NIISQ: Brain Injury Support and Speech Pathology Funding in Queensland
If you or someone you love has sustained a brain injury in a motor vehicle accident in Queensland, you may be entitled to lifetime treatment, care and support through the National Injury Insurance Scheme, Queensland (NIISQ) — separate from, and often broader than, what's available through the NDIS.
Who is eligible for brain injury support?
You may be eligible for NIISQ support if:
- You sustained a serious personal injury in a motor vehicle accident that occurred in Queensland on or after 1 July 2016
- Your injury meets the definition of a serious personal injury under the National Injury Insurance Scheme (Queensland) Act 2016, which includes:
- Traumatic brain injury
- Permanent spinal cord injury
- Multiple or high-level limb amputations
- Permanent injury to the brachial plexus
- Severe burns
- Permanent traumatic blindness
NIISQ applies to anyone injured in a Queensland motor vehicle accident, including visitors from interstate or overseas, and children. You don't need to have been at fault — or even driving — to be eligible.
What is NIISQ?
NIISQ is a Queensland Government scheme that funds necessary and reasonable treatment, care and support for people who sustain a serious personal injury in a motor vehicle accident in Queensland. It's a no-fault scheme, which means support is available regardless of who caused the accident, and it applies to accidents occurring on or after 1 July 2016.
NIISQ is administered by the NIISQ Agency and funded by a levy collected at the same time as motor vehicle registration. It was set up alongside the NDIS specifically to meet the lifetime treatment and rehabilitation needs of people with catastrophic injuries from road accidents, needs that go beyond what disability funding alone is designed to cover.
What does NIISQ fund?
Once accepted as a participant, NIISQ funds a wide range of treatment, care and support related to your accepted injury, guided by what's assessed as "necessary and reasonable." This includes medical and dental treatment, rehabilitation, attendant care, assistive technology, home and vehicle modifications, and vocational and education support.
Speech pathology under NIISQ
Speech pathology is specifically named as a funded rehabilitation support under NIISQ's guidelines. Services can include:
- Improving communication skills, strategies, and use of augmentative or alternative communication (AAC) devices
- Support for safe swallowing following a brain injury
- Assessments and reports to help the NIISQ Agency understand your communication and swallowing needs
NIISQ also explicitly recognises telehealth as an appropriate way to deliver rehabilitation supports, including speech pathology, where it's clinically appropriate for the participant and delivered in line with AHPRA and Queensland Health telehealth requirements.
How ClearConvo can help
ClearConvo is a speech pathology practice delivering assessment and therapy via telehealth across Australia, with experience supporting people with acquired and traumatic brain injury, including communication difficulties, cognitive-communication challenges, and swallowing (dysphagia) concerns.
For NIISQ participants, this means:
- Sessions can be delivered from home, which matters if you're managing fatigue, mobility limitations, or live outside South East Queensland
- Our speech pathologists are certified with Speech Pathology Australia, meeting the standard NIISQ expects of rehabilitation providers
- We can work alongside your treating team and NIISQ-appointed coordinator to align therapy with the goals in your MyPlan
Speech Therapy, Brain Injury Support in Queensland
Tell us about yourself.
Getting started
- If you haven't yet applied to NIISQ: speak with your treating team or contact the NIISQ Agency on 1300 607 566 to start an application, or via niis.qld.gov.au.
- If you're already a NIISQ participant: your rehabilitation supports need written approval from the NIISQ Agency before treatment begins.
This page is general information, not legal or financial advice. Eligibility criteria and funded supports are set out in the National Injury Insurance Scheme (Queensland) Act 2016 and Regulation 2016 and can change. Always confirm current details directly with the NIISQ Agency.
