Understanding List B: Streamlining Your Path to Proving Permanence

 

Navigating NDIS eligibility often feels like a puzzle, with "permanence" being one of the most critical pieces. While some conditions are fast-tracked through List A, others fall into a category known as List B. At Westside Support Services, we know that understanding this list can be the difference between a stressful application and a smooth entry into the scheme.

If your condition is on List B, the NDIA (National Disability Insurance Agency) acknowledges that your impairment is likely to be permanent. This guide explains what List B means for you and how it simplifies the evidence you need to provide.

 

What is List B?

Under NDIS law, "permanent" means your impairment is enduring and you will require supports on an ongoing basis throughout your life. Proving this can be complex, especially if you are still undergoing medical treatment.

List B is a defined set of conditions that the NDIA recognizes as resulting in a permanent impairment. If you provide evidence of a diagnosis from List B, the agency will likely decide that you meet the "permanence" requirement without needing further proof that your condition is lifelong.

 

Why List B is Different from List A

It is important to understand the distinction between these two lists:

• List A: These conditions are accepted as being both permanent and resulting in a substantially reduced functional capacity.
• List B: These conditions are accepted as being permanent, but the NDIA will still need to check how much they impact your functional capacity.

In other words, while List B confirms your condition will stay with you for life, you still need to show how it affects your ability to do things like communicate, move around, or look after yourself.

 

 

Conditions Frequently Found on List B

List B generally includes conditions that medical science considers "permanent" because they cannot be cured or remedied by available treatments. These often include:

• Degenerative Conditions: These are impairments that may get worse over time. They are considered permanent because treatment is unlikely to "cure" the impairment or remove its effects.
• Chronic Conditions with Lasting Impact: Certain long-term health conditions where all evidence-based clinical treatments have been pursued, yet a permanent impairment remains.
• Episodic or Fluctuating Conditions: Even if your symptoms come and go or vary in intensity, the impairment can still be considered permanent because of the overall impact it will have across your lifetime.

For Full list click here

 

 

The Role of Medical Treatment

A condition is only considered "likely to be permanent" if there are no known, available, and appropriate evidence-based treatments remaining that could remedy the impairment.

For List B conditions, the NDIA accepts that:

1. The treatment options are either exhausted or unlikely to fix the impairment.
2. Even if you are still in rehabilitation, it is clear that a permanent impairment will remain.

 

Providing the Right Evidence

Even with a List B condition, your application must be backed by high-quality professional evidence. At Westside Support Services, we emphasize the following:

• Diagnosis Confirmation: You must provide evidence of your diagnosis from a registered Australian or New Zealand health professional (such as a doctor or specialist registered with AHPRA).
• Functional Impact: Because List B only proves permanence, you will still need an Allied Health Professional (like an OT or Psychologist) to document how the impairment substantially reduces your ability to perform daily activities.

How Westside Support Services Can Help

Navigating List B requirements doesn't have to be a solo journey. As registered NDIS partners, we assist you by:

• Reviewing your diagnosis to see if it aligns with List B criteria.
• Coordinating with your specialists to ensure their reports clearly state that all appropriate treatments have been explored.
• Conducting Functional Capacity Assessments to provide the missing piece of the puzzle—showing the NDIA exactly how your permanent impairment affects your daily life.

 

Securing Lifelong Support

List B provides a vital "shorthand" for the NDIA to recognize that your journey is a lifelong one. By acknowledging the permanence of your impairment, it allows you and your support team to focus on what really matters: building a plan that increases your independence and helps you participate in your community.

Is your condition on List B? Let Westside Support Services help you turn your diagnosis into a successful NDIS plan. Contact us today to learn more about proving permanence and functional capacity.

 

Complete List B conditions that are likely to result in a permanent impairment. Check if your condition falls in this list

 

Conditions primarily resulting in intellectual or learning impairment

·        Intellectual disability

·        Pervasive developmental disorders not meeting severity criteria in List A or List C, such as autism

·        Asperger syndrome

·        Atypical autism

·        Childhood autism.

