NDIS ↔ Lookout: Cross-reference glossary

A guide for new users to understand NDIS terminology and where it lives in Lookout.

How to use this guide

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) defines a range of standard terms used across funding, planning, service delivery, and claiming. This guide maps those terms to their equivalent terminology and features in Lookout, helping you quickly identify where information is managed and actions are performed within the platform. Terms are organised by topic to make navigation easier.

New from 1 October 20206: Member contacts & dashboard enhancements Member contacts are now managed in one Key contacts section on the Member dashboard. A contact's role and their access are now set separately.

Authorised Representative, Billing recipient and Sharer are no longer separate roles. They are now permissions you give a contact: Full access, Receives statements and Can view visits. Existing contacts move over automatically under the new labels, so nothing needs remapping.Your organisation turns this on through Release Hub. If it isn't on yet, contacts still appear under their previous role names. Check out our What's new? section to stay updated.

Participant Network: Participants and their key contacts

NDIS term	What it means	Lookout equivalent	Where you'll find it in Lookout
Participant	The person receiving NDIS-funded supports.	Member	Each Member has a profile and a Membership record - Their NDIS-funded supports display as a Membership.
Support worker	The person delivering hands-on support.	Helper	Helper profile and details
Allied health care professional Examples: Occupational therapist Physiotherapist Speech pathologist Exercise physiologist Psychologist Podiatrist	Qualified person delivering specialised therapeutic supports.	Third Party Provider (TPP) Contractor	Set up as a Helper with the "Supplier/Clinician" role and an engagement type of "Contractor." They have a Helper profile, and their pricing is held in their Third Party Provider rates. External providers can also be invited to the Provider Portal to receive and submit invoices.
Nurse / Clinical supports Examples: Registered Nurse Wound Care Nurse Stoma Therapy Nurse	Nursing care and treatments delivered by qualified nurses to support a participant's ongoing health and wellbeing.	Clinicians	Set up as a Third Party Provider with the Clinician role. They have a Helper profile, and the specific service they deliver (e.g. nursing) is recorded against them, with billing tracked under the Clinical supports category. Note: contractor-only details (contract tables, contractor pricing and platform fees) only show for Helpers engaged as Contractors.
Registered provider	The organisation delivering supports.	Your organisation (the provider)	Set up as the company; holds the NDIS registration number.
Support coordinators Specialist Support Coordinators Recovery Coaches	Funded by the NDIS plan Helps the participant understand and use their plan.	NDIS support coordination	Support coordination information on the Member; invoicing via billing runs.
Local Area Coordinators (LACs) NDIA representatives	Funded by the NDIA Helps NDIS participants understand, implement, and get the most out of their NDIS plan by connecting them with appropriate supports, services, and community resources.	Roles (general)	Profiles Roles attached to the Member With Member contacts & dashboard enhancements switched on: Member dashboard, then Key contacts. Use the Relationship field to record who they are.
Nominee / Plan nominee / Child representative	Someone who can fully act or manage on the participant's behalf.	Authorised Representative	Profiles Role attached to the Member With Member contacts & dashboard enhancements switched on: Member dashboard, then Key contacts. Full access lets them view and sign agreements, view and manage visits, see billing summaries and statements, and get notifications for the Member. If they hold legal authority (e.g. guardianship), you can also give them the Appointed decision maker role.
Correspondence nominee	Someone who receives information only.	Sharer (view-only access)	Profiles Role attached to the Member.
NDIA Plan Managers	Who pays for the supports.	Funder	Member dashboard, then the Funder panel. Removing a funder or funding scheme is done from the "Danger zone" in the Member's Settings, under Funding scheme.
Carer (informal) and other appointed people	Unpaid family/friend support or emergency contacts.	Roles (general)	Profiles. Roles attached to the Member. With Member contacts & dashboard enhancements switched on: Member dashboard, then Key contacts. You can add more than one emergency contact per Member.

Please note: In Lookout, one person can hold multiple roles at once, akin to the NDIS, which allows multiple representatives/nominees.

Working with support workers and compliance requirements? Continue to NDIS: Worker compliance to learn how to maintain workforce compliance, manage worker credentials, and support NDIS obligations within Lookout.

