emails between the school and parents, carers or professionals.

Source Examples of evidence to support a student's inclusion in the NCCD (PDF), NCCD Portal, p.5.

Agreement is what you're working towards, but it isn't a precondition. The Guidelines put it plainly: while it's desirable for associates, parents, guardians or carers to agree to an adjustment, consultation doesn't require agreement for the adjustment to be applied, or for the student to be included in the NCCD.

In practice that means you keep consulting, you make the adjustment, and you keep a record of the consultation. Consultation and collaboration is one of the four evidence areas, and notes of meetings, phone calls and conversations with parents and carers count.

If a parent or carer wants to take a concern further, they can start with a conversation at the school, which in many cases resolves it. From there they can contact your state or territory education authority, or the relevant non-government school authority. If they're still not satisfied, they can lodge a formal complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission. They can also seek support from an independent advocate.

Source On agreement — NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Section C.2.3, pp.20–21. On consultation records — Section C.5.1, p.25; Examples of evidence to support a student's inclusion in the NCCD (PDF), p.5. On raising a concern — NCCD Portal, Frequently asked questions ("Where can I go if I have a concern...?").

Moderation is the school team comparing and validating each other's NCCD judgements before the data is submitted. The Guidelines describe it as a key activity to reduce variability in professional judgement, and schools are strongly encouraged to moderate internally. Education authorities and schools should implement quality assurance processes to ensure accuracy and consistency.

What you are checking is set out in the Guidelines: that the students counted are the ones who should be counted, that each is in the correct level of adjustment and category of disability, and that the school holds sufficient documented evidence in the four evidence areas. The Portal's moderation resource describes a process for this: a moderation team of two or more, a sample of at least eight students across levels and categories, independent judgements, then comparison and consensus.

Source NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Sections C.6, C.6.1 and C.6.2, p.27; NCCD Portal, Undertake moderation to confirm decision making is consistent.

For non-government schools, the Census Post-Enumeration is an annual assurance activity that validates whether self-reported student counts are accurate and appropriate for funding and reporting. It also sights NCCD evidence, and individual student records may be collected and reviewed by the department or its subcontractors. False or misleading data may be subject to investigation and prosecution. Non-government representative bodies also carry out their own quality assurance.

For government schools, state and territory education authorities run their own quality assurance within their jurisdictions.

Source NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Sections C.6.4, C.6.5 and C.6.6, p.28.

Three consequences are set out. The Australian Government Department of Education may be unable to calculate the student with disability loading for your school for that year. It may act to recover overpayments of disability loading funding. And it may consider compliance action against the approved authority under the Australian Education Act 2013.

Separately, providing false or misleading information is a criminal offence and can lead to prosecution under section 137 of the Criminal Code Act 1995.

Source NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Section B.1.3, p.10; Glossary, p.36.

Since 1 January 2018, the NCCD has been used to calculate the student with disability loading paid by the Australian Government. The loading is set by the level of adjustment recorded for each student.

Source NCCD Portal, Frequently asked questions.

The loading is a percentage of the Schooling Resource Standard base amount. For 2026 the base is $14,467 for primary and $18,180 for secondary.

QDTP does not attract the loading. Students at that level are still recorded in the collection, and the evidence requirements still apply.

Source Australian Government Department of Education, Schooling Resource Standard, Table 1 (2026); NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward, Section C.3, p.21 and Section C.5.1, p.25.

To the school system, not the student. No specific dollar amount is allocated to an individual child. The loading is part of the Schooling Resource Standard, which is paid as a lump sum to school authorities, including state and territory governments. Those authorities then distribute funding to schools under local, needs-based arrangements.

Source NCCD Portal, Frequently asked questions ("Does the disability loading allocate a specific amount of money for my child?").

The NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward replace the 2025 version and apply from the 2026 School Census. They stay in effect until updated or replaced.

The same page carries further clarifications on Extensive adjustments (short terms, school holidays, unplanned absence and part-time attendance) and confirms there are no changes to evidentiary requirements for 2026. See the questions on the 10-week rule and on evidence requirements.

Source NCCD Guidelines page (Important Update: New NCCD Guidelines – Effective from 2026).

No. The Australian Government Department of Education has confirmed there are no changes to evidentiary obligations for the 2026 NCCD, and no additional requirements have been introduced. The existing requirement stands: schools must keep appropriate and sufficient records, including evidence of the supports delivered, aligned to the frequency and intensity of the level of adjustment reported. That evidence continues to be reviewed through the department's annual audit program.

Source NCCD Guidelines page (Clarification: Evidentiary requirements for the 2026 NCCD).

It was announced in the 2026–27 Federal Budget. Part of the measure will strengthen and clarify NCCD requirements through changes to policy guidance, data collection and integrity activities, with the stated aim of better supporting teachers and schools to apply NCCD requirements. Those changes are still under development and will be implemented in future years, following consultation with school systems, unions and other stakeholders.

It has no impact on the 2026 NCCD.

Source NCCD Portal, Frequently asked questions ("Who is responsible for NCCD policy?"); NCCD Guidelines page (Clarification: Evidentiary requirements for the 2026 NCCD).