National Auslan Interpreter Booking and Payment Service (NABS)

National Auslan Interpreter Booking and Payment Service (NABS)

November 2016

The National Auslan Interpreter Booking and Payment Service (NABS) provides deaf Auslan (Australian sign language) users with an accredited Auslan interpreter,
free of charge, for private medical consultations.

This enables Auslan users to communicate with their doctor or health professional.
The service covers appointments with general practitioners, specialists and a range of other private health care providers that attract a Medicare rebate.

NABS and the NDIS

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is the new way of providing support to Australians with a permanent and significant disability.

Over the next three years, funding for a range of Commonwealth funded disability programswill transition to the NDIS, and clients will be assisted through the NDIS instead. The NABS is part of this transition.

What will change for clients?

Once the NDIS is available in your area, it will be the new way to access Auslan interpreting for the majority of NABS clients.

If you are a NABS client, you shouldrequest access to the NDIS as soon as it is available in your area and for your age group, and ask your NDIS planner to include Auslan interpreting in your plan.This can include situations where a deaf person requires interpreting to attend appointments for a hearing child.

Clients can continue to use the NABS until their NDIS plan is in place.

The NABS remains funded to deliver a full range of Auslan interpreting services at medical appointments until clients move into the NDIS.

The NDIS can cover Auslan interpreting for a range of purposes, unlike NABS which can only cover private medical appointments.

The NDIS offers you choice and control over the support you want and how it is delivered. As an NDIS participant, you can select the NABS provider – Wesley Mission – as your NDIS service provider if you choose.

What if I am not eligible for the NDIS?

For existing NABS clients who are assessed as not meeting the NDIS access criteria, the Commonwealth has committed to providing continuity of support.

Continuity of support means existing NABS clients who do not meet NDIS access criteria will be supported to achieve similar outcomes. In the short term, continuity of support will be provided through the current NABS program, while long term arrangements for providing continuity of support are finalised.

What do I need to do?

If you are a NABS client under 65 years, you are encouraged to request access when the NDIS commences in your region.

You can check your eligibility online via the NDIS Access Checklist at

For start dates in each state and territory visit the NDIS website at
The NDIS website also contains advice, information and resources to help you get started on your NDIS journey.

You can continue to use the NABS until the NDIS commences in your area and you have an NDIS plan in place. The NABS will remain available to you while you request access and go through the planning process.

You can choose not to join the NDIS. However, if you have access to the NDIS but choose not to join, you will not continue to have access to the NABS as an alternative.

What does this mean for the NABS provider?

Wesley Mission Brisbane is the current provider of the NABS, and receives program block funding from the Department of Social Services. This block funding will gradually reduce over the next three years, as the NDIS becomes available for more NABS clients.

Wesley Mission is a registered provider under the NDIS, so can provide services to NDIS participants. It’s up to the Auslan user to decide what they want in their NDIS plan and whether they want Wesley Mission as their NDIS provider.

What is happening with the NABS funding?

The NABS funding allocationwill be maintained until eligible NABS clients are using the NDIS and have a funded support plan in place.This fundingwill be graduallyredirected to the NDIS in line with the roll-out across Australiaover the next three years.

NABS funding for clients aged over 65 is not being redirected to the NDIS. Services for theseclients will continue to be funded through the NABS, while longer term continuity of support arrangements are finalised.

The transition of funds from NABS to the NDIS is not a cut to Commonwealth funding for Auslan interpreting services.

The amount of disability funding available under the NDIS will bedouble that ofthe previous system.

The NDIS has the potential to increase funding and services available for eligible Auslan users. NDIS participants who are not current NABS users may choose to use NABS as their preferred provider. The choice about who provides services rests with each participant, not the government.

Why is NABS transitioning to the NDIS?

When the NDIS was being designed, Commonwealth programs were assessed to see if they met the following general principles, to transition into the NDIS:

• supporting people with a disability;
• the majority of clients will become participants in the NDIS;and
• the type of service offered is expected to be funded by the NDIS as part of individual packages of support.

The NABS program aligns with these principles.

More information

For information on the NDIS, visit or call 1800 800 110.

Communication assistance is available:

• If you require a translator or other assistance, phone 1800 800 110;
• If you are a Text telephone (TTY) user, phone 1800 555 677 then ask for
  1800 800 110;
• If you are a Speak and Listen (speech-to-speech relay) user, phone 1800 555 727 then ask for 1800 800 110; or
• If you are an internet relay user, visit the National Relay Service website and ask for 1800 800 110.