Turning 65 on the NDIS: staying on or moving to aged care

Turning 65 does not end an NDIS plan. If you became a participant before your 65th birthday you can stay on the NDIS, and you leave only if, after 65, you move permanently into residential aged care or start permanent home care. For a robotic pet the gap between the systems is wide: the NDIS can fund one as low-cost assistive technology when it meets the rules, Support at Home does not list robotic pets, and an aged care home makes its own arrangements.

What is the rule for participants turning 65?

The NDIS page for participants moving between the NDIS and aged care says you can stay on the NDIS once you turn 65, as long as you became a participant before your 65th birthday. Nothing changes automatically on the birthday. Your plan, budgets and supports carry on.

The age rule also works in the other direction. Under the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013, a person meets the age requirements only if they were under 65 when their access request was made. A fresh access request lodged after 65 would not meet that test, so treat leaving the NDIS after 65 as permanent.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people can use My Aged Care from the age of 50, so for them the choice between the two systems can come earlier.

What makes you leave the NDIS after 65?

The NDIS names two events:

• moving permanently into a residential aged care facility after turning 65
• starting permanent home care services after turning 65.

The NDIS says leaving in these cases is a legal requirement with no possibility of an internal review. The Act puts it this way: a person stops being a participant when they start accessing ongoing funded aged care services on a permanent basis, other than under a specialist aged care program, and that first happens after they turn 65.

Before accepting any aged care service, ask your my NDIS contact or support coordinator whether it counts as permanent. An internal review cannot reverse the result.

Side by side: a robotic pet under the NDIS, Support at Home and residential care

Question	Stay on the NDIS	Support at Home	Permanent residential aged care
Who it is for	Participants who joined before 65	Older people assessed through My Aged Care; it replaced Home Care Packages on 1 November 2025	Older people who move into an aged care home
Can a robotic pet be funded?	Possibly, as low-cost AT under $1,500	Its assistive technology list names no robotic or companion pets	Not by the NDIS once you have left it
What decides it	The item must relate to the disability, a plan goal and NDIS rules	The AT-HM list, which puts products that stimulate the senses by physical touch under its exclusions	The home’s own lifestyle or activities program
Who checks the purchase	You, your nominee or your plan manager when the invoice is paid	The Support at Home provider, against an assessed need in the support plan	The home
Can you buy one yourself?	Yes	Yes	Yes; tell the home before bringing it in

The Assistive Technology and Home Modifications list, last updated in July 2026, describes itself as a definitive list of what Support at Home participants can access through the scheme. Funding may be used on its inclusions where an assessed need is documented in the support plan, and items under its exclusions are not available. Assistive products for stimulating the senses by physical touch sit in that exclusions section.

If you are under 65 and already living in an aged care home, our page on NDIS participants in residential aged care covers that situation. For the full NDIS conditions on a robotic pet, read can the NDIS fund a robotic pet.

Questions to settle before you decide

1. Which needs come from disability and which from ageing? The NDIS says you can ask for an aged care assessment when your ageing needs outweigh your disability needs, and that moving across will be a better arrangement for some people.
2. Are you planning permanent care? Permanent residential care or permanent home care after 65 is the step that ends NDIS participation.
3. What would you lose? List the supports in your current plan, including any low-cost AT such as a robotic pet, and check each one against what aged care would provide.
4. Who will manage the change? Your my NDIS contact or support coordinator can help with the move and make sure your current needs are included in the aged care assessment.
5. What does the person want? Their own wishes should lead, including any attachment to a robotic pet or other item they already use. For people living with younger onset dementia, our page on robotic pets for younger people with dementia has more detail.

If a robotic pet has never come up with the NDIS, read our advice on raising a robotic pet with your LAC or planner before your next plan check-in.

Getting an aged care assessment while still on the NDIS

The NDIS suggests exploring My Aged Care before you turn 65: the services available, the application process and how the assessment works. The events it names as ending participation are starting permanent residential care or permanent home care. Being assessed is not one of them.

My Aged Care takes applications online, by phone, or in person at a Services Australia centre. The online application takes 10 to 15 minutes and needs a Medicare card. Most assessments happen at home with a trained assessor, and they can also be held at other locations, by telehealth or over the phone. A trusted family member or friend can help you apply and be with you at the assessment.

If you plan to stay on the NDIS and a robotic pet fits your goals, request a quote for a robotic companion pet funded as low-cost AT. Tell us your plan management type and we will pass the enquiry to a supplier who sells to NDIS participants.

Request a free quote