From 1 April 2026 onwards, the purchasing rules for flexible funding have been removed and no longer apply to sensory equipment. These changes affect people who receive individualised funding, Enhanced Individualised Funding, Carer Support and hosted Enabling Good Lives Personal Budgets.
Everyone who receives flexible funding will require a My DSS Funding Plan, making the purposes of your funding clearer and giving you more choice and control over how your disability support is used. The rationales and reasoning for requiring sensory equipment have not changed and need to be stated on your My DSS Funding Plan. This will happen at your next reassessment with your NASC or Enabling Good Lives site.
My DSS Funding Plan and individualised funding
A My DSS Funding Plan helps set out your support needs and how your funding is used for disability support services, including sensory equipment, personal care, respite, and community activities where appropriate. If you have individualised funding, your plan should show how the funding stays within your budget while reflecting your goals and daily support needs.
The new My DSS Funding Plan and the information guide is shown below.
How the funding works
We know that trying to use funding can be difficult and stressful, especially with all the other demands and pressures that daily life brings. To help support your ability to make explicit your reasoning for requiring sensory equipment in your My DSS Funding Plan, we have put together some examples that could apply to your situation. Feel free to use the examples. The equipment and reasonings are examples only and are not limited to those described.
Your host organisation or support provider can help you understand your options, especially if your host is involved in managing your funding.
How to access support
Please see our Sensory Equipment Funding Plan Example as a guide.
Further information can be found at the Disability Support Services website. If you have questions about eligibility, your needs assessment, or how to access individualised funding NZ, this is a useful place to start.