The NDIS plan, plan details and pricing schedule

NDIS term	What it means	Lookout equivalent	Where you'll find it in Lookout
NDIS plan (the enrolment and funding core)	A participant's support, funding and status.	Membership	Member dashboard Membership record in Settings.
NDIS number	The participant's reference number.	Funder NDIS number	Members Dashboard under Funder.
Plan management type (Agency-managed / Plan-managed / Self-managed)	How the funding is administered and paid.	Funder	Membership record in Settings, then Funding scheme Member dashboard under Funder.
Plan reassessment / review	When the current plan is due for review.	Plan reassessment date Tickets	Members dashboard under Membership Ticket templates can be used With Member contacts & dashboard enhancements switched on: Member dashboard, then the About panel.
Funding component / Support category (Core, Capacity Building, Capital)	The buckets funding is split into.	Funding source	Funding sources assigned to visits, purchase orders and expenses.
Service agreement	The agreement between participant and provider.	Agreement requests	Members dashboard under Agreement requests. With Member contacts & dashboard enhancements switched on: Member dashboard, then the Agreement requests panel (shows the 5 most recent, with "View all") Full list: Member's Settings, then Agreement requests
Price limits / Pricing arrangements / Pricing schedule	What can be charged and the charging rules.	Rates / Products	Settings, then Rates, and the Member's Membership plan.
NDIS support (item)	A fundable service tagged with its official code.	Service / Rate with a support item code	Settings, then Rates.

Understanding how NDIS concepts translate into Lookout is the foundation. The next article, NDIS: Set up and configuration, focuses on applying that knowledge by configuring the settings, organisation details, and NDIS-specific options that support your day-to-day operations in Lookout.

Care planning and goals

NDIS term	What it means	Lookout equivalent	Where you'll find it in Lookout
NDIS plan	The record of the participant's needs and support.	Care Plan	The Member's Care Plan.
Goals	What the participant wants to achieve.	Goals	Within the Care Plan (you can copy goals across from an NDIS support plan).
Plan meeting Implementation	Meetings to develop or start using the plan.	Tickets and Discussions	Tickets and Ticket discussions.
Support Coordination	Support to help participants implement and manage their NDIS plan.	Care management activities	Records in Tickets, Activity, and Notebook Surveys and Forms can be utilised.

→ Please view our dedicated article to learn more about manually creating and managing care plans.

Delivering and scheduling services

NDIS term	What it means	Lookout equivalent	Where you'll find it in Lookout
Service / Support delivered	An individual support session is delivered.	Visit	Rostering / the Member's Roster.
Rostering support service e.g. for ADL's	Assigning a compliant support worker to a booking.	Matching a Helper to a Member's visit	Rostering. Matching: matching preferences can be set on the Member, and the matching panel appears on the Member dashboard Requisites.
Clock in / Clock out	Recording the start and end of support.	Check in / Check out	Visit details. Punchcards.
Progress note / Case note	The written evidence or account of services delivered.	Check-out Note	Notes on a visit; feed into Observations and Notebook.
Worker screening / qualifications a provider must hold	Credentials confirming a worker's suitability.	Verifications	Helper profile.
The participant's specific worker requirements	Credentials the participant requires their workers to hold.	Requisites	On the Member: Lookout warns you if a Helper doesn't meet them.

Need to supervise and manage Members as part of your role? Check out our NDIS: Member management article for guidance on managing Member records, support information, and participant-related workflows in an NDIS context.

Quality, safety and oversight

NDIS term	What it means	Lookout equivalent	Where you'll find it in Lookout
Reportable incident	An incident that must be reported.	Observation	Observations (raised automatically from check-out notes or manually).
NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission	The body overseeing quality and safety.	Incident reporting	Incident records include a "reported to the Commission" date and a link to its guidelines.

Managing incidents in Lookout? Explore our Incident Management (Core) and Incident Management Add-on articles for detailed guidance on each

Payments and claiming

NDIS term	What it means	Lookout equivalent	Where you'll find it in Lookout
Bulk payment claim	The file used to claim payment from the NDIS	NDIS bulk payment report/export	Main navigation bar: Finance, then Reports, then Data export.
Billing / claiming cycle	The regular process of generating charges	Billing Run	Main navigation bar: Finance, then Billing Runs
Self-managed claiming	The participant pays providers directly and claims themselves	Self managed (plan management setting)	Member dashboard, then the Funder panel. The Member's NDIS details change how their visits are handled. Main navigation bar: Reports
Statements	Records of charges sent to the participant	Billing Recipient	Member dashboard, then Key contacts. Choose how each person gets statements: email, post, or both. Lookout warns you if an email or postal address is missing. Statements can also be viewed in the app.

Keen to learn more? Explore NDIS: Service delivery and claiming to understand how Visits, service records, funding utilisation, and claiming workflows come together in Lookout.