Chromosomal abnormalities resulting in permanent impairment and not specified on List A

·        Aicardi-Goutières syndrome

·        CHARGE syndrome

·        Cockayne syndrome Types I and Type II/Cerebro-oculo-faciao-skeletal (COFS) syndrome /Pena Shokeir syndrome Type II/Weber-Cockayne syndrome/Neill-Dingwall syndrome)

·        Cohen syndrome

·        Dandy-Walker syndrome

·        DiGeorge syndrome /22q11.2 deletion syndrome/Velocardiofacial syndrome/ Shprintzen syndrome/Conotruncal anomaly face syndrome

·        Down syndrome/Trisomy 21

·        Fragile X syndrome

·        Kabuki syndrome

·        Menkes disease

·        Prader-Willi syndrome

·        Seckel syndrome /microcephalic primordial dwarfism/Harper’s syndrome/Virchow-Seckel dwarfism

·        Smith-Lemli-Optiz syndrome

·        Smith-Magenis syndrome

·        Spinal muscular atrophy Types III and IV

·        Sturge-Weber syndrome

·        Trisomy 9

·        Tuberous sclerosis

·        Turner syndrome

·        Williams syndrome

·        Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome.

Conditions primarily resulting in Neurological impairment

·        Alzheimer’s dementia

·        Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

·        HIV dementia

·        Huntington’s disease

·        Multi-infarct dementia

·        Parkinson’s disease

·        Post-polio syndrome

·        Vascular dementia.

Systemic atrophies primarily affecting the central nervous system

·        Abetalipoproteinaemia

·        Adult-onset spinal muscular atrophy/late-onset SMA type III)

·        Fazio-Londe disease/Progressive bulbar palsy of childhood

·        Friedrich’s ataxia

·        Hereditary spastic paraplegia/ Infantile-onset ascending hereditary spastic paralysis/ L1 syndrome/ spastic paraplegias types 2 and 11Huntington’s disease/Huntington’s chorea

·        Louis-Bar syndrome/Ataxia-telangiectasia

·        Motor neuron disease/Motor neurone disease/ Lou Gehrig’s disease /Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

·        Primary lateral sclerosis

·        Progressive bulbar palsy

·        Spinal muscular atrophy – all types

·        Spinocerebellar Ataxia – all types, including Machado-Joseph disease.

Extrapyramidal and movement disorders

·        Hallervorden-Spatz syndrome /Pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration (PKAN)/neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation 1 (NBIA 1)

·        Parkinson’s disease

·        Shy-Drager syndrome /Multiple System Atrophy /Striatonigral degeneration (MSA-P)/ Sporadic olivopontocerebellar atrophy (MSA-C)

·        Steele-Richardson-Olszewski syndrome/Progressive supranuclear ophthalmoplegia

·        Stiff-man syndrome /Stiff-person syndrome.

Other degenerative diseases of the nervous system

·        Alzheimer’s disease

·        Alpers disease/Grey-matter degeneration/Alpers syndrome/progressive sclerosing poliodystrophy/progressive infantile poliodystrophy

·        Lewy body dementia

·        Pick’s disease.

Demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system

·        Adrenoleukodystrophy

·        Multiple sclerosis

·        Schilder’s disease /Diffuse myelinoclastic sclerosis – non-remitting.

Episodic and paroxysmal disorders

·        Brain stem stroke syndrome

·        Cerebellar stroke syndrome

·        Motor and sensory lacunar syndromes

·        Lennox syndrome /Lennox-Gastaut syndrome

·        West’s syndrome.

Polyneuropathies and other disorders of the peripheral nervous system

·        Adult Refsum disease

·        Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease/Hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy/ peroneal muscular atrophy

·        Dejerine-Sottas disease /Dejerine-Sottas syndrome/Dejerine-Sottas neuropathy/progressive hypertrophic interstitial polyneuropathy of childhood/onion bulb neuropathy

·        Infantile Refsum disease.

Other disorders of the nervous system

·        Hydrocephalus

·        Multiple system atrophy.

Conditions resulting in Physical impairment

·        Amputation

·        Congenital absence of limb or part thereof

·        Epidermolysis bullosa

·        Harlequin type icthyosis

·        Juvenile arthritis / Stills Disease (excluding monocyclic/self-limited Adult Onset Stills disease)

·        Rheumatoid arthritis.

Diseases of myoneural junction and muscle

·        Andersen-Tawil syndrome/ Periodic paralysis /myoplegia paroxysmalis familiaris

·        Becker muscular dystrophy

·        Congenital muscular dystrophy

·        Distal muscular dystrophy

·        Duchenne muscular dystrophy

·        Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy

·        Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy

·        Mitochondrial myopathy

·        Myotonic dystrophy /dystrophia myotonica

·        Myotonic muscular dystrophy

·        Myotubular myopathy

·        Oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy

·        Paramyotonia Congenita

·        Thomsens disease /Congenital myotonia/ Becker myotonia).

Cerebral palsy and other paralytic syndromes not meeting severity criteria on List A

·        Cerebral palsy

·        Diplegia

·        Hemiplegia

·        Monoplegia

·        Paraplegia

·        Quadriplegia

·        Tetraplegia.

Conditions resulting in Sensory and/or Speech impairment

Disorders of the choroid and retina where permanent blindness diagnostic and severity criteria on List A are not met

·        Behr’s syndrome

·        Kearns-Sayre syndrome

·        Optic atrophy

·        Retinitis pigmentosa

·        Retinoschisis (degenerative and hereditary types/juvenile retinoschisis)

·        Stargardt disease

·        Usher syndrome.

Disorders resulting in hearing loss

·        Cortical deafness

·        Pendred syndrome

·        Sensorineural hearing loss

·        Stickler syndrome

·        Usher syndrome

·        Waardenburg syndrome.

Conditions resulting in multiple types of impairment

·        Aceruloplasminemia

·        Addison-Schilder disease /Adrenoleukodystrophy

·        Albinism

·        Arginosuccinic aciduria

·        Aspartylglucosaminuria

·        Cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis /cerebral cholesterosis

·        Congenital cytomegalovirus infection

·        Congenital iodine-deficiency syndrome /cretinism

·        Congenital rubella syndrome

·        Glycine encephalopathy /non-ketotic hyperglycinaemia

·        GM1 gangliosidosis

·        Hartnup disease

·        Homocystinuria

·        Lowe syndrome/ Oculocerebrorenal syndrome

·        Mannosidosis

·        Menkes disease

·        Mucolipidosis II /I-cell disease

·        Mucolipidosis III /pseudo-Hurler polydystrophy

·        Mucolipidosis IV

·        Neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (NCL)/ Adult type (Kuf’s or Parry’s disease)/ Juvenile (Batten disease)/ Late infantile (Jansky-Bielschowsky)

·        Niemann-Pick disease

·        Pyruvate carboxylase deficiency

·        Pyruvate dehydrogenase deficiency

·        Sialidosis

·        Sulfite oxidase deficiency.

The following mucopolysaccharidoses

·        Scheie syndrome /MPS 1-H

·        Hurler-Scheie syndrome /MPS 1 H-S

·        Hunter syndrome /MPS II

·        Morquio syndrome /MPS IVA

·        Maroteaux-Lamy syndrome /MPS VI

·        Sly syndrome /MPS VII.

Congenital conditions – cases where malformations cannot be corrected by surgery or other treatment and result in permanent impairment but with variable severity

·        Arnold-Chiari Types 2 and 3/Chiari malformation

·        Microcephaly

·        Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder

·        Fetal hydantoin syndrome

·        Spina bifida

·        VATER syndrome /VACTERL association.

 

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  References:

• Applying to the NDIS (OG - Applying to the NDIS.docx)